K. Apparently I'm not sleeping.

I'm wondering what all your post op followup visits consist of. I was considering going back to the surgeon in my town for followup but now I'm curious. What's in those visits? Weigh ins? Meds? Exams?

I went back at one week, one month, three, six, nine, and twelve months, and now it's every six months for the next year or two.

Week one consisted of a weigh-in, drain removal, steri-strip removal, and general chat about how everything was going. From then on it's been basically weighing in and talking about whatever comes up, any questions he has or I have. The follow-ups usually go really quickly.

I had surgery in Mexico so my PCP is doing my followup. At 8 weeks I weighed in and had loads of bloodwork to test for deficiencies and thyroid function (I am hypothyroid). She wrote me a prescription for Prilosec (cheaper than OTC with my medical plan) and asked what vitamins I was taking. My labs were perfect so I see her again in July for a six month checkup unless something comes up sooner. That's fine by me, I am not a big go-to-the-doctor sort of person.

My insurance is a high-deductible plan, so my surgery was about $5K out of pocket and all the pre-op visits and post-op visits are billed accordingly. If I haven't met my deductible for the year the cost to see the surgeon is around $120. Once I meet my deductible, then it runs around $12. The one thing that is FREE from my local surgeon is all of the support groups. They run monthly support groups and there is zero cost associated with that. He also does a bunch of classes, but they do cost $$ and can be pricey.

My post-op visits are 1 week, 3 weeks, 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, 12 months and basically every 3 months until you reach goal. Once at goal you can opt for every 6 or 12 months for continued checks. At 6 months and again at 1 year I need to have labs pulled and that will be through my primary care dr. and then the results will go to my surgeon BEFORE my 6 month checkup.

That is just a glimpse at how my surgeon with insurance operates. I would be interested to see what sort of follow up is included to a self-pay patient (i.e. you pay $15K for your surgery, but does it include all the follow up or is that billed seprately, etc.)

My insurance is a high-deductible plan, so my surgery was about $5K out of pocket and all the pre-op visits and post-op visits are billed accordingly. If I haven't met my deductible for the year the cost to see the surgeon is around $120. Once I meet my deductible, then it runs around $12. The one thing that is FREE from my local surgeon is all of the support groups. They run monthly support groups and there is zero cost associated with that. He also does a bunch of classes, but they do cost $$ and can be pricey.

My post-op visits are 1 week, 3 weeks, 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, 12 months and basically every 3 months until you reach goal. Once at goal you can opt for every 6 or 12 months for continued checks. At 6 months and again at 1 year I need to have labs pulled and that will be through my primary care dr. and then the results will go to my surgeon BEFORE my 6 month checkup.

That is just a glimpse at how my surgeon with insurance operates. I would be interested to see what sort of follow up is included to a self-pay patient (i.e. you pay $15K for your surgery, but does it include all the follow up or is that billed seprately, etc.)

In the states, the original surgeon I was going with had a nice discount package put together with one year of post op followup and BLIS insurance. Going to Mexico is different, you get unlimited phone support and you can come back anytime but you do have to pay ( less than in US) and of course, you have to fly

to Mexico.

Thanks for replies, all!