Spoke to the bariatric center today and they said all my test came back good that i am approved for the surgery. Appointment number 2 with the surgeon tomorrow which will go over some stuff and then i go next door to schedule my surgery and they will let me know how long of a liquid diet i will be on before the surgery and also i can buy the protein shakes there they said which i will buy a couple since i have no idea what they taste like. Then comes the very sad part... I start writing checks to pay for this surgery. I'm gonna cry watching nearly $18,000 come out of my checking account lol.

3 minutes ago, liveaboard15 said:

Spoke to the bariatric center today and they said all my test came back good that i am approved for the surgery. Appointment number 2 with the surgeon tomorrow which will go over some stuff and then i go next door to schedule my surgery and they will let me know how long of a liquid diet i will be on before the surgery and also i can buy the Protein Shakes there they said which i will buy a couple since i have no idea what they taste like. Then comes the very sad part... I start writing checks to pay for this surgery. I'm gonna cry watching nearly $18,000 come out of my checking account lol.

Yay!!! ? Congrats! And boo about your poor checking account! ?

I'm happy for you, you deserve it on the road to a better life of health awesome.

Congrats and I hope you see it the same as me, money well spent. I don't regret a single penny. My fitness is amazing compared to sitting all day. I am getting my independence back

1 hour ago, liveaboard15 said:

Then comes the very sad part... I start writing checks to pay for this surgery. I'm gonna cry watching nearly $18,000 come out of my checking account lol.

I feel your pain on this one! But, I have to say I haven't regretted the money I spent on the surgery. It's tough to hand it over, but I'm sure you will do amazing and it will be well worth it.

So funny part is i got a call like 20 minutes ago from the bariatrics that they made a mistake that one of my test came back abnormal (EKG) that they cant approve the surgery yet. I was like "yea i know i saw the results, Already took care of it, Saw a cardiologist, who had me do a nuclear stress test and gave me clearance for the surgery" She was like "WOW, you are on top of it all arent you?" LMAO i was like damn straight.

I looked at doing self-pay in the States and $18k seems to be the standard price and probably well worth the investment. Have you considered doing it outside the US to save money? I’m going to Mexico for VSG and the price is less than 1/3rd.

11 minutes ago, Limafery said:

I looked at doing self-pay in the States and $18k seems to be the standard price and probably well worth the investment. Have you considered doing it outside the US to save money? I’m going to Mexico for VSG and the price is less than 1/3rd.

Yea i checked out the mexico places. around $8-10K. Dont really wanna go to another country for surgery and also have to travel. Just want to go from the hospital to my house that is 20 minutes away and recover

Being close to home is definitely an advantage. I live in Southern California so the trip for me isn’t long.

Congratulations and good work getting all the clearances they didn’t even ask for. Lol.

Just curious, as a self pay patient also, how long have you been going to the surgeon? How many/what testing did you have to complete?

Because I’m doing my surgery out of the country, I won’t meet the surgeon until the day before. I researched a lot before I chose a doctor/clinic and all communication has been by phone and e-mail so far. I had to submit medical information before I was approved and all the pre-op testing will happen the day before the scheduled surgery.

58 minutes ago, RaisnHL said:

Just curious, as a self pay patient also, how long have you been going to the surgeon? How many/what testing did you have to complete?

Before today i only saw the surgeon once for the initial appointment. Which then i got my lab orders and stuff i needed to do before i could move on. Chest Xray, EKG, Blood test (11 different test) , and a psychological evaluation (Which is what took the longest because there was no appointment for 2 months) One of my test came back abnormal which was the EKG. So i had to go to a cardiologist to get clearance for surgery, Cardiologist had me do a nuclear stress test which came back good and i got clearance last week. Today was my 2nd visit with the surgeon and that only lasted maybe 3 minutes or so and was told i had to do a 2 week liquid diet before my surgery and of course paid the money today. I should get a call in the next day or two to schedule the surgery

46 minutes ago, Limafery said:

Because I’m doing my surgery out of the country, I won’t meet the surgeon until the day before. I researched a lot before I chose a doctor/clinic and all communication has been by phone and e-mail so far. I had to submit medical information before I was approved and all the pre-op testing will happen the day before the scheduled surgery.

Thats interesting you do the preop stuff the day before because one of my pre op testing came back abnormal and i had to make a appointment with a cardiologist who then sent me to a testing place to have a nuclear stress test done and that whole process took a extra 2 weeks.

Part of the reason I chose to have the surgery out of pocket was because the hoops required by US insurance companies. It can be ridiculous and defeating and it seems solely for purposes of avoiding liability. All my research says this is an incredibly easy operation with minimal complications and the hospitals in Mexico make available their own records regarding complications. Although this surgery has risks, the risks of continued obesity also has risks. I’m in a support group of pre-op and post-op patients with the clinic I’m scheduled with, and there have been very few mentions of complications. And surgeries have only been canceled/postponed due to positive Covid tests. I do recall one person posted that her surgery was postponed because her blood pressure dropped drastically and the surgeons couldn’t bring it back to safe levels for the operation. She went back six months later and had it done successfully.

I'm not a medical tourist, but my friend went to Mexico two years ago for VSG because she couldn't qualify here in the US because she has an eating disorder. She went and had the surgery without telling anyone except her husband and kids. So yeah there's a lot of reasons people opt for surgery in Mexico. And no I do not condone what she did. I was upset with her for a while and it's still a tense topic between us, because now she's developed transfer addiction and drinks way too much and neglects her nutrition.