Keeping my head up!

[Gotchaby1 19]

I found out yesterday morning that my BCBS of Ga insurance had an exclusion for bariatric surgery/drugs so I will NOT be having any weight loss surgery now. I went through a day of feeling sorry for myself, crying my eyes out and just being depressed and mad at myself for letting myself get to this point. When my husband got home, he hugged me, told me to get dressed and we hit the gym. This morning I went for a mile walk, I will NOT let this little stepping stone get me down any further. Now to find a low carb, low fat diet I can stick with and I will be okay. Good luck to all of you on your journey!

[BeagleLover 1,020]

Please see the notices on this site in which Bariatric Pal has contacted experienced Mexican surgeons and made arrangements for no middle man. $4400 WITH financing available. If I were in your shoes, I would check this out.

As an alternative, you can possibly select an insurance plan that does provide bariatric coverage.

Edited August 21, 2014 by BeagleLover

[JamieLogical 8,727]

I would consider self-pay with some sort of financing. I'm having my surgery with one of Newsweek's top 15 bariatric surgeons in the world for a price my husband and I were comfortable with. We had to take out a loan, but it's nothing that's going to break us. Our payments will come out to about $100/month for 5 years.

[Jersrose43 837]

Get other insurance! Take advantage of obamacare open enrollment in October. Do the research of who covers what and get prepared.

Pick up the other coverage and the drop it after.

[JamieLogical 8,727]

Get other insurance! Take advantage of obamacare open enrollment in October. Do the research of who covers what and get prepared.

Pick up the other coverage and the drop it after.

You can only qualify for the exchanges if your employer doesn't provide coverage. I'm assuming the OP is like most people and gets coverage through work?

[Gotchaby1 19]

Flying to another country is out of the question, I am not that desperate to put my life in a foreigners hands and have to fly back and forth for follow-ups, and I sure would not advise anyone else to do that!! I am unemployed at the time and am under my husband's insurance. I buckled down and lost 50 pounds last year so I feel I can do it again, no, I think this was a wake up call and put a fire under my behind to get healthier and start doing what I need to be doing.

[JamieLogical 8,727]

Obviously the choice to travel outside the US is an individual one, but you should not be so quick to assume that the care you receive from "foreigners" would be any worse than what you would receive here in the US. As I said above, the surgeon I am going to is one of the top 15 in the world, according to Newsweek magazine. Certainly better than anyone I would be able to see here locally in Rochester, NY. As for follow-ups, labs will be ordered by my PCP and she and I will both have access to my surgeon's clinic via phone and email for any questions, concerns, or consultations. My PCP is completely on board with my decision to travel for my surgery, as well as my choice of surgeon. I see no need for concern.

[CowgirlJane 14,261]

Well the important thing is you are not giving up. I highly recommend a low to moderate carb diet like south beach or something similar. I could no longer lose or maintain via diets but if a person CAN that is even better.

[VSGAnn2014 12,992]

Just so you know, "Newsweek" has nothing to do with rating those surgeons. Or lawyers. Or hospitals. Or anything else that "appears in Newsweek." Newsweek merely publishes the findings of the company that pays Newsweek to publish their findings.

[2muchfun 8,928]

Consider the 5:2 intermittent fasting diet if you do decide to go back to dieting? I altered it to be 4:3 for myself but I've found that intermittent fasting diets are much easier to tolerate than 7 days a week depriving. I had plateaued for 3 months and now have lost 15 lbs in 2.5 months with the IF method.

[JamieLogical 8,727]

Just so you know, "Newsweek" has nothing to do with rating those surgeons. Or lawyers. Or hospitals. Or anything else that "appears in Newsweek." Newsweek merely publishes the findings of the company that pays Newsweek to publish their findings.

Well, I'm obviously not basing my decision solely on the Newsweek article, which I haven't even read, honestly. I'm basing my decision on a number of factors, including the couple hundred people on this web site that have had nothing but positive things to say about their experiences with my surgeon and his clinic. Those posts and reviews I actually HAVE read every single word of.

Not to mention the fact that I have traveled for surgery in the past and had a 100% positive experience. So I know first-hand that it's possible for "foreigners" to meet and exceed the level of care we would receive in the US. I know for a fact that had I had my previous surgery in the US, I wouldn't have received anything near the level of care I received in Mexico. I had 24/7 personal nursing care for two full weeks. People having that same surgery here in the US would have been sent home the second or third day to completely fend for themselves.

[Jersrose43 837]

You can only qualify for the exchanges if your employer doesn't provide coverage. I'm assuming the OP is like most people and gets coverage through work?

Qualifying means eligibility for financial assistance. You can buy it anytime you want it from any carrier who offers it without financial assistance provided by the government

[Gotchaby1 19]

You are absolutely right, going to a different country is ones own opinion, mine is I love myself and my family way too much to even entertain that risk. But to each his own....My PCP highly recommends NOT to do this because of risk of infection and quality of service, The old saying is true, you get what you pay for!

But again...the best to you and your journey.

[Gotchaby1 19]

, I wouldn't have received anything near the level of care I received in Mexico. I had 24/7 personal nursing care for two full weeks. People having that same surgery here in the US would have been sent home the second or third day to completely fend for themselves.

I have went through 2 c-sections, and 2 other major abdominal surgeries and in no way needed two weeks of round the clock care. 2-3 days seems quite sufficient for this surgery as long as you get up and start moving as soon as possible! My friend had the gastric sleeve 4 months ago and was up and about within 3 days, and wanting to go back to work by the next week and she was larger than me.

I'm just saying I would be one miserable you know what if I had to stay there that long!

Edited August 21, 2014 by Gotchaby1

[VSGAnn2014 12,992]

I had surgery this past Monday morning. Left the hospital Tuesday afternoon.

Was ready to go.

The trouble with all these "My surgeon is the best ever!" testimonials is that it's like nominating your second grade school teacher for Best Second Grade School Teacher in the World prize. You had one second-grade teacher -- and, therefore, no basis for personal comparison.

Likewise, everyone has only one WLS surgeon. Pre-surgery, our only basis for comparison is word of mouth and the number of times we hear the surgeon's name mentioned favorably. (It's called advertising.)

And after surgery, each of us decides whether ours was good or not by the experience we had. Many of us also invest a little ego and hope in our surgeon being better than others' surgeons -- it's a version of psychological mojo.

All the forums have some people who post incessantly about their fabulous Mexican surgeon -- because they get a commission on future patients they direct to the surgeon's practice. (If you haven't had private messages here or at other boards from WLS patients who just LOVE their Mexican surgeon and want to put you in touch with one of his coordinators, you've led a sheltered life.)

Funny how that doesn't happen for US surgeons.

And yes -- there are some fine Mexican surgeons.

And yes -- there are some fine US and Canadian and UK and Saudi and Australian (etc.) surgeons.

But this silliness that Mexico is somehow natively a better place to have surgery is ... well, silly. Cheaper, yes. But better? I've seen zero evidence for that.

Edited August 21, 2014 by VSGAnn2014