Hi all,

I am considering, very seriously, of getting banded. I'm 5'5" and 275 lbs. I'm pretty sure that gives me a BMI of over 40 (and no thanks, I don't need an exact number just yet, lol).

I live in the KC, MO area and went to one seminar held by Malley Surgical Weight Loss.

I know I need to get this done, but I'm terrified of putting my family into major debt to pay for this. My insurance specifically excludes everything to do with weight loss and any medical costs that result from it.

Have any of you who have self-paid regretted the financial decision? Would you have preferred to wait until you saved up the money?

Also how do you find the best Dr. to have it done? I don't want the cheapest nor do I want to pay for the most expensive either. I want the best Dr. I can afford. Any help you can give would be great.

I hope to spend a lot of time here, getting as informed as I can.

Hi Jena - I'm 5'5'' and started at 265 and my bmi was 43.7....that's as much as you probably want to know. :eek:

I paid cash for my surgery because my insurance only covers gastric bypass and I'm not a candidate for that. The cost of mine was $16,750, but I was able to shave some off by having my own doctor do the psych eval and my own cardiologist do the heart testing. I think I could have got it cheaper and we certainly couldhave paid more. You really want to find your own sweet spot...not judging just by money, but by quality and reputation.

This site has a lot of good resources for dr. referrals...definitely look for bariatric center of excellence for both the facility and the surgeon.

As far as regret...I'm only 6 days out...I have lost 26 pounds. I'm only now starting to turn the corner where I may feel good enough to feel it was worth it.

As far as money, we used our work bonuses and borrowed $5k from my parents, who really wanted me to do it. Other people have used their home equity line of credit and (at least in California) there is a financing program called CarePay which has really low interest rates.

There are lots of options for payment and providers...do your homework and good luck!!!

:w00t:

I had to pay 11,000 and my insurance paid 5,000. I do not regret it all. I feel it was worth it.

Do plenty of research. Check out the "complications forum." You need to talk to people who have had problems; not just patients who have been successful. You should also definitely check out the sleeve gastrectomy, which is becoming very popular, and may have a better success rate.

Mark Pleatman MD

website www.laparoscopy.com/pleatman