Amieinsocal

Thanks Raye...I really wish I would have known about that a few months ago. To anyone that is self-paying and hasn't has surgery yet...I would highly suggest checking into this info that Raye has provided because the complications can be so costly. To remove my lap band, repair my stomach, and replace my lapband the total cost was $117,000.00.

wow..insurance against a complication? If that's true it should really be something of value to consider. I, like most everyone else who self-pays, pulled from every imaginable source to make my band a reality and it seemed like such a huge investment at the time...what I didn't know was that I would spend multiple times that dealing with complications that I didn't have any control over. Do you have any more info about that??

What is the "yawning" thing?? (San Dimas?) I'm in Southern Calif and LapBandForLife.com says they do it in LA for $9900. but I have no idea if it includes everything..I just saw and ad. I paid $15k for my band in Las Vegas in 2005 and it included everything and fills for a year but I had to have my band replaced this year and I'm still making payments on my last band and my plastic surgery so I simply couldn't pay that again. I couldn't find anyone in So. Calif either so I reluctantly went to Mexico but I can't tell you how impressed I was. I was cared for so much better than here in the US and it was less than half the price.

My best friend and I shared more than a decade of dieting attempts..some more successful than others...and in 2005 we both pursued weight loss surgery. She had gastric bypass because her insurance covered it. I got my lap band because I had to pay for the surgery myself. We have both been fantastically successful and we both love what we chose. There can be complications with both...but in our case it was me who suffered a complication totally out of my control and had to have my band replaced which was NO FUN and very expensive. But even so I am still very happy with the Lap Band. I had a 37BMI to begin with so it seemed that for me the Dr.s preferred to do the Lap Band surgery on me anyway. It's certainly your choice but based on my own and my best friends personal experience I think you might consider the gastric bypass. If you have problems with it later, there are Dr.s who are placing lapbands over the bypass so a lap-band would still be a back-up option later if it was needed.

I used a home equity line of credit and made payments on it which the interest was tax deductible. I know most people who own a home have had their equity lines frozen due to the whole fiasco with the banks and the fact that homes have lost a lot of equity lately..so I dont know if that is an option for you. I know there are lots of companies that will finance surgery but I hear that you probably can get a way better interest rate from your own bank than from them. Don't be discouraged..you will find a way.

Gosh that must be so frustrating!! I had to self-pay for my band too so I sympathize! I did not gain weight on the liquid diet so I don't really know if it's normal or not but the only thing I could think of was to mention to be really careful about stuff that's loaded with sodium because I know I dissolved a 5 calorie veggie bouillon cube one time and noticed that it had over 800 grams of sodium. If you lost 5 lbs before the surgery...it was probably water weight and sodium can put that back on in a heartbeat probably plus some. Just a suggestion! Sorry I wish I had more info for you.

When I was banded I left the hospital was a little card that had the brand, the size and the serial # of the band printed on it. It says Inamed 10cm 4cc and the serial # of the band for me to carry in my wallet in case of emergency. They also gave me the films from my post surgery upper GI.