Afortunada

I had a VSG through Kaiser, and my partner had theirs through MBC

tldr: MBC falls short in care and cleanliness, Kaiser is cheaper but takes 4-5 months.

With Kaiser, I took 16 weeks worth of classes, did pre-op tests, EKG etc, waited a couple weeks and then had surgery for about $700. Kaiser is certainly the longer but cheaper pathway. I also think there is a lot of value in getting your head in the right place before surgery, and committing to 4+ months of pre-op does the job. It is annoying and hard to wrap your head around at the beginning but it went by quickly for me, even having to drive 1.5 hours each way to classes. I’m glad I used Kaiser so we have the resources given to me for him to use as well.

MBC: Surgery is scheduled 2 weeks out from pre-approval (website form) and deposit, as thats the timeline required for the pre op diet. This is VERY fast and convenient. We paid about $5000.

We are all familiar enough with US standards for hospitals, so here is where MBC falls short on that front:

- his incisions bled through his gown after surgery, they would not give him a clean gown and told him he should just put on his street clothes. So, he wore a bloody gown for 2 days as the waist band on his sweat pants would’ve been super uncomfortable.
- bandages/tape on floor of recovery room from previous patient.
- Less than ideal bathroom cleanliness in room
- Broken toilet for the entirety of his stay (he requested it to be looked at, at least 6 times before just pleading for it to be turned off at the water so it would stop running so he could sleep. There was urine and vomit in his toilet for his whole stay.

Care comparison:

Kaiser: I was on a morphine drip and could push the button every 10 minutes if I was experiencing pain. I was given injections for nausea. Lots of room to walk the halls. Attentive nursing staff. It was overall great.

MBC: any time he asked for pain or nausea medication the nurse would say “I will check” and leave the room. Then, he’d wait an hour and have to ask again, only to hear the same response. You’re pretty on your own during recovery. He found that this was also the case for the other patients he drove back to San Diego with after surgery. It was not simply a bad experience, but the standard.

Technically MBC contracts with the hospital to use their facility, and the nurses do not work for them directly. They have no skin in the MBC game when it comes to patient satisfaction and it shows. We hoped that tipping would help, but it didn’t seem to make a difference.

My incisions with Kaiser were glued shut. His were open and we changed the gauze every day. It’s a little scary looking and you’re left wondering, “is this normal? Are these infected?”

Kaiser: no drain, no leak test
MBC: drain and leak test.

Kaiser: you get a full binder of pre and post op instructions with diet guides for life.
MBC: all of their instructions are on their website. What you see online before surgery is generally what you get in that regard. It is convenient to google quick answers to things like how many fluid ounces I should be having, etc and accessing the info easily on their website however it is no where near as comprehensive as Kaiser.

Feel free to ask me anything, I’m sure there’s more for me to add and I will in comments.

If you go with MBC, you should have low expectations and be willing and comfortable advocating for yourself.

Ultimately, both work but the cleanliness and lack of care from MBC made me uneasy.