Hello

[MysticstarD 0]

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 1]

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 0]

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

[edieparks 2]

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

edie

[DouglasP13 0]

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 0]

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 0]

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 0]

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 0]

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 0]

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 1]

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 0]

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.

[juliegeraci 7]

Hi Mysticstar, congrats on moving forward with your seminar. I think that is wonderful. Keep the faith.

[MysticstarD 0]

Thank you!