Kalipso2

i feel you! i have JUST started the journey of finding a surgeon that i can afford because i'm self pay too. i'm already overwhelmed and just about ready to give up. is the surgery and weight loss really worth the months of stress??? i just don't know...

i've been doing so much research lately and i'm left in tears... every hospital i've contacted in the cleveland, ohio area and i don't know what to do. one hospital quoted me $22,000. another one $27,000. being self pay, i can't afford that! so let me ask you... some of these hospitals quote their fee of $10,00 plus other hospital, anethesia, etc. fees. do the hospitals in Mexico do that or is it the flat rate of $8,500? i'm getting so upset that i don't know what to do!

i don't mean to be able to rub your stomach and feel the band but to just feel it internally... like a foreign object in your body. does that make sense?

i'm still in the research phase trying to find a reputable surgeon. i do have a question though. i undersand that you may be able to feel the port but and you feel the actual band inside our stomach... like a foreign object?

i've just begun my research. i'm going to be self pay. i went to one seminar and unfortunately that surgeon doesn't take self pay patients. i have a question about the psych eval... i'm a recovering bulimic. i used to binge and purge using laxatives. it's been 8 months since i've purged. will i be turned down? should i not admit to this behavior?

i've been researching the benefits and risk of the lapband surgery for a few months and decided to start researching surgeons and hospital... both in the US and Mexico. the first seminar i attended (which was just this week) left me very depressed. first, the surgeon raved about his 700 gastric bypass surgeries but when someone asked him how many lapband procedures he's done the answer was ZERO. after the seminar i asked one of the coordinators how much the procedure would be for self pay patients. this doctor doesn't DO self pay patients. no research i found ever mentioned that and i felt like i wasted 2 hours of my time. now i've been researching costs from other hospitals. one hospital quoted me $12,875 all inclusive with $4,400 surgeon fee and $4,000 non medical fees. i asked if the $12,875 included the surgeon and nonmedical fees and she said no. the total cost is $21,275! so now i continue my search. i'm in cleveland, ohio if anyone has any great references!! kris

i'm afraid i may be just out of luck here... i called UHC and the customer service person said the surgery is NOT covered. i went to my HR department asking to see my coverage benefits and sure enough... it's on the exclusion list. would it do any good to find an insurance company that does cover it and pay for the coverage for awhile? would that even work?

Hi everyone! My name is Kris and I live near Cleveland, Ohio. I'm 36 years old, single with no kids. I'm still in the research phase and haven't made any decisions yet. I have a seminar to attend next week and the week after I'm meeting with my general physician to talk about all my options before I go to my first consultation. Growing up I was always the skinny kid in the neighborhood. I was a size 6 until my early 20's. Since then I've steadily gained weight. I've tried every diet out there. Some worked, some didn't. I lost weight only to gain it back plus more. I've done Weight Watchers which is really the only thing that actually worked but once I stopped paying the fee I gained all the weight back. After reading some of the threads here I have a couple of concerns and/or questions... I've been in and out of therapy since my late 20's for personal matters not directly related to my weight. About a year ago I had an appointment with my Psychiatrist for a prescription refill appointment and I broke down and told him that I had been using laxatives on and off for the past 6+ years to lose weight. (As much as they say laxatives don't work for weight loss, they lie because it has always worked for me). Since the admission to him I've also had to come "clean" with my regular doctor and my therapist. Early 2007 I had lost about 30 pounds and was up to 15 laxatives a day. I stopped taking them in July and gained all the weight back plus 10. I know laxatives are bad so I'm not looking for any lectures but its a problem that I'm trying really hard to work past. It's almost like an addiction. Every time I eat a bite of food I think about taking a pill. *sigh* anyway.... My question is... will this end up hurting my chances to be approved for the surgery? Another concern I have is the cost. I called my insurance company and they said the surgery is not covered. Has anyone fought their insurance company and won? If not, how were you able to afford the surgery??? I'm really glad I found this site. I just mentioned to my sister tonight that I was thinking about getting the lap band hoping I'd have her support but all I heard was "how stupid" the idea was! ~kris