Kemsa51

Thanks for the tips! The heating pad is becoming my best friend!

I'm sorry but I think it's a bit rude for you to tell someone that they should just save close to $10,000 just so that they can get the procedure done in Europe. Frankly by the time someone could save up that money they could have gone through the insurance process and would have only spend a few hundred dollars in co-pays. Plus they will not have to deal with the added ordeal of having to fly half way around the world, to a country where they probably don't speak the local language and then have to deal with making that same flight again a few days after surgery. Plus if there are any complications there will be the added expense of having to stay longer.
I know that there are many people that go to Mexico but at least you are much closer to home than you could ever be in Europe.
Finally from what I have seen on here, having the Lap Band requires several office visits in order for it to become effective. Surely you're not expecting people to travel back for each fill, or if they decided to have fills done here it is likely they will have to pay for that out of pocket also.
And frankly, I think the process that the insurance company put you through only aids in you being successful in the long run. Going through the 6 months of seeing you doctor shows that you are willing to commit to this long term, seeing the therapist makes sure that you are mentally prepared for the change that you are about make in your life. Yes it would be great to make the decision to have the surgery and be able to schedule it for the next day but that's just asking for trouble, especially for those people who decide to have procedures like the bypass or sleeve.