Part 1: Self Pay DS Financing/Loan options; Part 2: Traveling for Surgery

 Hi Everyone,

Part 1:
I am going to be moving forward with the DS!   I am going to be  self-pay patient and have been looking into financing/loan options.  I'm interested in hearing if anyone has used Chase Health Advance for a surgical loan.  My surgeon's office listed them as a suggestion for financing but I'm skeptical of ALL "surgery financing" companies.  They advertise 0% interest for "short term" loans and 14.99% for "extended term" loans.  However, if you are ever late for a payment or do not pay off the loan in the given amount of time the interest rate goes to 27.99%, which is ridiculous.  From the basic google searches I've done I've found a majority of horrid reviews - saying they do not make it easy to make payments on time (applying payments late) and comments about how terrible their customer service is.  So I'm quite interested if anyone here has dealt with this company directly.  

Other than that one company I'm curious what other self-pay folks have done to be able to afford the surgery.  Personal loans from a bank/credit union?  (I'm a member of a credit union that does advertise personal loans but I'm not sure if WLS would qualify).  Credit cards? (Between my wife's and my combined credit we'd be able to cover the surgery, though I wouldn't look forward maxing out our credit.  

Part 2:
I will be traveling for surgery (~2.5 hour flight) and wanted to see what others' experiences who traveled for surgery has been, specifically the flight back.  How long did you stay after surgery?  My surgeon would prefer it if I stay 10-14 days postop before flying back.  How did you folks do with the flight back?  Any advice for keeping the GI issues at bay for that flight?  Did anyone try Devrom that soon after surgery?

Thanks for any thoughts/advice!!  

I traveled from Oklahoma to California for surgery and stayed about 2 weeks. We had 2 flights and had wheelchair assists in the airports....the only way to go. I had an open incision and was still pretty uncomfortable. So on the flights home I took pain medicine, had lots of water and a seat belt extenders with a sm blanket rolled up to give me some support. I had no GI issues on the trip and it went smoothly.

You'll do fine.

 I was self pay and traveled from Louisiana to California for my DS.  I did the whole trip by car and did not have to deal with the airplane issue, but I did have a road trip that lasted a total of a month and a half from the day I left home to the day I returned with the surgery about a week into the trip.  We pulled the money from our savings which we were fortunate to be able to do, so I cannot help with info on the financing options or flight info since I didn't fly... why did I even respond?  LOL

 Thanks, everyone, for your replies!  I'm glad to hear you all had cooperation from the airlines.  That's reassuring.  I imagine I will be sipping a teaspoon full or two for my meals at that point but I had heard a few people say they had loose BMs starting in the hospital so I just wanted to be prepared.  My flight would only be 2-2.5hrs (just looked up a typical flight on Orbitz) so I'm confident I can tolerate that.  

Thanks for sharing all your experiences!  

Now just to figure out how to best pay for it...

I also suggest that you get an airline ticket that can easily be changed.  It might be more upfront but if you don't feel up to traveling (or have complications) you should not pu****  Having that flexibility to change your flight would be very useful.  

I used Lending Club for financing. It was awesome, and fast.

Don't follow my choice in surgeons, though.

 Sarah Anne, good point about flexible tickets!

Larissa, I haven't heard of Lending Club.  I'll check into them....

I purchased the insurance on my ticket and it was MINIMAL -- at $35.00 extra, just in case I needed to change my ticket.  That was not for my DS, but my consult, which I chose to fly to California to have.  I have the self-pay option on the back burner as well.



Good Luck!!!!
-Jamie in Alaska