CANT GET APPROVAL??

ALOT OF PEOPLE DONT EVEN KNOW ABOUT THE OPTION OF GOING TO MEXICO SO THATS MY POST. IF YOU CAN FINANCE IT ETC GO THERE IT'S 1/2 THE PRICE OF THE STATES AND MOST OF THE SURGENS THERE ARE JUST AS GOOD AS OUR SURGENS IN THE STATES. THE ONES I KNOW OF THAT ARE HIGHLY RECCOMENDED ARE (NOT IN ANY ORDER) RUMBAUT,KURI,JOYA,ACEVES AND OTHERS AS WELL. I HAD BEEN FIGHTING INSURANCE ETC NO MONEY AND LOTS OF BAD CREDIT LOL FOR YEARS AND ONLY A FEW MONTHS AGO LEARNED OF GOING TO MEXICO AND FOUND OUT ALOT OF SELF PAY PATIENTS GO THERE. WISH I HAD KNOWN YEARS AGO ID ALREADY BE WHERE IM WANTING TO BE. ANYWAYS HOPE THIS HELPS SOMEONE ELSE

_Pam, questions I have about having surgery in Mexico? How long do you have to stay in Mexico? From my experiences with my surgery, if I had done surgery the same way in Mexico, I would have had to go to Mexico, to see the surgeon and hear him talk about what he does. I would have had to go to a local support group meeting, to ask people what they thought of their surgeon, and what kind of complications, if any they had, what were the pros and cons of having their surgery with htis doctor. I then would have had to go to back to meet the surgeon before surgery for testing and discussing with him my surgery. Post-op, I would have had to go back for followups 1 week, 2 weeks, 3 weeks, 6 weeks, 6 months, 1 yearater surgery, and yearly after that. So besides the surgery, I would have had to go to Mexico 3 times before surgery, either stay in Mexico after the surgery, or keep going back, time and again. When you start factoring in air fare and hotel stays, how much money do you save? What about complications, if you have complications, who do you go to, do you go back to Mexico every time, or let somebody else fix any problems, that may come up? Doctors are real funny about redoing someone else's work, or fixing someone elses mistakes. I think alot of thought has to go into a decision this big, and money, should not be a deciding factor, on what surgeon you go with. I like the fact that my surgeon is 30 minutes away.

Steve, My insurance company has denied my request for a DS and I'm currently waiting for a hearing on my appeal. If I lose and have to self-pay, I plan to go to Brazil for surgery. Since I have done extensive research in anticipation, I can answer some of your questions from my perspective. Obviously, I couldn't travel back and forth for everything. You handle all communications - scheduling/pre-op testing/etc - with the surgeon by phone, email, or fax. A single trip is required for the surgery and recovery period. Generally, you are there (Brazil, Mexico, Spain, wherever) for two weeks - a day or two prior to surgery, 3-4 days in the hospital, then a week to 10 days in a hotel afterward. Of course, if there are complications, this schedule will have to be modified. But, by and large, that's it. And, although there are exceptions, most complications if they are going to occur, will happen in this immediate post-op period. All the other stuff you mention - the seminar, the support group meeting, all the meetings with the surgeon to "discuss" things prior to surgery and see how you are doing after surgery - are all nice if you can do them, but not absolutely necessary if you can't. Post-op (after you leave), you see your PCP for follow-up and the surgeon is available to you or your PCP at all times - again by phone, email, or fax - to coordinate care, review labs, etc. Doctors and surgeons outside the U.S. are different. Speaking specifically of Dr. Marchesini in Brazil - he is available at any time of the day or night (obviously, he's not going to stop a surgery or neglect patient care to answer his cell phone, but you get the drift) for you. He provides his patients with his office number, home number, cell number, and he answers emails promptly. There is no middle man to go through like here in the U.S. where it's almost impossible to speak directly to your doctor without making an appointment to see him or her - when you call Dr. M, you speak to Dr. M and not his secretary, or nurse, or other office staff, or answering service. Did your surgeon do anything on your follow-up visits to him that actually required any surgical skills? Or did he just ask how you were doing, check how your wound was healing, that sort of thing? Maybe you felt better having your surgeon check it, but any doctor could have. Unless you have serious compliations, any doctor (or surgeon, depending on the problem) can handle infections, abcesses, hernias, whatever. And for serious complications, any surgeon worth his salt can and will handle those. Can you imagine the law suit if a surgeon said, "no, I'm sorry, but I refuse to fix someone else's mistakes. You'll have to go back to the quack that butchered you in the first place so he can butcher you some more, or just live with it until you die from it."? The surgery costs a total of $8,300, whi*****ludes $4,500 for the hospital (and you can stay up to 14 days at the same cost), and $3,800 for the surgeon (actually, the surgeon, assistant surgeon, anesthesiologist, and private nurse). The hotel is approximately $40 per night and you get a suite with a kitchen for that price. Airfare is approximately $900. Add in a couple hundred for a passport if you don't have one and a visa, and a DS in Brazil costs approximately $10,000. An RNY would be even cheaper. So that's about a third of the minimum cost I've been quoted by surgeons here, and I've heard of people with bills considerably higher than $30,000 - even without any complications or extra time in the hospital. So, yes, the savings is considerable. And, yes, before you ask, Dr. Marchesini's credentials and statistics are impeccable. And the service you get in Brazil, or just about any other country sad to say, is absolutely unmatched anywhere in the U.S. Charging patients $10 to call the surgeon's office and $900 administrative fees and the like are unheard of outside the U.S. The one and only drawback to having surgery in Brazil is the very long flight. So, would I rather only have to travel 30 minutes to my surgeon's office? Of couse I would. Is that the main consideration? Absolutely not. Wow, sorry this turned out so long. But you did ask (just not me) and I feel this need to educate people who believe medical care outside the U.S. is inferior (I know you didn't actually state it directly, and maybe I just read more into it than you meant, but I got that impression), and don't realize just how good it can be and what you can actually get at an incredible price once you take insurance companies and politicians who are in bed with them out of the equation. You've already had surgery, but maybe for others like Pam, who would do it or do it sooner if they knew it was available and an excellent option, this might help. Janice