Hello

MysticstarD · January 19, 2007

I am very happy to have found you guys. I saw a comercial this morning for the Lap band and I have been looking for info since. I found a doctor here and on January 27th I will be attending the seminar. The one issue I have is the money so as soon as I know the price I guess I will be hitting my bank for a loan, hopefully low inerest.

I am 31 yrs old and 210 lbs. I hope I am not intruding since I have not had the procedure.

Kelsy · January 19, 2007

Hi Mystic,

Of course you're not intruding.. I have not have the procedure done either. Not yet anyways! But there are a lot of people on here (myself included) filling ourselves with knowledge from those who have had it done!

Insurance won't cover it?

shutuplena · January 19, 2007

Ask all the questions you can. This is a great site for information.

edieparks · January 19, 2007

Im a self pay and mine was 17,500.00 . Best money I ever spent on myself.

edie

DouglasP13 · January 19, 2007

Welcome MysticstarD! My surgery was about $15,000. I was a self pay as well. There are good loans out there, you just have to find one. My doctor had 3 different finance companies that they deal with for loans on this surgery. You might want to ask you doctor about it.

I started on here before I had the surgery, and it was a wonderful thing for me. Welcome aboard!!!

desertdreamers · January 19, 2007

Hey, MysticstarD! I just found this site this week, and I'm almost 2 months post-op. Wish I'd found it sooner. I was a self-pay, too - $16000 for the procedure (including round-trip airfair and hotel room for 3 days, and fill adjustments for a year) - separate charges for the psych consult and preop testing. This may be the only year I'll ever get to take medical expenses off my taxes.

MysticstarD · January 20, 2007

Thank you guys, you are all so welcoming.

I am taking steps towards it. I will be attending next saturday the seminar and I have a physical scheduled and then I am heading to the surgeon, I found one here in town and has great testimonials in his website.

Thanks Again

heyyou · January 20, 2007

Hi - I also new to the process - I'm still looking for a surgeons in the El Paso Texas - what is the process that everyone is talking about - I need some guidance. Thanks

MysticstarD · January 20, 2007

In my case I went to lapband.com and the process is:

Attending a seminar, having a physical and a psychological evaluation done and visiting the surgeon.

Dalia

heyyou · January 21, 2007

Dlia - where and when are you having your surgery - what type of questions did they ask on your psych eval. Also did you speak to someone at the seminar regarding the process.

GayleTX · January 21, 2007

Process.....I would start with my insurance carrier to see if they cover it. If so, you'll need to get their criteria for eligibility and work from there. If you are self-pay, your surgeon will probably have a much less stringent set of criteria before he accepts your for surgery.

The standard recommended by Inamed (the manufactor of the Lapband) is I believe a BMI of 40 and/or 100 lbs overweight and co-morbidities (health issues) caused by being overweight. (you can google for a BMI calculator).

MysticstarD · January 21, 2007

I have not attended the seminar yet. I will this coming Saturday. I don't know which kind of questions they ask. I got this info from Lapband.com and from my local surgeon's website.

For what I have read the BMI goes as 35 with health problems like sleep apnea or diabetes or depression or reflux etc... and over 40 they just say yes. I have a BMI of 36, I have not had a physical in a long time so I don't know if I have diabetes which runs on my mothers side of the family.