Doubts

Winning · May 9, 2011

Hi all!

I posted this in intros- but then saw the self-pay section. Hopefully between the two- I'll get some good insight.

I'm living in South Korea for the time being. I just went to my first consultation apt. with a Dr. here in Seoul. Living in Asia, I would be completely self-pay (which is about $5K here.) I'm worried that if I fall into the very small margin of patients that have difficulties bad enough to warrant more surgery (e.g. errosion, slippage) I won't be able to afford it. Also, when I come back to the states (next year) will it be covered by a health care plan if there's complications later?

I'm pretty overweight (5'5" and weigh 200lbs). The doctor here said he could band me no problem, and that my BMI is 36, and I'm carrying a little over 40 kilos (90 lbs) of fat on my body (after they did a full body analysis.) I calculated my BMI on the web, and it said mine should be 33, but the surgeon said I'm actually a pretty petite person.

I've already run into medical issues b/c of my weight- I had my gallbladder out last year, and have circulatory problems (my feet swell.) Also, I'm really sick of being the "fat girl", not being able to wear skirts b/c of chaffing, lower back pain from a big belly, acid reflux, my feet swelling if I'm on them too long (all day), feeling tired all the time, and easy things have gotten a lot more difficult lately- like stairs. This is the heaviest I've ever been, and I'm only getting bigger! I don't see myself getting down to a healthy weight w/out serious help in the future.

I feel like I can't keep living my life this way, I've tried diet and exercise but they never work for long. If I have serious complictaions I may not be able to afford to fix them though (b/c I'm self-pay.) If anyone out there has some insight, experience or advice I'd greatly appreciate it!