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Anyone having gastric sleeve surgery in the Tampa Bay area during March or April?

7TimesBlessed

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7TimesBlessed    16

7TimesBlessed
Posted

Wondering if there is anyone having the gastric sleeve in the Tampa Bay area during March or April.

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rubia72    200

rubia72
Posted

Well, I pray that my surgery will be in March. I feel that I've met my 3 month diet with my primary who's been trying to help me for over a year. I've met with the surgeon, he asked me to get a chest X-ray and blood work, which I finished today and my psych evaluation is next Friday!

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MMAY0826    6

MMAY0826
Posted

My surgery is March 10th. Im a couple hours southeast of Tampa.

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Andi07    63

Andi07
Posted

I'm in Tampa! I have my consult this Friday so I'm hoping to have a date within the next couple of weeks. Congrats on your date/surgery!

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ohh_that_girl    22

ohh_that_girl
Posted

Woo! Tampa! I live South of Tampa, still considered Tampa Bay Area. I am scheduled for March 14th but unfortunately my health insurance has a bariatric exclusion which has led me to have surgery in Mexico.

Are you going to the Florida Hospital in Tampa? I went to a seminar there to see what the self pay option looked like stateside, and he seemed like an experienced and knowledgeable doctor. In any case, good luck on your journey! :)

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Marie2016    87

Marie2016
Posted

Hi, I hope to find out my date soon. I have a tentative date of March 16. for the sleeve. I live in Pinellas County- Tarpon Springs Area. I can't wait... Having surgery at Mease Dunedin

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7TimesBlessed    16

7TimesBlessed
Posted

Woo! Tampa! I live South of Tampa, still considered Tampa Bay Area. I am scheduled for March 14th but unfortunately my health insurance has a bariatric exclusion which has led me to have surgery in Mexico.

Are you going to the Florida Hospital in Tampa? I went to a seminar there to see what the self pay option looked like stateside, and he seemed like an experienced and knowledgeable doctor. In any case, good luck on your journey! :)

Thank you. I will be having surgery on March 9 th in Tampa. Good luck to you also

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ctampa    0

ctampa
Posted

Where in Mexico are you having your surgery? Can you share the name of the physician in Mexico. My insurance has an exclusion also. Is pricing comparable to that here in the Tampa Bay area?

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bluemangos    30

bluemangos
Posted

I'm going to Dr Ramos Kelly & although he's not the cheapest in Mexico, he's fantastic. Definitely cheaper than here - I found $15-30k in Tampa, $5-8k w/ Dr Ramos Kelly (depending on your health, etc).

I know ooh_that_girl is going to a different Dr in Mexico that he's excited about - there's definitely great surgeons in Mexico, just definitely do your research :-)

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ohh_that_girl    22

ohh_that_girl
Posted

Where in Mexico are you having your surgery? Can you share the name of the physician in Mexico. My insurance has an exclusion also. Is pricing comparable to that here in the Tampa Bay area?

I'm going with Dr. Guillermo Alvarez with Endobariatrics and going to Mexico is definitely cheaper than stateside. You do have to keep in mind you will be keeping yourself accountable, whereas many stateside doctors have follow ups and resources to help keep you on track. I went to a seminar at Florida hospital in Tampa near USF for Dr. Dietrich and his self pay option was about $15,000 but that includes access to a nutritionist etc. Dr. Alvarez is about $8500 which includes the hotel prior to hospital stay, two full days in the hospital, and another night in a hotel by the air port. He's definitely not the cheapest in Mexico but he has many many positive reviews and a lot of experience (over 6,000 surgeries). He has even published a book on vsg. You have to figure out what's important to you and what you're comfortable with. At first I was very skeptical about going to Mexico but it's what has allowed me to afford the surgery and not put it off any longer.

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Patti66    11

Patti66
Posted

I live in Pinellas County. I am pre surgery but at the finish line. Just waiting for my date. Would love a support buddy to help get through this.

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bluemangos    30

bluemangos
Posted

I live in Pinellas County. I am pre surgery but at the finish line. Just waiting for my date. Would love a support buddy to help get through this.

Send me a friend request / message on Facebook if you want to be added to an awesome secret group for people being sleeved this spring :-) Alea Birbeck, same pic

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G530AZ using Tapatalk

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7TimesBlessed    16

7TimesBlessed
Posted

Hi,

I sent you a FB request.

Thanks

I live in Pinellas County. I am pre surgery but at the finish line. Just waiting for my date. Would love a support buddy to help get through this.

Send me a friend request / message on Facebook if you want to be added to an awesome secret group for people being sleeved this spring :-) Alea Birbeck, same pic

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G530AZ using Tapatalk

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Go To Topic Listing PRE-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A

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      It's been 10 long years! Here is my VSG weight loss surgiversary update..
      https://www.ae1bmerchme.com/post/10-year-surgiversary-update-for-2024 
      · 0 replies
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    • Aunty Mamo

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      Iʻm roughly 6 weeks post-op this morning and have begun to feel like a normal human, with a normal human body again. I started introducing solid foods and pill forms of medications/supplements a couple of weeks ago and it's really amazing to eat meals with my family again, despite the fact that my portions are so much smaller than theirs. 
      I live on the island of Oʻahu and spend a lot of time in the water- for exercise, for play,  and for spiritual & mental health. The day I had my month out appointment with my surgeon, I packed all my gear in my truck, anticipating his permission to get back in the ocean. The minute I walked out of that hospital I drove straight to the shore and got in that water. Hallelujah! My appointment was at 10 am. I didn't get home until after 5 pm. 
      I'm down 31 pounds since the day of surgery and 47 since my pre-op diet began, with that typical week long stall occurring at three weeks. I'm really starting to see some changes lately- some of my clothing is too big, some fits again. The most drastic changes I notice however are in my face. I've also noticed my endurance and flexibility increasing. I was really starting to be held up physically, and I'm so grateful that I'm seeing that turn around in such short order. 
      My general disposition lately is hopeful and motivated. The only thing that bugs me on a daily basis still is the way those supplements make my house smell. So stink! But I just bought a smell proof bag online that other people use to put their pot in. My house doesn't stink anymore. 
       
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    • BeanitoDiego

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      Oh yeah, something I wanted to rant about, a billing dispute that cropped up 3 months ago.
      Surgery was in August of 2023. A bill shows up for over $7,000 in January. WTF? I asks myself. I know that I jumped through all of the insurance hoops and verified this and triple checked that, as did the surgeon's office. All was set, and I paid all of the known costs before surgery.
      A looong story short, is that an assistant surgeon that was in the process of accepting money from my insurance company touched me while I was under anesthesia. That is what the bill was for. But hey, guess what? Some federal legislation was enacted last year to help patients out when they cannot consent to being touched by someone out of their insurance network. These types of bills fall under something called, "surprise billing," and you don't have to put up with it.
      https://www.cms.gov/nosurprises
      I had to make a lot of phone calls to both the surgeon's office and the insurance company and explain my rights and what the maximum out of pocket costs were that I could be liable for. Also had to remind them that it isn't my place to be taking care of all of this and that I was going to escalate things if they could not play nice with one another.
      Quick ending is that I don't have to pay that $7,000+. Advocate, advocate, advocate for yourself no matter how long it takes and learn more about this law if you are ever hit with a surprise bill.
      · 0 replies
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    • BeanitoDiego

      BeanitoDiego

      Some days I feel like an infiltrator... I'm participating in society as a "thin" person. They have no idea that I haven't always been one of them! 🤣
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    • ChunkCat

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      Thank you everyone for your well wishes! I totally forgot I wrote an update here... I'm one week post op today. I gained 15 lbs in water weight overnight because they had to give me tons of fluids to bring my BP up after surgery! I stayed one night in the hospital. Everything has been fine except I seem to have picked up a bug while I was there and I've been running a low grade fever, coughing, and a sore throat. So I've been hydrating well and sleeping a ton. So far the Covid tests are negative.
      I haven't been able to advance my diet past purees. Everything I eat other than tofu makes me choke and feels like trying to swallow rocks. They warned me it would get worse before it gets better, so lets hope this is all normal. I have my follow up on Monday so we'll see. Living on shakes and soup again is not fun. I had enough of them the first time!! LOL 
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.

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