I just sent this to a friend and I thought you guys might be able to give me some independent analysis. I’m so busy worrying about all this, I don’t know if I’m seeing this clearly. I know this is long, but any thoughts/ideas/feedback would be welcome.

Thanks all,

SJ

I’m still pondering the whole lap-band surgery thing. I’ve decided I’m definitely going to do it. The problem is, I have a few options and I don’t know what to do. I’m pretty miserable in my current state so I want to do it now now now, but if I could be patient, it really would be better for me.

Option 1: HMO

Pros: everything (except $500) would be covered – pre-appointments, surgery, anesthesia, hospital, and after care and I’d have it done at UCLA which is one of the best places in the country to do this and is 15 minutes from home. Well…20 minutes in LA traffic. They also have all kinds of support groups and great after care.

Cons: I have to be on a medically supervised diet for SIX months. That seems like forever. And I would spend the whole time being mental because I actually need to GAIN about ten pounds to qualify. I can’t imagine anything as crazy-making as trying to diet and gain weight at the same time. Anyway, after all that, only then can I apply and be evaluated. It could take up to three weeks for them to process my paperwork, plus there are classes to attend and appointments with the program manager, the surgeon, the nutritionist, and the shrink. Basically, this whole process could be 8 months. That’s JUNE for pity’s sake. I could wait 3 months. I could probably even wait 6 months. But eight? That’s practically a whole year! And in the meantime, I’d have to focus on not losing weight, so I’d be exactly as I am for almost a year.

Option 2: PPO

Pros: I set up a consultation for next week and maybe have the surgery before the end of the year. They could very well deny me if they use the same standards as the HMO, but they could approve too. I’d have it done Cedars-Sinai, which is also a great place – it’s one of the first places in the US where the lap-band surgery was done. It’s where Sharon osbourne had her’s done (although they really shouldn’t have done it because she’s bulimic)

Cons: It’ll be about $5000 out of pocket, which sucks, but it’s a for good cause. I might have to pay for after care as well and that could add up. I don’t have all the details. I’m expecting a decent-sized tax return next year, so that would help a little.

Option 3: Pick my own doctor

Pros: : no waiting time. I could probably call today and have it done within a month.

Cons: $$$$$$! Somewhere in the neighborhood of $18K, plus an extra $150 for follow up office visits and fills

Option 4: Mexico!

Pros: : There are a couple of reputable places down there where I could have it done. I’ve been visiting an online forum so I have an idea of what these places are like. I’d do a consult over the phone and I could be in surgery next week if I wanted to. The other advantage is they’ve been doing lap-band in Mexico for 10 years, whereas it was only approved a few years ago in the U.S.

Cons: It’s Mexico. I’m being prejudiced, I know, but there is something that sounds really sketchy about going to Tijuana for surgery. They don’t have the same medical standards or legal recourse. If something goes wrong, I’m screwed. Like, if I get an infection, I have to keep going back down there for aftercare, etc. And if something major goes wrong, I don’t think my insurance would cover it beyond the usual emergency room stuff. Plus, I’d have to find a doctor in the US to do my fills and that’s another expense. $10,000 out of pocket – it’s way cheaper than in the US, but I’ve only just recovered financially from the whole BBM fiasco (those bastards) and spending that kind of money on the surgery would mean a major delay in my home-buying plans. [bBM was a personal training program that ripped me off for $5,000. I hate them with the white-hot passion of a thousand suns.]

What to do, what to do. I wish somebody would just give me $20,000. Maybe I can raise some money online…

Look around for cheaper US prices. My self pay band was 12,600 and someone in San Antonion does the band for 10,500.

Well, you sure have thought things out! A person after my own heart! I would opt for #1 for a couple of reasons. I'm a tightwad, and don't like to spend money if I don't have to.

Also, something to keep in mind is that during this supervised time, you will most likey be also doing an excersize portion. This alone will make your healthier for your banding. It will reduce your "down" time after your surgery and increase your lean muscle mass.

Most people don't realize that your after care is just as important, if not more so, than your actual banding. Getting the band isn't just a "Pop down to Old Mexico and your done" sort of thing. That's just the first step, or one of the first steps. You have to understand that where you get your fills is vital. We all know, or should know, that the band doesn't work without a fill. Does Not Work Without A Fill.

The Band is about making changes to your lifestyle. A proper supervised weight loss program is about making changes to your lifestyle. Who knows, after your 6 months, it is possible that you won't need the band.

Oh, and as for the time, well, if I can leave my family, my son and husband, and go off to a 4 year universtity for FOUR years, you can do 8 months. Trust me.

I think the PPO option is a good compromise if you have the money and you're absolutely sure that this is what you want to do. Picking a doctor and paying out of pocket, whether in the US or Mexico is silly when you have insurance to cover it here.

If you think you can get committed to an exercise program, and/or you are uncertain at all about whether you want to do this, then take the 6 months and see what you can accomplish with the supervised diet.

Good luck with your decision!

Well, I agree with Crystal on this one. I would definitely go with option #1. Not only is it the most cost effective, but it will give you the time to prepare yourself for the change in lifestyle. The 8 months you would have to wait is not all that long compared to the rest of your life.

The PPO is not an awful decision, but $5,000 is an awful lot of money and if you don't have to pay that, why would you? Not to mention, they don't cover the aftercare, which I assume would be the fills. I would be very careful about ruling this one in as you don't need an excuse to not get a fill when it's time to get one. We all have really good intentions, but let's face it, something always comes up financially, that will take a higher priority. If you are spending this much on an elective surgery, you want to be able to at least not have to worry that you can't use the band the way it was intended.

The final option of $10,000 is so cost prohibitive for me that the only way I would do that is if there wasn't any other way. You may possibly have the same aftercare issues as with the PPO plan, but you'd being paying twice as much if not more.

If you chose option #1 you can always start by following the rules of the bandsters, menu - lean meat, veggies and if room, good carbs. Drink lots of Water and get some sort of exercise regularly. Also remember that lean muscle weighs more than fat, so if you need to gain weight, that's the healthiest way to go about it. As Crystal also pointed out that it will help you in the recovery stage, something that would be really beneficial for you.

That's my opinion for what it's worth. I hope that you are helped by everyone posting to this thread and that you are able to make up your mind comfortably. There's a lot to consider and of course you are the only one who knows what's best for you. Just hope we've given you food for thought.

Good Luck and let us know what your decision is.

Cindy

Thanks so much for your feedback everyone. You helped me get something that I really needed - perspective. This is a decision I need to make with my head, not my heart. My head tells me to wait. That is what I'm going to do.

I really appreciate it, guys.:-)

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**warning**

the rest of this message has nothing to do with anything. I just felt like sharing, LOL.

Besides my head, I'm also listening to my gut. All week, I've been trying to schedule a consult at the Cedars-Sinai Center for Weight Loss Surgery. I made an appointment yesterday, but I’m really not impressed with them.

I went on their website and it said to call them and they'd do a phone interview to establish my basic eligibility and then set up the appointment with the doctor. I called the contact number. It was the number for the main switchboard, so when I called, they transfered me to the The CWLS where I'd be on hold until I gave up and hung up. That happened a few times. I finally asked for the direct number to the CWLS and they gave it to me. (Why don't they have that number on their web page? Why send people to the switchboard? That's kind of dumb.)

The first time I called (Monday), a guy took my number and said he’d call me back in 30 minutes. He never did.

I called back a few hours later and a woman answered. She started asking for a bunch of information – a lot more than they really should need. She asked for my drivers’ license number but I didn’t have it with me. (I wasn’t at my desk. I’d snuck off to an empty office to make the call.) I had my health insurance card but that was it. I told her I didn’t have my DL with me and she said she couldn’t make the appointment without it. What? I can’t even schedule an appointment unless I give them my DL number? I said I’d call back later.

On Tuesday, I had my license and health insurance cards and snuck off to a private area to make the call. No one answered so I left voicemail. I never got a return call, so I tried again later in the day. I was on hold for fifteen minutes. I hung up.

Yesterday, I called again. A different woman answered the phone. She started to take down my information - I thought she’d just need my name, contact info, DL and health insurance info. Well, she needed a lot more than that: Name, Address, Home phone, Cell phone, Work phone, DOB, Marital status, Ethnicity, Mother’s maiden name, SSN, City and state of birth, Employer, Job title, Employer’s address, Emergency contact name, phone, and address, Supervisor's name, referral source, insurance company name, group number, subscriber number, type, and 800 number, and a few other things I don't recall.

She said she needed the info so she could register me in the computer. And when I say she needed the info, I mean she needed every bit of it. I couldn't skip *any* of the items or she wouldn’t be able to complete the registration. No registration = no consultation. Things got a little interesting when I told her I don't have a home phone number. This really stumped her. It was almost comical.

Not only is this a ton of personal info, but it took forever because her phone was constantly beeping and there were two people having a really loud conversation in the background so I couldn’t hear what she was saying. Also, she put me on hold 3 or 4 times. I was really aggravated, but whatever. Maybe they take all the information on the phone so you don’t have to fill out a bunch of paperwork when you get there.

After that, she put the phone down to go get my info off the printer. While she was gone, I had to listen to the inane jabbering of the two people in the background. Then she came back and said she had to enter all of my information again. I asked her if her computer had locked up or something and she said no, she just has to enter the info twice. Twice! Are you kidding me? That's got to me the most inefficient thing I've ever heard of. It made no sense. But I sat there and listened to her tap away on her keyboard. She wasn't a very good typist, LOL

After all this, she was *finally* able to schedule the appointment. That part of the call took 15 seconds. Then she said that she was going to mail me a packet of information and I’d have to fill everything out and bring it with me to my appointment, and by the way, I’d have to be there 45 minutes ahead of time. Huh? I already told them everything but my parent's wedding anniversary and apparantly I was going to have to fill out a bunch of other stuff in that packet. And we hadn't even gotten to the phone interview. Why then, would I need to be there 45 minutes early? What else could they possibly need from me before I can see the surgeon? Taking my weight and height and calculating my BMI does not take 45 minutes. Was there a urine test? A drug test? An essay assignment? Good grief.

Maybe I was just in an irritable mood, but I just did not understand why I had to go through all of this just for an initial consultation to learn about their program and eligibility requirements. The receptionist said goodbye and I stopped her and asked about the phone interview. I could almost see the question mark in her thought bubble. She had no idea what I was talking about. So I said goodbye and hung up.

Anyway, I don’t have a good feeling in my gut about Cedars. Maybe it's because I have a background in process improvement and I'm being hypercritical. Also - if you believe in star signs - I'm a Virgo and virgos tend to be that way. Nevertheless, a gut feeling is a gut feeling. I'm probably going to cancel that appointment. I guess I thought a big famous place like Cedars-Sinai would be first class all the way. Then again, I suspect people like Sharon Osbourne receive an entirely different class of treatment. When she shows up, they probably exchange air kisses and then they hand her a latte, LOL.

Wow! I think I'd print that post off and send it to their patient services department, because that is ridiculous! I had to pre-register over the phone too, but it took all of 2 minutes.

I'm undecided about whether you should give up on Cedars. If they have a really great surgical team, that's the bottom line. I think I'd at least see it through the consultation... especially since it took you so long to get it! After that, if your instincts tell you to run, do it.

Love your sense of humor by the way... it's good that you can still crack jokes after all the frustration.

I would go to the appointment. Not necessarily for the consult - but just to be SURE that the person you were talking to was really at Cedar Sinai and not some criminal stealing your identity...

To ask for that much information over the phone is EXTREMELY odd. I would run a reverse search on that phone number that you got off the web-site AND off the direct number just to be sure it belongs to Cedar. And if you can't find it in directory assistance, or it isn't correct, I would contact the authorities.

If the number from the web does reverse search to the hospital, then you can go back to being just irritated.

I don't care WHAT they say, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER give out personal information about yourself to anyone on the phone without being absolutely sure of who you are speaking to.

Phony web-sites can exist, so don't take any chances. Go to 411.com or your local phone directory web-site and do a reverse search by phone number to be sure that you are really connected to who you think you are. And if you aren't sure who you are talking to, then don't provide the information.

Just a caution. Technology is a wonderful thing - but it has also made it easier for the criminals to get to more people....including you.

Perhaps I am over-cautious... I work in the mortgage industry and I see fraud everyday, so I get to be paranoid.

:]

Rene, you put the fear of God into me! I did a reverse phone number search and there was no match. I tried another website - still no match. Then a third website - still no match. I was about to look up the number for the FBI! But first I googled the number and I found it on the Society of Laparoscopic Surgeons, the Society for Bariatric Society, and there was a mention on one of the Spotlight Health message boards. Phew!

I'm already paranoid enough about identity theft. Now my lips are sealed. The next person who tries to get info out of me will have to use a crowbar!

...still trying to decide whether to go to cedars though...

Sorry for the scare - but asking for that much info over the phone is just plain weird. Glad you were able to verify that number!!

:]