HatheryOnHerWay

I think he'll be supportive once I get it done, but it's just getting there that's difficult. He's naturally a very skeptical and anxious person, and the idea of spending money on something and not having it work is just really overwhelming to him. I have a strong tendency to have a lot of ideas about life in general, and then quit when I lose interest. He's reasonably worried that I'll do that with this, too. I was so happy when I lost the 100 pounds--if I could kick my own butt for putting the weight back on, I would. I wish he realized how difficult it is to say "I need help", and that's exactly what I'm doing by wanting this surgery. I am strong-willed and I get what I want in life, but for some reason obesity is the one thing I can't get a hold on. I'm asking for help--I wish he saw it that way.

I'm attaching a collage of pics from before and after when I did Medifast. I'm pretty well back to the "before" again :(

Everyone around here says that you can expect a stall at week 3. Just keep doing what your doctor directed, and things should start moving again. Sometimes your body needs a bit of time to adjust. Or so they tell me

Find the good Mexico stories on here and read them aloud to him. Just, "Hey, listen to this....." And let him "learn about it" with you.

I wish it were as easy as that, but I can already hear the responses "Quit trying to sell me on this", "Are you trying to make me mad?", "You always take things too far", bla bla bla. I don't know why this is such a sore subject for him because it means so much to me, but it's just one of those (few) things that are nearly impossible to talk to him about. I think he sees me as a really strong and driven person, and to him this feels like I've given up. But it's the opposite...I'm trying. Really, really hard. I want to have the majority of a vital organ removed VOLUNTARILY. It hardly seems like giving up to me.

Hathery, have you looked into going to Mexico for VSG? I started looking into WLS about 2 years before I had surgery. at that time, my husbands insurance did cover WLS, but then as things go, our insurance changed, and WLS was excluded. I researched and discovered Mexico surgeons are a lot cheaper than their American counterparts. In some cases, the surgeons in Mexico have a lot more experience as well since VSG has been done for a lot longer in Mexico. I personally used Alighterme.com and had Dr. Lopez as a surgeon in Tijuana Mexico. My surgery was $4,750 that included pick up from the airport in San Diego, hotel stay at the Marriott in TJ, 2 night stay in the hospital, another 2 nights at the Marriott, all of the Jello and chicken broth at the hotel restaurant, and return trip to the airport. Surgery in Mexico isn't for everyone, but it turned out to be the best thing for me. There is a self pay/Mexico forum on here, check it out! There are many Doctors and many people who have been and are exploring Mexico as an option also. Feel free to PM me if you want more info or want to know more about my personal journey. Good Luck to you!!

I'd be more than happy to go to Mexico, but my husband is absolutely adamant that I will not be doing that. He has the idea I'd be in some back-alley chop shop with dirty medical instruments and untrained doctors. I know this is 100% untrue, but he believes what he wants to believe and really won't research anything (despite my request that he educate himself on this topic.) Since he is so resistant to begin with, I gotta take what I can get! And if he'll be ok w/ a doctor in the US, at least I get the surgery. Who knows though....we might find out we can't finance more than a few thousand, in which case Mexico may be my only option. It'll take some major convincing, but I want this surgery!

_{I really don't understand their resistance! It just seems like the long-term benefits for them as far as insurance payouts would be substantially less if they just paid for the surgery. I guess when I'm president, I'll change that haha}

I just so happen to have a friend who work's for my insurance company, so I'm going to ask her and see if she knows of an backdoors or loopholes like that with my insurance. I have Physician's Plus (I think that might be a Wisconsin thing?) My insurance covers just about everything under the sun, but apparently they don't think fat people are worth helping. Grr.

Yes, are you CERTAIN it's excluded? When I called my insurance they said it isn't covered and tried to end the call right there. But I said, "what if I'm 100 lbs overweight? Or what if I have other medical conditions that warrant it?"

They said, "you're asking us to bend the rules for you."

"No. I'm asking you what the real rules are so I can see if I qualify."

I work for a county. Before this, EVERYONE I spoke to who also worked for the county said it wasn't covered. I found out by PUSHING and demanding info in writing, that they DO cover it if:

1) Patient is 100+ lbs overweight, or

2) Patient is 80+ lbs overweight with at least two qualifying health conditions (diabetes and high blood pressure, for example).

I would double check your insurance now. They don't volunteer this information. You have to really dig for it. If they blanket exclude WLS - no exception, then that's a closed subject.

Also, where in the US can you get sleeved for $10K? It's usually double that. I see lots of folks having really good experiences doing it in Mexico for less than $5K, all travel expenses included, including hotel and airfare.

I'm attaching a screenshot from my insurance policy so you can see the exclusion. What do you think?

The places I've found in the US that will do it for less than $10k (or around that) would be Dr. Borland in Louisiana, Dr. Gonzalez in Texas, and Dr. Washington in South Carolina.

That's really disingenuous

Have you gone to your consult yet?

Nope, not even gonna get my hopes up until I secure financing! I'm currently in talks w/ my credit union about it. If I can't secure financing, I'm going to have to look into other options (selling my car? selling a kidney? haha)

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act--basically Healthcare Reform. Does your insurance have a blanket exclusion for all WLS?

Yep. It's a 100% exclusion, regardless of medical necessity. Pretty stupid considering how much less they'd end up paying overall if I got rid of my comorbidities!

Have you thought of private paying for health insurance that covers VSG before you actually get it? Paying the monthly premiums for a while might be less expensive than paying the whole thing out of pocket? Don't want to be too nosy--not sure if you don't have health insurance or if you have it and VSG is excluded--but there may be some creative solutions. PPACA could end up helping too, especially with health insurance exchanges allowing more employee choice in choosing a health plan.

I didn't think I'd be able to get another insurance because of pre-existing conditions (migraines, high blood pressure, depression, bla bla bla). I have really good insurance, but unfortunately WLS is an exclusion. What is PPACA? (n/m just looked this up! ObamaCare! Forgot it had a real name. hehe)

The main reason I have to involve my husband in this decision is because I'll be self-pay. If my insurance paid for it, I'd be doing it whether he liked it or not. But it requires a bit more spousal cooperation when I'm asking to use $10k that we really don't have

He was saying to me yesterday things like "What if something horrible happens? What if you die on the table?" My response was, "If I stay the way I am, there is a 100% chance something horrible will happen and I will die." It's not cosmetic for me. I can deal with how I look, but I can't deal with the way I constantly hurt, the way I have no energy to do anything, the way I sweat like a piglet, etc.

^{So excited for you!!! :)}

As you can probably tell by how long I’ve been a member here, I’ve been considering VSG for a long time. My husband has never exactly been on-board with it; he’s naturally very thin, and can eat whatever he wants without gaining any substantial weight. Since he’s never really been willing to hear me out on VSG, I’ve tried everything else under the sun to try and get my weight under control. In 2011 I did Medifast. Over the year, I managed to lose 100 pounds. Over the next year and a half, I managed to gain back every last pound.

I talked to my husband last night again about VSG, and he was not terribly supportive of the idea (as usual). He doesn’t like the idea of me having surgery, and he is also of the opinion this is somehow taking the easy way out and I should be able to just do this on my own. He feels like I “quit” on Medifast, and that we wasted money because I gained it all back. I tried to explain to him that it’s not losing weight that’s the problem…it’s keeping it off. I’ve tried and tried, and I *can’t* stay a normal weight. I am just not able.

I’m not a snacker, and I don’t eat a bunch of junk food. I’m a vegetarian (15 years), don’t have high cholesterol, etc. My problem is the speed and quantity at which I eat. If my husband and I are having pizza, I will be on my 4^th slice by the time he’s finishing his first. I literally inhale my food. I don’t chew, I don’t wait for it to cool, and I eat so quickly and so voluminously that I feel ill. I’ve tried to consciously slow down, but even my “slow” is fast to most people. And I don’t know the meaning of the word “full.”

Through all my research, it seems like VSG would be the best option for me because it would force me to slow down (lest I get sick!), and I physically won’t be able to hold as much food. I know you can “eat around” the sleeve, but like I said I’m not a big snacker or junk food eater so I don’t worry about that so much. I feel like the sleeve would be a good tool to help me control my portions and give me that sense of when to stop that I’m *supposed* to have.

Since my husband feels like I “quit” at Medifast, he thinks I’m going to “quit” on the sleeve. He thinks I’ll just gain it all back, and we’ll have “wasted” all that money. I know he wants to be supportive and he wants me to have something that works, but he just doesn’t know what it’s like to have a problem with food. It’s impossible to understand if you haven’t been there. But he raises a good point, and one I feel is fair to ask—how IS this different from Medifast or anything else I’ve tried? Will it just end up being another “waste of money”? How will this help me succeed where other plans haven’t?

Please, any insight you can provide would be so appreciated. I just want to be healthy again.

Thank you for the recommendation. I'm going to see if the library has that book!

Does everyone get a catheter?? I've never had a catheter before...this is perplexing to me.

Interesting! Thanks for the replies! I guess I would probably put in retainers and if I HAD to, take them out...The bellybutton one would definitely have to come out :thumbup:

Anyone use them? I believe they work with Dr. Rod.

Looking for any info.

Thank you.

Will

Out of curiosity, where did you see/hear that they work with Dr. Rod? On his webpage the other members of the surgical team are listed as Dr. Aramburo and Dr. Chavarin.

All of my surgeries from knee, lapband, revision, c-section required removal of all of my piercings regardless of location.

I wonder if that's the same across the board no matter if you're in US or Mexico? I would think if a plastic retainer was put in it wouldn't bother any monitoring or possible electro-shock equipment...guess that'd be a questionf or the surgeon beforehand :thumbup1:

Thanks for the great reply, Tiffykins! I read in one of the articles about the plication than by the stomach being "folded" it more or less restricts the Ghrelin from being released...but that doesn't make a huge amount of sense to me as tissue is somewhat porous so I would assume the hormone could still find ways of seeping out.

I like the idea of a surgery that could be done via endoscopy, but it seems to me I would need lots more research before I chose this as a viable option!

I was thinking it would be best to put plastic retainers in...sounds like that is the concensus!

I just found this article about gastric plication which seems very interesting. Would love thoughts on it :crying:

Bariatric Times Reports on Latest Gastric Sleeve Plication Clinical Trial - Journal - U.S. News Health Community - Inspire

Okay, this is a really odd question, but I have to ask...when you're getting surgery, do you have to take out piercings that aren't "in the way" (like nose piercings, etc.) I have a few piercings that are in cartilidge and I would worry that the holes might close, even if the jewelry is out for a short amount of time...

I appreciate any input :crying:

Super sleeve and gastric imbrication are 2 different surgeries.

Gastrectomies and imbrication are no where near the same procedure.

Please make sure you are getting the surgery of your choice.

Gastrectomy (super sleeve) with the description you posted is not imbrication. Gastrectomy means removal of part of all of the stomach.

So do you know if the Gastric Imbrication is as effective as the VSG? Seems to me that the Imbrication method is less invasive (I believe they do it through the mouth rather than through lathroscopic incisions.)

I'd love to hear more if anyone knows.

I can tell you that for the last week I have been kinda depressed about losing too. First I have private stuff I am going thru but for about a week and a half I have been the same weight. Up one down one up one down one, but basicly stuck at 287 which is like 24 down since may 12. While I AM PSYCHED about that I cant help but wonder if I am doing something wrong. I find that if I get on an exercise machine I am hungry all freaking day. Does that happen to anyone else? I seem to be able to eat more then most people although I am not eating a lot. I just am so scared like you that I am not going to see results like I did with the lap band.. NOW please no one yell at me because I realize that 24 is great but I just wonder how long I should have no movement before I start to worry.

PS. to those who wrote me about a previous bf post. I WILL GE$T back to you i just have been kinda in a depressed hermit state and with the stall I am just sinking lower.

Maybe you should just tuck the scale away for a while and pay attention to the way your body feels...I think if you focus less on the scale, you'll be able to start seeing the little changes taking place that you might be overlooking :crying: