Confused about the band

Who is this poster ( they have me blocked ) and are they saying they paid ZERO dollars for all their adjustments ?

 Naomi.  

I will say at the clinic that I got my band at, I paid a $20 copay per fill, but insurance was billed over $1200!!!!  They had the latest technology in the fluoroscopy suite, but there were two nurses that were so rude and condescending that I couldn't continue to go there.  I was starving and frustrated and then to to be treated so rudely by the staff?  Yeah, I'll pass.

My new clinic is $250 out of pocket for a fill.  Not that I plan on getting any.  So I guess they're all free now!  HA!

Yes...most of my fills only took about 1 minute and I was out....I've incurred costs with my fills over the years, but my insurance footed most of the cost.

I know fills can get expensive depending on where you live, I've heard of fills costing as much as $1500 dollars in New York and California which should be criminal...

My fills at most have only cost about $10- 120 dollars, but again I've had many.

Am I misunderstanding Nana about the highest cost of her fills ? I " $10- 120 dollars "

Back in April of this year she had quoted these figures for the cost of her fills.During her first year of being banded she had 20 adjustments and her co-pay was only 10 dollars for each adjustment, totalling $200.00 for her first year of fills which is not a bad price at all.

It was during her 2 ND year of banding Nana, changed jobs and insurance...so her band adjustments were about $250 per fill adjustment and $100 for an unfill. Her total that year for adjustments and other things related to her after band care were around $1,200 dollars which was still in her budget.

Not a lot of money to spend in 2 years, but unfortunately she had complications and ended up spending another 3,000 Dollars. Thankfully she has a great job, excellent insurance and was
NOT SELF PAY. Nana's post dated April 25th 2011 is below.
~~Nana ~.

Post Date: 4/25/11 9:35 am
Last Edit: 4/25/11 9:36 am

My first year I had about 20 adjustments +/- I’d have to review my chart to be precise, my surgeon was very conservative, meaning he gave me tiny fills every 4-6 weeks, when I reached near optimal restriction, “sweet spot, sometimes it can be tricky, filling the band is NEVER EXACT science and never will be meaning, you can get what you THINK is perfect restriction and 5-6 days later you may not be able to swallow your own spit. This is why right after an adjustment most surgeons ask the patient to carefully monitor their eating and if they can’t eat solid foods to come back and get a small amount removed, if the patient does not return and they are dangerously too tight and if they stay too tight for very long periods of time, this can cause complications. Most issues can be prevented.
All that said, during my first year while tweaking my band, I got too tight; we yo-yoed a few times with unfil/ refills until we got it almost right. I had very good insurance when I got my band placed, it paid  $100 percent of my surgery costs and my co-pay for my fills were only $10 dollars my first few years, so my out of pocket expense was very minimal in my first few years.

During my 2nd year I had many fills, I changed jobs and insurance so my band adjustment got a little bit more expensive so my out of pocket cost were about $250 per fill adjustment and $100 for an unfill. It started to get expensive at this point, I would say my out of pocket expense my second year was about $1,200 dollars for fills and other things related to my band aftercare, which was still in my budget.

During my 3rd year, I was still getting fills pretty much every few months, not every month like before, but I never could keep long lasting restriction, but I was pretty much at my lowest weight by this time so I did not care to spend an extra $250 dollars per fill every few months. During this time, my band got too tight after traveling long distance and I had to get a total unfill my band almost slipped from being too tight and traveling which caused edema, so my surgeon  had to completely emptied my band to keep it from slipping and I had to heal since my pouch was irritated…after 6 weeks of healing and medication he slowly started to refill my band again, this subsequently took many more fills to get me back to where I was including a few unfills until we got my restriction back right again….So sometimes the band can be complex and a headache with fills and unfills, that ‘s the nature of the beast.

During my 4th year, I had an emergency surgery, hernia in my uterus due to massive weight loss and my band had to be totally unfilled AGAIN. After my hernia was repaired I could no longer exercise it would hurt so I took a band break and did not exercise for about 2 months. I went back to my surgeon and he started to refill my band once again which took a LOT of fills and unfills until I reached a good level, by the way refilling the band can take MONTHS, it took me about 8 months and several fills to finally get to a good restriction again.

During this period of between my 4th year and 5th year I gained about 30+ pounds back due to NO exercise and little to no restriction, I had kept my weight down for a good 4 years comfortably meaning I exercised about 3-4 time a week on average and ate pretty much what I wanted including sweets but my band kept my meals very small so I did not gain much weight back, my weight used to fluctuate between 5-8 pounds and I would always lose it.

I really DID NOT WANT a band break, my hernia surgery automatically gave me a band break, I’ve always walked from day one with my band when I started my journey, I used to walk about 1-2 miles per day 5 days per week, and ate small amount of veggies and proteins, this is how I lost my weight, nothing too strenuous I even ate sweets too but my intake was so small that it did not affect my weight loss as long as I walked daily.

Also in my 5th year things happened I got married, moved and life changes and I changed surgeons after I realized I was not being filled properly,  I even filed a complaint with Allergan so my banded life has BEEN FAR FROM PERFECT. Since changing surgeons whom by the way is a band ONLY surgeon I’ve gotten better aftercare and better long lasting fill adjustments without the constant unfill refill game, and since last October 2010 I've lost the 30 pounds I regained.

So to sum it up I would say going on 6 years I’ve spent roughly about a little over $5,000 dollars out of pocket for my band up keep and aftercare, and about 60 +/- fill adjustments due to having to get the band emptied twice during my journey.
 

Lap Band 2005 * Still have original 4cc 10cm band and it is still kicking!  I  My band!
Lost 130 pounds, current size 10/12 

Stop f-ing with my head!      Math is hard!!!!

LOL cat+math pics on Sodahead

Fills are free and take 60 seconds.  Let's just leave it at that!

 

Quit making sense, damnit.

so many user ID's - so many stories to keep up with.

i don't think i've read the same tale twice.

AND that is exactly why I kept that post of hers.

The only burst bubble here is the one I had while swearing at some server that crashed when I wrote my original reply.  So you only live 10 minutes away and you pay nothing...  How lucky for you.  Everyone I know in my town has to drive at least an hour and a half (one way) to get their band adjusted.  They also have varying co-pays.  Sixty adjustments in 5 years adds up to a lot of travel time and could be just as costly as my vitamins if their insurance does not pay well for the adjustments.

The vitamin regimen for a DS patient is as varied as each person who has had one.  Some get by with way less expense than they paid for prescription medicines.  Since they no longer need those prescriptions, they save money with their vitamins.  Iron infusions?  Yep, some have to have them.  I have to cut back on my iron intake as my levels are too high. As for missing one regimen, I've had times when I missed more than one and there was no adverse effect.  It's all very personal and no two people are alike no matter what surgery they had.

My concern was your blowing rainbows and unicorns up a newbie's butt. In fact, the fear of numerous band adjustments just to find the elusive (for some) "sweet spot" was just one of the deal breakers for me not getting a band.  I cannot predict the future with 100% accuracy.  Maybe my labs won't always be great.  Maybe I will become unemployed and have trouble affording my vitamins.  It's a chance I took in 2008 and do not regret.  At least when I did get my surgery, I had a good idea of all the good, bad, and ugly of each procedure upon which to make my decision.  When someone asks me about the DS, I tell them the truth as I know it:  It is a very serious surgery & not to be taken lightly.  It is not for everyone.  It has been a great life saver for me, yet I never take my health for granted.  It requires vigilance.

To each her/his own, I say, with the caveat that only a fool gets major surgery without doing extensive research. 

18k is a lot of money for a surgery that seems to require a "second" surgery after the fact.   that could mean several things - not just a revision to another surgery type.

i just did a scan of this forum - there are 8 threads that discusses concerns/problems with the band.   that's a normal day, not a fluke.

i'm not as helpful as pumpkin, nicci, maria, hislady are about warning others about the band.  frankly, if someone wants a band - go get it.   has zero impact on me.

there is another choice other than the band & you've been fortunate enough to be given some food for thought before wasting your time & money.    up to you now.