princess_sophie

My insurance has an exclusion for all obesity treatment so I've been looking into going to Mexico to have the surgery. Does anyone know of any Dr.'s in the East TN area that are willing to give aftercare, fills, etc. to someone who had their surgery in Mexico? Thanks, PS

My insurance has an exclusion for all obesity treatment. Which means that if I want to do this I will have to self pay $17,500. That will cover the first year of all post op and fills. My concern is, if I'm self pay and I have complications during surgery or even a couple of years after and the band has to be removed, will i have to self pay all of that too? I need help. I posted a similar post on the general discussions board, but I thought I would post a few different places to try and get more response. Even though I'm not sure if anyone can help me. I'm just really disappointed. :faint:

My insurance has an exclusion for any obesity treatment. So I will have to self pay if I want to get the band. My concern is, what if there are complications during surgery? Will I have to pay for all of that too? What if there are complications 2 or 3 years out? Will I have to pay for that too? What if the band needs to be removed? Will I have to pay for that too? It would cost $17,500 to have the surgery and that would include one year post op care and fills, etc. But what about after that? If there are complications and I have to self pay for that too, I could be financially ruined for life. Any comments, suggestions, advice? I don't know what to do.:faint:

Thanks everyone for your comments. They are all very helpful. I will look into finding the instructions for lowering the pressure and as I lose weight I will contact my sleep dr. and see what he suggests. babygrl1234 The thought crossed my mind that I may always have to use it. Back in the day, a long, long time ago, when I was only 20lbs over weight, I snored a little and I've always been low energy. I don't know if that was from sleep apnea though. But I will keep my fingers crossed that I can one day through that think out the window. Thanks again everyone, P sophie

Hi All, When you start losing weight, how do you know when you don't need your cpap anymore? How do you know when your pressure needs to be reduced? Do you have to get retested? I was just retested this past fall and they increased my pressure. I couldn't imagine being retested every few months or so. It's really expensive and I wonder if my insurance would pay for multiple sleep studies like that. Thanks for any and all replies. Sophie

Hi, Anybody out there? I live in Maryville and I'm going to a seminar on May 10th at Blount Memorial. I don't have high hopes that my insurance will pay. There may be an exclusion for any obesity treatment, but I hope to find out more at the seminar. If my insurance doesn't pay I will have to decide if I want to self-pay or ... what I don't know. I have so many fears, questions, concerns running through my head. I probably need to write them all down. One of my biggest worries with self-pay is what if I have complications. Aside from all of the fears for my life and my health due to complications from the surgery, would I be opening this huge financial hole if things don't go well and i'm self-pay. I probably need to post some of my fears on the general discussion board too. And maybe after the seminar I will be able to ask some of the questions I have to ease my fears. I don't know. I just don't know. PS

Hi everyone, I'm new and still considering the band. I'm going to a seminar on May 10th. I've been reading and reading and reading these boards and getting so much out of them. I've keep reading about people talk about the type of band and the size of the band they have. How is this determined? The Dr.'s preference? Or does it have something to do with the anatomy? A lot of people also talk about how life changing this is, living with the band and the weight loss and how you feel about yourself. I was wondering, have a lot of people changed jobs, jobs that they were not happy in, now that they feel so much better and their lives have changed? ps

Has anyone been banded by Dr. Colquitt or Dr. Ray at Blount Memorial in Maryville, TN? If not, what about any other Dr. in the Maryville/Knoxville area? If so what was your experience? ps

Hi everyone, I've been reading the boards for about a week now and love all of the information and discussions. I've learned so much. I looked into the lap band several years ago and at the time it wasn't being performed in my area. Now I can go to the local hospital. It's amazing how fast it has grown in popularity and availability. I also wasn't ready for it and thought I needed to keep trying to work on the reasons I overeat. Well, I know why I overeat, I'm just having a really hard time stopping. I go to a seminar on May 10th and I'm hoping they will be able to tell me if my insurance will cover it. I don't have high hopes though, because there might be an exclusion for any obesity treatment with my insurance. My employer changed insurance carriers this year and they say that we have the exact same benefits as before. I don't have a new benefits booklet yet, but the old one had the exclusion for any obesity treatment. So we will see. If it doesn't pay, I guess it just wasn't meant to be. I still enjoy these boards though and I hope that, even if I don't get banded, you won't mind me visiting every now and then. sophie