Self-Pay Revision Finance Recommendation

Hello All! Need self-pay financing suggestion & recommendations.

I had a RNY short limb done 12 years ago. Have had a couple bumps in the road in which landed me with I having to have multiple endoscopes & a few surgeries. To try to shorten my experience, my original bariatric surgeon was dismissed from the bariatric center of excellence I was at and I elected to switch to one of the top docs at the center. For multiple reasons I have been on a quest, along with my new doctor to get a revision. One, I want to be a living kidney donor to one of my cousins. We are both blood type O & only O's can receive kidney from an O. After a very long journey for a revision, I have finally been approved by doctor to have one. Initially it was to be from short limb roux to distal but after all discussed said & done, the doctor suggested & agreed to revise me from RNY to duodenal switch! Yeah! What I wanted initially but it was so new in 2005 that my insurance wouldn't pay for it. I must have a BMI of 30 & possible up to 35 to even start the testing to see if I can donate a kindey to my cousin. Big blocker, when I started on road to get revision, insurance covered bariatric surgery, after going through the bariatric centers requirements for revision (6 consistent months plus), my company changed insurance carrier & package all together & now bariatrics surgery is completely excluded :-(. At the direction of my physician, I have pleaded with my employer to add a rider on my individual policy however they will not budge. I am in dilemma of having to self-pay and obtain financing. I just recently purchased a home June 2016 so equity hasn't built up for that type of loan, nor do I have option of 401k loan. The cost of the actual revision is $10,000.00 ( good price) but the 3 day hospital stay..$26,000.00 ( St. Vincent's, Carmel, Indiana). This is suppose to be with the discounts. Unbelievable. Any-who, If anyone has information or suggestions on obtaining financing or ones you have used that are decent & fair, I would greatly appreciate if you would provide. My credit if fair-good, so any finance company you know of that works with that & doesn't have extemly high interest rates, will be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Thank you all for information.

Thank you all for the information.

one great thing is save all your receipts as you can deduct all the travel, stay, fees etc on your taxes. How about you take out a home equity loan (this you can write off on your taxes) and/or also see interest free credit cards as there are many that do 0% interest. Look for promotional credit cards, promotional bank rates etc. that hospital stay is very expensive for a self pay option.

I don't have any great financing suggestions, but would suggest that you contact a few of the DS surgeons known for doing RNY to DS revisions and see what self-pay packages they offer. There are only a handful of surgeons who do these revisions as they are complex and much higher risk than primary bariatric operations, so your options are limited. A few to consider would be Dr. Ayoola in Denton, TX, Dr. John Rabkin in San Francisco, and Dr. Keshishian in Glendale (a suburb of Los Angeles). Many people travel for this type of surgery so these surgeons are accustomed to working with people from out of town.

Larra

Good luck and I hope everything works out for the best!

Not trying to be a downer and I have great respect for what you are trying to do. Just want to make sure you know the postop DS diet is high protein as in 100+ gr per day for most of us. Not the best diet for someone with only one kidney.

But Patty, whether with one or two kidneys, only the protein that is absorbed matters, not the amount consumed. Whether or not someone with a DS would be considered as a kidney donor candidate I can't say, but I don't think the protein requirements would be a factor.

Larra

Thank you Patty and larra for your responses. The kidney donation was discussed and considered in my journey to revision approval with both my bariatric physician and bariatric surgeon. Larra, you are correct. By the way, I was able to obtain a portion of funding for a revision! However because of it just being a portion, I will be traveling outside the USA to have my revision at the end of May (2017).

Akkassha, you need to be even more careful when looking out of the USA for a revision. There are lots of good bariatric surgeons all over the world, but very few who do the specific revision you require, i.e. gastric bypass to DS. The operation involves taking apart your entire gastric bypass, completely restoring the original anatomy, and then doing the full DS. It's challenging and complex surgery with significant risks, much greater risk than a virgin DS. That's why even most DS surgeons don't do it.

I totally understand the financial issue. But your health and life are worth more than any amount of money. I can think of only a very few surgeons overseas who do this type of surgery. At the very least, come here and and ask questions about any name you find. What may happen is that you will find someone no one here (or elsewhere on DS oriented forums) has ever heard of. Beware of medical tourism businesses, who will send you to whoever they contract with regardless of that surgeon's experience, or lack thereof, with this very specific revision.

I try not to tell people how to live their lives, so will just say that in your shoes, I would hold off til I have enough money, between insurance and my own resources, to afford someone well known and experienced with this operation.

Larra

Hi Larra, thank you again for your response & concern. I do appreciate it. I am going to Brazil to Dr. Marchesini. He will not be doing the RNY to DS but a different revision. After a some pre-op testing & confirmation from my USA Doctor ( that was going to do RNY to DS & still would if I had the money) that my pouch is actually still very small; so much so, she was amazed & also that my stoma was not overly stretched. So with that, instead of the revision from RNY to DS, I will only be getting a component of the DS; the BPD. This is also a safer option for me with a lower probability of complications. There are a couple more pre-ops I have to get but if all comes out well, I will have my revision May 30th.

Thank you again for your input & information!

Warm regards.