Anyone here in Jacksonville, Florida?

[liveaboard15 1,293]

Just looking to see if anyone in this group is in my area and got their surgery here locally. Jacksonville, Florida. (I am getting mine done at Baptist Bariatric Center)

[Donna Suz 19]

I am in Destin Florida and will be getting mine done in Milton FL, which is right outside of Pensacola. How soon are you getting yours done?

[liveaboard15 1,293]

11 minutes ago, Donna Suz said:

I am in Destin Florida and will be getting mine done in Milton FL, which is right outside of Pensacola. How soon are you getting yours done?

I went for the first consult on December 14. I have to get a psyc eval done and the next opening is in March unfortunately. Only after that will i know when i can get the surgery done.

[Donna Suz 19]

I went for my first consult in December as well. I have to have monthly appointments for 3 months (for my insurance) before we can set the surgery date, so I will be taking care of all the other appointments in the meantime. I did my psyche evaluation through Advantage Point behavioral online. I was able to get the appointment pretty quickly. You might want to try them. Doing evals for surgery is there specialty.
https://advantagepointbehavioral.com

[liveaboard15 1,293]

2 minutes ago, Donna Suz said:

I went for my first consult in December as well. I have to have monthly appointments for 3 months (for my insurance) before we can set the surgery date, so I will be taking care of all the other appointments in the meantime. I did my psyche evaluation through Advantage Point behavioral online. I was able to get the appointment pretty quickly. You might want to try them. Doing evals for surgery is there specialty.
https://advantagepointbehavioral.com

Curious what insurance do you have? Mine wont cover any bariatric surgery so i am paying almost $20K out of pocket. as for the eval thanks for the link. I will contact them. I have tried other locations for the eval but my surgeons office is extremely strict and have rejected every single other one i have tried to get it thru.

[Donna Suz 19]

I have Cigna as an insurance. I just recently got a new job and my old insurance was United Healthcare. They didn’t cover it either. If for some reason I don’t qualify I’ll go to Mexico and have it done. It will be a lot cheaper there, just a couple more thousand than what I’ll be paying anyway with out of pocket costs. I hope that place works for you. If not, March is not too far away. I’m having to wait too. It sucks, but I’ve waited this long, I can wait a few more months. In the meantime I’m gonna work on building my support system and try changing my eating patterns now so it won’t be such a shock to my system when the time comes.

[Pricilla 92]

I had my sleeve on 11/4 here in Jacksonville. Dr. Uchal at st Vincent’s riverside.

I was self pay ($15,000 total includes hospital stay and follow visit). My BMI wasn’t high enough for insurance coverage. On the plus side, I got scheduled pretty quickly and didn’t have to jump through the hoops required when using insurance. I had 2 pre-op dietitian appointments (honestly pointless in my opinion. They could have just me with the info binder), blood work, EKG, and a chest X-ray. I have no co-morbidities. I didn’t do the pre surgery diet, just Clear Liquids the day before.

The first 10 days sucked, not because of pain, but because of nausea. And I was starving. I couldn’t drink the nasty ass Protein Shakes, not for lack of trying. I just drank Water basically. My surgeon told me don’t even worry about Protein just stay hydrated. When I was allowed to have caffeine I started drinking the latte Premier Protein.

I’m almost 2 months post and have lost 25.5 pounds.
i eat things I shouldn’t sometimes (things that most people stay away from until goal, but it’s impossible to eat a lot of anything.

[liveaboard15 1,293]

2 hours ago, Pricilla said:

I had my sleeve on 11/4 here in Jacksonville. Dr. Uchal at st Vincent’s riverside.

I was self pay ($15,000 total includes hospital stay and follow visit). My BMI wasn’t high enough for insurance coverage. On the plus side, I got scheduled pretty quickly and didn’t have to jump through the hoops required when using insurance. I had 2 pre-op dietitian appointments (honestly pointless in my opinion. They could have just me with the info binder), blood work, EKG, and a chest X-ray. I have no co-morbidities. I didn’t do the pre surgery diet, just Clear Liquids the day before.

The first 10 days sucked, not because of pain, but because of nausea. And I was starving. I couldn’t drink the nasty ass Protein Shakes, not for lack of trying. I just drank Water basically. My surgeon told me don’t even worry about Protein just stay hydrated. When I was allowed to have caffeine I started drinking the latte Premier Protein.

I’m almost 2 months post and have lost 25.5 pounds.
i eat things I shouldn’t sometimes (things that most people stay away from until goal, but it’s impossible to eat a lot of anything.

Thanks for the information. $15K Is not bad at all. Mine is a little over $18K. Did you have to get a Psyc Evaluation?

[Pricilla 92]

10 hours ago, seadoo2021 said:

Thanks for the information. $15K Is not bad at all. Mine is a little over $18K. Did you have to get a Psyc Evaluation?

Nope! No psych evaluation.
I said “self pay” and things were expedited.

i should mention that I have worked with surgeon before, but we’re not bff’s or anything.

[liveaboard15 1,293]

2 minutes ago, Pricilla said:

Nope! No psych evaluation.
I said “self pay” and things were expedited.

i should mention that I have worked with surgeon before, but we’re not bff’s or anything.

Nice. I am gonna have to check this out then if Baptist keeps giving me issues with th at psyc eval. i thought me being self pay things would get moving quick too.

[Pricilla 92]

4 minutes ago, seadoo2021 said:

Nice. I am gonna have to check this out then if Baptist keeps giving me issues with th at psyc eval. i thought me being self pay things would get moving quick too.

Since it’s the beginning of the year and you’re self pay things should move quickly.

Give them a call. Dr. Uchal, north florida surgeons. If you currently experience reflux, talk to him about rny. I had the sleeve, so I’m not sure of the price difference (if any).
i never worked for him, just at an operating room where he comes. Mention self pay and hoops you’d like to avoid and a date you’re aiming for.

[Guest]

22 hours ago, seadoo2021 said:

Curious what insurance do you have? Mine wont cover any bariatric surgery so i am paying almost $20K out of pocket

If I were paying 20K out of pocket, I wouldn't put up with a vendor that is inflexible, doesn't have any openings for months on end, and sets the schedule for me and not vice versa.

You have options, OP. Also on type of surgery. Remember, there are other surgeries than sleeve and RNY and they're just as available to you as a self-pay.