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[Guest LWood63]

Hi folks. I was just researching lapband surgery and found your site. I am trying to find out if BCBS of NC covers the lapbanding. Does anyone know by chance? You guys sound quite knowlegeable and I look forward to reading more and learning more. Thanks.

Lisa

[the best me 6]

Hey Lisa! I'm in NC and have BC/BS and, as you can see, I was banded in Mexico by Dr Kuri. I went to BC/BS online and registered, put in my plan nuber and read the weight loss surgery coverage, which specifically excluded the Lap Band. I didn't even try to fight it. I just researched and went to Dr Kuri and paid cash.

So, where in NC are you? I'm just outside of Charlotte. I see Dr Gonzales in Winston-Salem for fills, or at least I will in July. I haven't even met him yet! But I called before I scheduled in MX to be sure I could be seen by him and yes, he would follow up with me and do my fills.

Welcome to LBT! I'm glad you found us, it's a great site and I couldn't possibly do this banded thing without it!

[Guest LWood63]

Hi Kathy,

I am in the Fayetteville area and have been checking into a site at Duke currently. I am in the very beginning stages of this right now...researching. I have many friends who have had bypass which I just feel is not for me at all. I am very interested as to how you traveled to Mexico and did all this. How long were you there etc. We have two doctor's here who may beging banding but I prefer not to be their trials. I have read alot on the boards here last night and see what a battle it is to get insurers to pay for this. Seems to me they would save a ton of money in the long run. Currently I have no medical problems but feel sure they are on the way. anyhow, thanks for replying and congrats on your new found life. Any side effects from the band?

Lisa

[the best me 6]

Hey Lisa!

Okay, here's my list of comments and advice.

There are lots of threads here on Band vs Gastric Bypass. If you need help wading through, let me know and I'll bump some good ones or post a link for you. Don't know if you are having trouble negotiating the site here, looks like youare doing fine so far, you found your thread again!! I find LBT really easy to get around in.

As for beginner band docs, if they are VERY new to the procedure, they will have an experienced proctor assisting them. Inamed (the maker of the band) requires training to be sure their product is used properly. If they sell a band to a doc, apparently they have to be "approved" by the company. So if you are the doc's first band patient, it's not like you'll be "alone" with him/her. However, there comes a time when they don't have MUCH experience, but enough to be banding without a proctor, and this is the "no man's land" you want to avoid. In my opinion, I would be much less hesitant to use a newly trained doc if he/she had experience with laporoscopic surgery in general. Getting around in there with the tools, etc. is half the skill, I'd guess. Still, experience is better.

That said, I love my MX doc. He has been banding for 8+ years, longer than the band has been FDA approved in the US. He has done well over 1200 band surgeries, has a great record and a solid reputation. He is not the only good MX doc, but I was very comfortable with him and could not find anything bad said about him. I researched ALOT. You should too.

I scheduled my surgery and paid my $500 deposit and received all the paperwork, a book, other info in the mail. My surgery was on a Friday. My sister (who didn't have the surgery, just went with me) and I flew out of Charlotte Thursday morning, Kuri's driver picked us up at the airport with 2 other gals having the surgery the next day, and drove us to the lab. We had our blood drawn, had to give a urine specimen, then went upstairs and paid the balance of our bill. (total surgery costs including transportation to and from San Diego airport, to and from all pre-op appointments, hotel for my sister for two nights, one night for me, the surgery, the band, fills for life, hospital costs, all of it was $8950. This did not include the airfare and a bit of spending money for food/tipping, etc) Then we went to the hotel, checked in and relaxed. The front desh called and said the driver is here, so we went down and he took us to our pre-op physical and EKG. back to the hotel for down-time until the driver took us to Dr Kuri's office. We met with him and the other two staff surgeons, a plastic surgeon and a general surgeon. They explained the band, answered questions, and told us what time to be at the hospital in the morning...who goes first, second, etc. Walked down the block to this dink-y little hole in the wall hospital the next morning, had surgery, went fine, spent the day and the night there, and the next morning the driver picked up me and my sister and took us to the airport, where we got on a plane and flew home Saturday. Done! I guess the hospital was the hard part. It wasn't much, but it was clean, the nurses were sweet and skilled and they didn't wake you up every hour all night long to take your temp and blood pressure, it was fine. I went with experience and got a very good band placement. Money well spent so far.

Okay, side effects of the band will have to be another post. Gotta take care of the kiddos and all that, so I'll post the rest later.