Anyone have any good tips for self-payers?

This is a bad deal and I feel bad for you...BUT, statistically, the likelihood of bad events and bad health consequences is much higher for an obese person than for a person with normal weight and a lap band (me). I am a self payer who had a good outcome and got my health back. Lifelong obesity has a risk and so does having the band...I am just saying the risks are higher with the lifelong obesity...

quote name='ForMyBoys' timestamp='1269472730' post='1418466']

Word of Caution to all self payers. I was a self pay over a year ago. My insurance would not cover my surgery. At 9 months post op I had 2 hospital stays, surgery, and 2 ER visits. My tubing was wrapped around an intestine. Then my tubing got stuck in scar tissue. I am now at 15 months and have ran test for the last week . I have an eroded esophagas and tubing stuck again.

Guess what, if insurance doesn't pay for surgery then they don't pay for complications either. I've lost 95 pounds and my life savings along with it trying to save my life from the complications of this band. People just think about the initial cost because we don't want to believe that anything will go wrong. I would take back every pound I lost to have my health back.

My advise is if insurance doesn't cover it than RUN. Don't get yourselves in my situation. Actually at this point the best advise I could give anyone is Don't Do It . Losing the weight is not worth losing your life to complications. Look into the complication rate of this surgery. I wish I had.