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

 Can't help much with #1 as insurance paid, but can you do credit card hopping and balance transfers at low rates ? Just a thought. I heard of someone who did that in the past. 

Part 2
Putting the travel agent hat on: 
How far are you flying? in the US or outside the US. Rules vary on whether or not to tell the airline you just had surgery and need help. It also depends on which airline you use, which one flies the route you need to fly ? Best to have a note from the surgeon, that it is safe for you to fly. 

It is also best to have Travel Insurance. There are many options on that, especially good if you are going out of the country for surgery. PM me if you want more info on that. Do not want to break rules by posting too much about it. 

Devrom is not really needed that soon after surgery. Your eating will be limited at that time. Have a seat on the plane near the bathrooms. 

On October 22, 2011 at 10:48 AM Pacific Time, Switch_Me wrote:  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!!  
part 1:

I dipped into savings to pay for my DS. Hubs and I frequently work 80 hours a week, and we do everything possible to live below our means to save money or invest. We very rarely buy things for ourselves unless it's a neccessity, we do our best to be "savers" instead of "consumers" and its worked so far but it takes a lot of discipline. We did put the hospital bill for the DS on our credit card strictly for the frequent flyer miles, and then paid the balance off in full. Surgeons might not take credit card payments, but the hospital might. However, credit cards have some of the HIGHEST interest rates around, I would not recommend doing that unless you can pay the balance off in full.

Part 2: 
The flight back was fine, although I was very tired as most early post-ops are. I bought a traveling neck pillow and it was the best $15 I ever spent, even though I'm a cheap *******

Since I was still on liquids, I didn't have a bowel movement on the plane, and I tried not to drink too much so I wouldn't need to use the rest room. However, I was "busting for a slash" once the flight landed, but I'd rather pee in a proper airport bathroom than the torture devices on the air planes.

I stayed in town about 8 days post op before flying back home, but I had the lap procedure.

 Ginger,  my last resort is going to be the credit card hop.  Between my wife and my credit cards we could cover the whole thing, but of course the interest rates are pretty nasty.  The only plus would be getting a LOT of frequent flier miles.  My flight is going to be in the US and would be about a 2 hour direct flight.  I would use Delta.  It doesn't look like there is an option for first class so can't do that.

Busybee,  I'm glad you used the neck pillow well!  I tried one of my wife's neck pillows (she travels often) and I hated the thing.  Just couldn't get comfortable.  I tend to just fold up my jacket or something and use it as a pillow.  Great for you for being able to afford the surgery!  I consider myself a rather frugal person as well.  I could technically afford the pay for the whole thing up front but that would hit the savings pretty darn hard!  I'd rather not be hit that hard - even though that would mean taking on another loan.  I've made moves to try and be as financially ready as possible.  Scaling back our cable package, dropping our land line, trading in my car for a cheaper/better mpg car, hardly ever eating out or going out.   It's good to hear you had an OK time with the flight back after only 8 days.  I figure I'll be planning on 10 days minimum, 14 max.

Thanks for the info!

 SmileyJamie,  It's good to know insurance on a ticket can be that cheap!  I'll certainly look into that when I'm booking my flight!