Gastric Balloon Forum
The gastric balloon is an alternative to weight loss surgery for lower-BMI patients. It is an inflatable silicone balloon that helps fill the stomach so patients can eat less food and lose weight. This tool recently received FDA approval as a non-surgical tool to treat extreme obesity. Some examples of gastric balloons currently offered are Orbera, Easy Life, Duo by Reshape, Medsil, Allurion, Spatz, Endoball and Obalon.
A growing numbers of weight loss surgeons are now performing Endolumenal Bariatric Procedures without incisions. As an alternative to incision-based surgery, surgeons are using natural orifices (such as the throat) to insert the tools and equipment they need to help you win the battle against obesity. Some examples are the Stomaphy X, Endobarrier, TOGA and Rose procedures.
This is the forum where you can talk about the balloon and other Endolumenal Bariatric Procedures, their pros and cons, your special diet, and your experiences with the intragastric balloon or other Endolumenal Bariatric Procedures!
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Recent Status Updates
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Oh yeah, something I wanted to rant about, a billing dispute that cropped up 3 months ago.· 0 replies
Surgery was in August of 2023. A bill shows up for over $7,000 in January. WTF? I asks myself. I know that I jumped through all of the insurance hoops and verified this and triple checked that, as did the surgeon's office. All was set, and I paid all of the known costs before surgery.
A looong story short, is that an assistant surgeon that was in the process of accepting money from my insurance company touched me while I was under anesthesia. That is what the bill was for. But hey, guess what? Some federal legislation was enacted last year to help patients out when they cannot consent to being touched by someone out of their insurance network. These types of bills fall under something called, "surprise billing," and you don't have to put up with it.
https://www.cms.gov/nosurprises
I had to make a lot of phone calls to both the surgeon's office and the insurance company and explain my rights and what the maximum out of pocket costs were that I could be liable for. Also had to remind them that it isn't my place to be taking care of all of this and that I was going to escalate things if they could not play nice with one another.
Quick ending is that I don't have to pay that $7,000+. Advocate, advocate, advocate for yourself no matter how long it takes and learn more about this law if you are ever hit with a surprise bill.
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Some days I feel like an infiltrator... I'm participating in society as a "thin" person. They have no idea that I haven't always been one of them! 🤣· 0 replies
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Thank you everyone for your well wishes! I totally forgot I wrote an update here... I'm one week post op today. I gained 15 lbs in water weight overnight because they had to give me tons of fluids to bring my BP up after surgery! I stayed one night in the hospital. Everything has been fine except I seem to have picked up a bug while I was there and I've been running a low grade fever, coughing, and a sore throat. So I've been hydrating well and sleeping a ton. So far the Covid tests are negative.· 0 replies
I haven't been able to advance my diet past purees. Everything I eat other than tofu makes me choke and feels like trying to swallow rocks. They warned me it would get worse before it gets better, so lets hope this is all normal. I have my follow up on Monday so we'll see. Living on shakes and soup again is not fun. I had enough of them the first time!! LOL
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Still purging all of the larger clothing. This morning, a shirt that I ADORED wearing ended up on top. Hard to let it go, but it was also hard to let go of those habits that also no longer serve my highest good. Onward and upward!· 0 replies
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Looking to connect with others who are also on the journey of better health. Post-Op Gastric Sleeve (4/11/24).· 0 replies
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