I'm unfortunately going to be self-pay for my surgery. I'm basically maxing out the good 'ol credit cards. I'm OK with that because I think it's a worthy reason. BUT I'm worried about fill costs. I live in Charlotte, NC and am wondering if anyone has an idea of what a typical fill costs. In my area or not. I'm having my surgery in Tijuana, MX so I obviously can't continue to go back and forth for the fills. Any tips would be awesome, thanks!

And also, how often do people typically need fills. Monthly, Quarterly? How would I know??

i was self pay and w/ my md the fills are covered for 2 years following surgery but since you are going to Tj and have to pay in state, at my md's it is 100.00 a fill. the number of fills depends. i have only had maybe 3 fills in 8 months and am down 80 + pounds from the surgery, 110 pounds from my highest. hope that helps :thumbup:

I needed 7+ fills before I had restriction that didn't diminish after a few weeks. I was a tough nut to crack though..lol

My doctor wasn't skimpy on fills, I just needed a lot of fill (actually had to have more Fluid than the "max fill" to get good restriction, but I haven't needed a fill going on five months now. Once you find a doctor who is willing to give aftercare to Mexican patients, you should not only get a list of fees including, office charges, in-office fill fee, and the cost for having fills under fluoro/xray (not all doctors do fluoro fills, and some always do them). You should also find out what his procedure is for an unfill if you're too tight. For instance, my doctor will give an unfill without an additional charge if you come back within two weeks. Also, you should find out what how often you can come in for fills and how aggressive he is with fills. Some doctors are very conservative, and refuse to give more than tiny adjustments, which could really add up if you're someone like me who needed a ton of restriction.

I've read that some Mexican surgeons will give you a list of local doctors who will do follow-up care. There's also Fill Center's USA who take care of band patients. You can google them to find out if there's a center near you.

Good luck!

i was self pay and w/ my md the fills are covered for 2 years following surgery but since you are going to Tj and have to pay in state, at my md's it is 100.00 a fill. the number of fills depends. i have only had maybe 3 fills in 8 months and am down 80 + pounds from the surgery, 110 pounds from my highest. hope that helps :thumbup:

Where are you getting your fills? Where is your Dr located?

I'm having surgery in the Dominican Republic on January 5th so I needed someone to do my fills as well. Turns out, I can have them done at the hospital here in the states where I wanted to have surgery (but was denied by insurance). They told me that it will cost $1000 up front and $75 a fill. I really think it's worth it because the actual surgeon will do the fills and I will have access to support groups the nutritionist, etc.

I checked out some info on Fill Centers and have heard good and bad. My biggest issue was that I wanted somewhere close- it sounds like sometimes, you need to go back a few days later because the fill was not enough, too much, etc. I didn't want to have to drive for hours and possibly not get the best care.

Best of luck!

Edited December 16, 200916 yr by jaxmom

I am in Fl but just to throw it out so you can see an average, I was told that my doc visits will be $75 and if I need a fill it will be another $75 on top of the OV. So basically $150, but the first year of fills are included in my self-pay price of $17,500:crying::thumbup::thumbup:

Thanks for the help, guys. I keep seeing prices of around $300 and I think that is ridiculous! I'd like to find an unlimited plan that is reasonable.... maybe that's asking too much. I'll keep looking around. Thanks for the info!

First year free, $50 after that. However, when I went to my first support group, I got a certificate for a free fill. It seems like they give you one of those for each support group meeting you go to, so it's quite possible to not pay for any fills with my dr. My self-pay costs for surgery is about $14,500 (includes psychologist and dietician).

First year free, $50 after that. However, when I went to my first support group, I got a certificate for a free fill. It seems like they give you one of those for each support group meeting you go to, so it's quite possible to not pay for any fills with my dr. My self-pay costs for surgery is about $14,500 (includes psychologist and dietician).

That obviously sounds awesome, but do those doctors accept outside patients? I would imagine that deals like that are only for patients who used that same doctor, right?? What about outside patients?

I have no idea. You'd have to ask him that question. PM me if you want his info.