RebekahL

I have been researching this heavily in Arizona. So far, I have found that many of them cover bariatric surgery. Most will only cover gastric bypass. You have to read the Explanation of Benefits soooo closely. They don't specifically exclude sleeve under the topic of bariatric surgery, but then if you read further down under gastroplasty, laproscopic gastric sleeve procedure is specifically excluded. This really bothers me. They recognize it as an accepted procedure for medical necessity in treatment of obesity, but they refuse to cover that specific procedure under Obamacare. I am very, sad right now. I don't know what to do really. :/ I can't afford the cash to get the procedure, I really need it, and prefer the idea of sleeve over bypass for many reasons. I just think its really sneaky of them to try to hide that they don't cover it by not specifically stating it under the topic of bariatric surgery. :/

I used to work for a WL Surgeon. The sleeve was his choice operation. He did many bands, but many of them opted for revision down the road to sleeve. In my 2 years working for that doctor, I saw quite a few people fail with the lapband vs. the sleeve. I saw many regrets based on choice of lap band over sleeve as well. To be honest, I feel that the lapband is far more difficult to use than the sleeve as a weight loss tool. I have not had the surgery yet, but I would choose sleeve over band without any hesitation, just based off of the experiences I have had with WLS patients who opted for the band.

I used to work for a bariatric surgeon. One thing I will say about going to Mexico for surgery, is that often times, the surgeons here at home in the USA, will charge a lot more to see a patient for follow up care afterward than they would if you just had your surgery done by them. It ends up costing so much more in the long run because you DO need the follow up care. Whether it be for complications, or for maintenance you do really need a bariatric doctor to follow up with. You might get lucky and find one that doesn't charge more for treating patients who got WLS in Mexico, but its kinda few and far between. I would say, weigh out the costs, the actual costs for treatment down the road before deciding definitely on surgery out of the country.

How about nausea and things like that afterward? Did that contribute to VSG discomfort in comparison to the C-section? I too am considering a sleeve, and have had 2 c-sections.