marcyinak

You lucky dog! I'd sure like to see insurance pick up even SOME of the tab! My husband would too. It's money well spent though! Good luck!

OK, I'll try that again...I hit Tab, dang! 7/2 - Lynette617 7/3 - Laurend 7/5 - Cherrybomb 7/9 - Dakota476 7/10 - Marcyinak BreadLady (hoping for 7/5 though) Evilan (may change) AshRae84 7/12 - Gwhite PattiC 7/13 - trystell 7/18 - Mikel909 7/25 - Chimboree26 TBD - Sunshine6855 2bthinagn nulife2be Quinn

Chimboree26 (please tell me your mother doesn't call you that!) thanks for the previous list...here's an updated one! 7/2

Lynette - sorry I didn't respond earlier. Alaska is one hour BEFORE California/Pacific time. It was a beautiful day today and I took the kids to a lake nearby and we skipped rocks. NICE!

Just had my phone consult with my doctor yesterday. Things went well and he explained things I already knew (a good sign that I'm MENTALLY prepared!). I was thinking last week how weird it is that I'm flying into Denver on Monday having pre-op appt. and surgery then flying back to Alaska on Thursday night...kind of a stop and go thing. Then yesterday I realized that when I had my gallbladder out several years ago, when I lived in the same city as the surgeon, that I didn't see him any more often and didn't call him either...so I guess it isn't that weird afterall! Good news though! My sister, who is coming with me, just said that we'd been invited to stay at her friend's house! That saves me several hundred dollars! (And I was already staying at the "cheap" hotel!) This is a big deal for a self-pay gal! Things are looking up...now on to my last meals....

This totally sucks that everyone is in bed when I'm not even close! I HATE time-zones!

I have to admit that sometimes I wish I had come up with a better/wiser/wittier "screen name". Whatever! I don't spend my time thinking like that anyhoo. Got a couple of issues going on....I've got everything scheduled, got tickets for grandma to come care for kids, tickets for my sister and I to go to Denver for surgery, etc., etc...I'm now kinda blah about the whole thing. I mean, I was excited and found time to do ENORMOUS amounts of research on the surgery, risks, doctors, self-pay issues, etc. and now that it's all in the bag I don't know if I'm all that interested...could it be that I'm in some zen space and everything's good? Hmmm... I'd love to be the intelligent and philosophical one on this thread, but reality is that I'm just the obnoxious, snobby, know-it-all. Sorry!

There's also Dr. Searles and Dr. Todd in Anchorage who will do fills (about $200, no fluoro). I get the impression that they don't like Mex. patients, but will do care on a patient-by-patient basis....staff is good to talk to on phone though. In my research for aftercare (I live in Nome) I found that Dr. Woods in Wasilla doesn't do fills (she had a collegue in her office do them) and they recently stopped doing them. Dr. Jones' office has been the MOST helpful; he will also not charge for fill "tweaking" within the week of the fill. (Something I find a benefit because of the traveling necessary for fills). Also, I think 70lbs in 1 1/2 years is quite good...healthy and steady. You may be ready for a fill. Another thing...you need to set up some primary care where you are...find a provider that you're comfortable with, get your surgery/fill records and make sure your provider is familiar with your case. This will help even if you have OTHER issues not related to the band. That's just being a good patient though! This will be a good learning experience for the provider - it's an easy "sell" for some of our new PA's and docs. who come to the remote places...they need to know what is going on in modern medicine too! You never know, I could end up on your island (which one are you on?) some day and it would be nice to have a provider who is familiar with WLS.

Sunny, I have incredible support from my family! My mother-in-law is flying in to help care for kids (and staying long enough to make sure I can handle it all by myself before she heads back home), my husband is letting me use our meager resources, my little sister is letting me use some airline benefits from her work, and my "big" (she's the skinny one) is going with me to be my surgery support. My kids don't really know (they're a little young), but they'll know I'm trying to get/stay healthy. My friends are supportive (some a little jealous) too. I've got it good I guess. I checked into having surgery with docs in Anchorage (nearest place to do it) and it will run about $24,000...no one can actually quote me how much because they like to charge for every little thing and "can't anticipate every patient's needs". WHATEVER!

I'm having surgery on 7/10 with Dr. Kirshenbaum in Denver....I'm flying in from Alaska. His price ($9950/package) was about the same as going to Mexico and, frankly, I like the idea of staying in the states. I believe he requires a high protein diet at least a week before surgery to decrease the size of the liver making surgery easier/less risky.

You're in luck fellow bush liver! I live in Nome and have scheduled my surgery for 7/10 with Dr. Kirshenbaum in Denver...$9950 package, which is about the same as Mexico (which I looked into and was looking at Rambault in Monterrey). Anyhoo...There are three docs in Anchorage who do fills. Dr.'s Todd (AK Bariatric Center) and Searles (Anchorage Surgical and Bariatric) do the surgery, but take fill patient on a patient by patient basis - makes getting fills hard for Mex. patients. There is a Dr. F. Leland Jones at Medical Park Family Care who does fills for about $200 and he will take Mex. patients. He doesn't use a fluorscope, but if there are issues he'll send you to his radiologists who will (and they can do a fill there too). I know that Fairbanks Memorial Hospital will do them, but don't know how to go about that...I usually head into Anchorage when I "go to town" anyway. Also, Dr. Jones will "tweak" within a week for no charge. I'm a self-pay so price was a major factor. I've heard many good things about surgery in Mexico, but when it came down to it, Kirshenbaum had the same price, plane tickets were cheaper, and it's in the states. If there's anything other information you need, just ask. Someone here, or I, will have done a lot of research and can get you an answer! Good luck!

I just started her at lapbandtalk and got a referral from someone on here about Dr. Gerald Kirshenbaum in Denver. The price is good and it's a "package", with is nice for me since I'm coming from Alaska and self-pay. Does anyone have experience with him and the surgery facilities he uses? The office staff seem knowledgeable and helpful so far.

Also, if whatever is oozing from you smells AT ALL it could be an infection. You should still try to call your doctor, that's what they get paid for.

I'm looking at getting the Lap Band surgery. I've had friends go to Mexico; no horror stories...actually good experiences. But, I've been given some scary information from a doc in the states about re-doing bad work. I'm looking at Dr. Rumbault in Monterrey and Dr. Kuri in Tijuana. So far I can find "rave reviews" for both, but I'd like to get a clear picture before deciding...anyone know of "bad" experiences?