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Hello to all,

I am in the waiting process right now to see if insurance can help with the cost of the surgery in the states. However, I am really considering the idea of going to Mexico to have it done. My wife is VERY skeptical of doing this. I just look at the difference in cost here and there. If insurance pays all I can do it for around 4,000. If they pay for the "hiatal hernia" which I'm not a 100% I have it is around 8,000. If they dont pitch in at all it is a little over 10,000. My wife is just worried about after care and safety. I don't blame her but I have fought my weight all my life. At one time I was 330 and made it down to 202. For a while I could keep it around 230 and that was ok but over the last few years I am creeping back up to now over 260 and I just cant fight anymore the way that I did when I coached and taught PE. Since I moved into administration I am not as active.

Just looking for some perspective and advice I guess.confused.png

Thanks

JW

PS I posted this on another forum as well. Just looking for plenty of info.

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Hi there!

My insurance has an exclusion on the policy, so it will not cover bariatric surgery. Going to Mexico was really my only option, as I did not have the large amount of cash money on hand to have it done here.

When I initially discussed it with my husband, he was uneasy about the idea. As I have researched the web immensely, reading everything I can find about surgery in Mexico and telling him about my findings, he has slowly became more understanding. He has not been worried about my safety, per se, but moreso the procedure itself. So many people have gone to Mexico with great success, however, and many of the surgeons are highly experienced with great credentials. This has been reassuring to my husband.

I have read that most surgeons will repair a hernia at the time of surgery for an extra $500 to $725. That is much cheaper than what we would pay here with our outrageous medical care costs.

I can completely understand your wife being apprehensive. Procesing ones desire to have such a surgery is difficult to begin with, but the thought of them going to Mexico to have it done seems even scarier to most people. Maybe she could read the various forums, where people have posted about their own personal experiences, and that could help her feel more at ease about the idea of going to Mexico for surgery.

Good luck with your decision and I hope your wife feels comfortable with whatever you decide. My surgery is scheduled for May 8th!

--Debbie

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Thank you. Good luck to you as we'll. I am waiting to see what insurance says. I guess I want to see what other options there are should the insurance come back with a negative response. Kind of the mental health of knowing its not over even if the company says it is.

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Hey there! I am not the risk taking type, but when I found about the policy excluding any type of weight loss surgery, I thought I was out of options. I got on the internet, YouTube actually and saw a girl, Jo is her name, talking about surgery in Mexico. The rest is history, after a lot of research, I went to Dr. Garcia in TJ and loved him and his team. My husband was a little nervous, but just because I chose to go alone for him to stay behind and care for the little ones. Tell your wife to try not to worry. A lot if these surgerons are EXTREMLY qualified and the care was fantastic. There are lots of posts on here where we share our experiences in detail. People are so willing to answer your questions and you can be assured you are talking to real people. I sit and type this on the floor in my room listening to my kids laugh at my husband :) Best of luck to you!!!

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I understand your struggles. I hit my all time low weight and over a pregnancy and 3 years I put back on 160 lbs.

When I first heard about surgery in Tijuana I was like NEVER. But I found a surgeon who trained on the states, has 7,000 surgeries, and is a member of the prestigious FACS and the American College of Bariatrics. His credentials were so much better than surgeons charging 3 times as much in the states. I was scared but hooked. This is day number 3 sitting at the fabulous Lucerna and very happy with my treatment with Dr Kelly, his staff and the Oasis/Florence hospital. Top notch.

Good luck. I wasn't prepared to wait and be scrutinized and turned down by insurance or still pay a huge deductible. I paid $5500 plus plane tickets (better perks booking with Dr directly). God bless you in your journey.

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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.
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
    • 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.

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    • KimBaxleyWilson

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