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Anyone have any suggestions on how to finance self pay? I don't have the best credit and can't borrow from friends or family.

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Hi there, I'm new here too, you might want to try Care Credit...I think they work with people that have bad credit. They provide financing for medical procedures.

Anyone have any suggestions on how to finance self pay? I don't have the best credit and can't borrow from friends or family.

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With a down payment , my hospital allowed a 2 year payment plan with no interest. And then 4 months after that they offered a 50% discount to pay off the account which I moved heaven and earth to scrape together!!! So in essence I got my band inclusive of everything for $7000.... even less than what I would have spent traveling out of the country for the procedure. Now the only cost are the fills. ($50 each time)

Talk with your Doctor.. if you don't like his answer... check with others in your area including hospitals.... there are lots of options out there for self pay.

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Care Credit is what I am using because we lost our employee health insurance when my husband lost his job this past December. You will get an instant decision online when you apply.

The surgery center I am using next week participates in a 0% interest program with Care Credit if you pay off the balance in 18 months. The plan for doing that is pay the monthly payments, work any overtime I can, and use our 2011 federal tax return to pay this off in that amount of time. We will put ourselves on a more strict budget and our annual vacations will be put on hold for this 18 mo. period. HTH with ideas.

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I pursued lap band surgery almost 2 years ago. Jumped through all the hoops, and then 2 weeks before I thought I would be having surgery, insurance sent a letter denying me. Instead of appealing the decision, I let it drop, thinking I could do the weight loss on my own. I have regretted it ever since. I wish I would have appealed it and argued with them til the end. My insurance company stopped covering weight loss surgery as of April 1st, so there is no hope for me to have financial assistance from them now. My only option is to pay out of pocket. Maybe re-fi the house, borrow against the 401K, I don't know. I don't even know what costs estimates are for the surgery. Can people give me a general ideas of costs? I realize it will vary by state but it will give me an idea of what I could be looking at.

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I pursued lap band surgery almost 2 years ago. Jumped through all the hoops, and then 2 weeks before I thought I would be having surgery, insurance sent a letter denying me. Instead of appealing the decision, I let it drop, thinking I could do the weight loss on my own. I have regretted it ever since. I wish I would have appealed it and argued with them til the end. My insurance company stopped covering weight loss surgery as of April 1st, so there is no hope for me to have financial assistance from them now. My only option is to pay out of pocket. Maybe re-fi the house, borrow against the 401K, I don't know. I don't even know what costs estimates are for the surgery. Can people give me a general ideas of costs? I realize it will vary by state but it will give me an idea of what I could be looking at.

Average cost of the Lapband is $9900 in the United States. Some places that are just starting up are offering it for $8900 as an introductory offer. Some people are going to Mexico to have the surgery done and then having their fills done State side. I do not know how much that costs since that was not an option for me. There are plenty of people in the forums talking about it though.

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    • LeighaTR

      I am new here today... and only two weeks out from my sleeve surgery on the 23rd. I am amazed I have kept my calories down to 467 today so far... that leaves me almost 750 left for dinner and maybe a snack. This is going to be tough for two weeks... but I have to believe I can do it!
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
    • Doughgurl

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      · 2 replies
      1. Selina333

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      2. Doughgurl

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. LeighaTR

        I hope your surgery on Wednesday goes well. You will be able to do all sorts of new things as you find your new normal after surgery. I don't know this from experience yet, but I am seeing a lot of positive things from people who have had it done. Best of luck!

    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
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