Hello Everyone!

I'm ready to get banded. I'm ready for a life change. I've been a big girl all my life and i'm ready to change that. I know LapBand is the solution for me, i'm confidant and i have all the support in the world from my family and most important my hubby:smile:. I've tried dieting, taking pills you know the works and all i do is yo-yo back and forth. My question is how do i get all this process started? I know i'm going to be self-pay since my insurance doesnt cover lapband procedures and i've already been to many seminars and i'm just ready to get it all done. What's my next step? I would really appreciate any information you guys can give me. Thanks in advance for any info:smile:

If you are self pay, I would suggest going to Mexico. That's what a lot of us did. They keep you at least an extra night, instead of doing it as a outpatient and treat you like royalty. If you have it done in the U.S. there will be lots of extra charges and just more red tape. I decided and used one of the sites I googled and had it done within about 3 weeks of my decision.

My surgery date was July 9th, 2008, good luck.

There is a long thread how to pick a doctor in Mexico, but there are lots of good ones, first pick which city you want to go to. Im in Texas, so Juarez, thru El Paso was the obvious choice.

After attending a seminar, you need to schedule an appointment with a surgeon. If you're not 100% sure which surgeon you want, schedule an appointment with everyone you like. They'll outline the next steps from there.

Hello Everyone!

I'm ready to get banded. I'm ready for a life change. I've been a big girl all my life and i'm ready to change that. I know LapBand is the solution for me, i'm confidant and i have all the support in the world from my family and most important my hubby:smile:. I've tried dieting, taking pills you know the works and all i do is yo-yo back and forth. My question is how do i get all this process started? I know i'm going to be self-pay since my insurance doesnt cover lapband procedures and i've already been to many seminars and i'm just ready to get it all done. What's my next step? I would really appreciate any information you guys can give me. Thanks in advance for any info:smile:

Since you are in TX, try Dr Alanis in Houston. www.dralanis.com. I use him and he is AWESOME!! Part of His goal is to encourage people who would otherwise go to Mexico, have the surgery done here in the US. Excellent bedside manners - you will LOVE HIM. He is very very affordable as well. I think at the same cost or similar as someone going to Mexico.

I was self pay, too. I went through TLCEdge in Plano. The staff was very friendly and supportive. They took care of setting up all my appointments. I went in on Oct. 21 and had my surgery on Nov. 6!

I didn't go to a regular seminar. They have a "one on one" orientation available. My cost to them was $9990. The only other expense I had was the psych evaluation. It was $365, and I could have gotten my insurance to cover that but decided not to deal with the hassles. Several of the women there have been banded so they understand our struggle. Oh, and the price includes 6 fills in the first 12 months. I have had one fill so far and I am scheduled for my second one on Jan 15th. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

I know alot of people have had good experiences going to Mexico, but I was concerned about finding a doctor for aftercare. Some of them won't touch a patient who were banded in Mexico. Do your research!

Best of luck to you!

Pink,

I would say to pick a Dr. If you are self Pay.. be selective , it is your right to choose. Make sure you are happy with them. Ask questions about after care, do they have a 24 hour emergency line? what all does the price include, how many fills, for how long. Even if that Dr is more expensive than the others or Mexico, I found that having complete faith in my Dr and having him 30 min away was SOOOO worth the extra money. You can not put a price on health and PEACE OF MIND.

Once you select your Dr, since you are self pay, it should go a little faster. You SHOULD have some medical testing to do. Also, double check with your insurance, sometimes they will pay some on the fills.

Congrads on your decision, You will not regret it.

Lois

I was self pay, too. I went through TLCEdge in Plano. The staff was very friendly and supportive. They took care of setting up all my appointments. I went in on Oct. 21 and had my surgery on Nov. 6! !

Hi neighbor. Im in Richardson, right next to Plano. Just for a comparison. I paid $6500 and there is a very good doctor at Medical City that charges $150 per fill for those banded in the U.S. but $250 for Mexico bandees I could have gone to. I choose Dr. Stephanie in Tyler. She charges $200, but uses fluro and a barium swallow for each fill, but then there is gas to drive both ways added in. Iv had 3 fills @ $200 added to the $6500 plus plane fare to El Paso on SW which would have been around $200, but I came home instead of staying their their hotel, and it cost about another $100 to change my airfare last minute. I was meet at the airport and driven to the hospital in Juarez about 20 minutes over the border and back to the airport. I could have schedeled sooner, but it was cheaper to purchase airfare 2 weeks in advance, we actually pushed the date back by a week. I could have scheduled as fast as you did.

It is true, if you are paying extra for fills you need to add that into the cost. Dr. Stephanie says Im as tight as she will make me. I had to talk her into keeping in a .5 cc fill last time so I doubt I will go back for another fill anytime soon. Ill probably haven one more fill before my first year is up. My doctor would have done free fills as well, but I decided its too far to go to get them. I had a IV for pain for 24 hours and at least 5 nurses around all the time, and only 3 patients on the floor. If I wanted help tying my shoe, they did it, whatever I needed.