Hi everyone - Hope this gives you a little laugh, or at least a smirk. First a quick bio - I'm a newbie, hoping to talk my husband into agreeing to my much needed VSG. He's not against the surgery, just the cost as our INS (Aetna) doesn't cover it. We're on a serious "paying down debt" deal right now which is great of course but kind of counter-productive to my evil scheme of persuading DH to part with thousands. But I WILL win !!

Anyway, here's what happened yesterday. I was reading our local paper and saw a big ad for a hospital that was beginning a physician assisted weight loss program. My interest was piqued so I called. A young girl (receptionist - sounded skinny !!) answered and I asked her to tell me all about it. She said it's $275.00 initially, then the cost of lab work etc. then the cost of Vitamins, supplements, yada yada yada. So far all I had gotten was costs - no information, so I stopped her and said, tell me exactly what this program is ? she said well the doctor weighs you, determines your BMI, takes your measurements and then calculates the amount of weight you must lose and then he puts together an eating program for you to achieve your ideal weight.

I heard myself say to her "And you think I don't already know all that" ? I mean seriously ???? - speaking for myself here, I could author a book on what to eat and what NOT to eat, what exercise I SHOULD be doing and what my goal weight should be. Holy cow, I could be on TV as a world authority (along with several million of my overweight friends) who have tried every diet, fad, exercise craze, pill, powder, potion and "As Seen On TV" wonder.

Anyway, that's my vent - hows your day going !!

LOL!!! That is too funny! I can literally explain every diet with every rule of that diet to anyone who care to listen!!! Right with you on this one!!!! HAHAHAH

Ain't that the truth!

I love it when people say, all you have to do is stop eating and you'll lose weight. Well.. DUH?

I've got 55 years experience in dieting... We are all "Professional Dieters". I could write books on diet and nutrition, I can tell you off the top of my head how many "points" are in any given food in any amount. Having the VSG is my last resort, certainly not my first choice, nor is it the easy way to deal with my volume / binge eating disorder. I will have to be extremely conscious of everything I put in my mouth for the rest of my life. The sleeve is a tool, not a cure. My Insurance wouldn't pay for my surgery either. After lots of research on Dr's and facilities, I've decided to go to Piedras Negras, MX with Dr. Alvarez. Check out your options if insurance is not an option.

I don't think its that expensive to go to Mexico to have it done. $5500 is a great deal. We are also no debt people and we just paid cash.

my flight was $124 and I spent some money down there on things for the kids. Over all $6K saved my life. It was the easiest thing I ever did for myself.

I used Dr. Ponce De Leon.

The part of your post where you said the young woman who answered the phone "sounded skinny" made me laugh....LOL!!!

Wait, you mean if I just weigh myself, get some exercise and eat a special diet I'll be skinny?!

I swear the last nutritionist I saw knew less about diets than me. We discussed the fact that I'd had my metabolism tested and that I needed less than 1,200 calories a day to lose weight. Her suggestion? Eat the 1,200 calories (cause otherwise I'd "be in starvation mode"), but exercise enough to burn off an additional 600 calories a day so I'd have my deficit.

Yeah. I'll get right on that.

I paid for my own sleeve shortly after that. Worth every penny of the small monthly payment, I promise!

~Cheri

Yeah. I'll get right on that.

~Cheri

Roflmaoo

Thanks Girls SO MUCH for your responses !! - CHERI - you made me howl with laughter you should be a writer. I am planning on doing the same as you - monthly payments and I totally agree - it will be the best money i ever spend. Did you finance it ? and who with ? I was approved with BeLiteWeight but they come out to $7100 for Dr Rod in Juarez and everywhere else is running almost 3K cheaper than that so I'm not ready to commit just yet. But there is another thing that kind of "bothered" me about BeLiteWeight - when I first contacted them and they got back to me - one of the first things they said was that they "didn't use BLACK MARKET staples" which of course was inferring that other places do. Now this had quite the opposite affect on me than they probably wanted. I really don't like scare tactics and this seemed like they were saying - "sure we're more expensive but we're much safer than everyone else" and I just don't believe that, especially after reading all the great reviews, it clearly isn't true. Not to say I won't still go with them but I am certainly open to ideas on someone else so please holler and let me know your stories (also financing stories please !!) really need to pin something down here soon. Cheers !!

You can get good prices in Mexico and a lot of people have great things to say about it. I didn't have a passport and found Dr. Shillingford in Boca Raton, Florida who did mine for $10,500. All inclusive..........it covers everything!!

Hi everyone - Hope this gives you a little laugh, or at least a smirk. First a quick bio - I'm a newbie, hoping to talk my husband into agreeing to my much needed VSG. He's not against the surgery, just the cost as our INS (Aetna) doesn't cover it. We're on a serious "paying down debt" deal right now which is great of course but kind of counter-productive to my evil scheme of persuading DH to part with thousands. But I WILL win !!

Anyway, here's what happened yesterday. I was reading our local paper and saw a big ad for a hospital that was beginning a physician assisted weight loss program. My interest was piqued so I called. A young girl (receptionist - sounded skinny !!) answered and I asked her to tell me all about it. She said it's $275.00 initially, then the cost of lab work etc. then the cost of Vitamins, supplements, yada yada yada. So far all I had gotten was costs - no information, so I stopped her and said, tell me exactly what this program is ? she said well the doctor weighs you, determines your BMI, takes your measurements and then calculates the amount of weight you must lose and then he puts together an eating program for you to achieve your ideal weight.

I heard myself say to her "And you think I don't already know all that" ? I mean seriously ???? - speaking for myself here, I could author a book on what to eat and what NOT to eat, what exercise I SHOULD be doing and what my goal weight should be. Holy cow, I could be on TV as a world authority (along with several million of my overweight friends) who have tried every diet, fad, exercise craze, pill, powder, potion and "As Seen On TV" wonder.

Anyway, that's my vent - hows your day going !!

Day is going good!!! You'd think a DOCTOR would know, diets don't work. Of course many, if not most of us, can lose, especially on a doctor supervised 'diet' but as soon as we go back to real life, all the weight, plus some, comes back. Oh well.....we all have gone through diets, fad, doctor supervised.....etc. Tell your husband HE will benefit from you having surgery.

Thank you sleeve guru and congrats on your goal achievement. I can only imagine how fantastic that must have felt. It's quite startling to me how much doctors DON'T know about obesity and weight loss. I was talking to my GP at a recent visit and of course my weight came up again - I love how they look at my chart and say "you should probably try and lose a little weight" - to me that's no different than saying to a heroin addict "probably a good idea if you didn't shoot up anymore" By the way, I see you reached your goal in 6 months, very impressive. How much did you have to lose ? - I am 220 so probably thinking about 80 pounds for me.

Thank you sleeve guru and congrats on your goal achievement. I can only imagine how fantastic that must have felt. It's quite startling to me how much doctors DON'T know about obesity and weight loss. I was talking to my GP at a recent visit and of course my weight came up again - I love how they look at my chart and say "you should probably try and lose a little weight" - to me that's no different than saying to a heroin addict "probably a good idea if you didn't shoot up anymore" By the way, I see you reached your goal in 6 months, very impressive. How much did you have to lose ? - I am 220 so probably thinking about 80 pounds for me.

I THOUGHT I wanted to lose 60 lbs, but it happened so quickly, I KNEW I had underestimated what I could do with this new little tummy!!! I started out at 228 and lost 85 pounds. I go up and down, comfortably maintaining between 144 and 147. It was thrilling, exciting....just wait, you won't believe what your life will be like a year post - op!!!! Good luck!!!

You can borrow money from a 401k if you have one.

You can borrow money from a 401k if you have one.

How does that work?

You contact the company who holds your 401k. Its a loan so you have to pay it back within 5 years.