NO Ins Coverage for ANY WLS

I just got off the phone with my insurance company United Health Care, I don't know if it is exluded by choice from my husband's emplyr but I have 0 coverage for any form of wl or wls. It sucks!  I don't know what I'll do next.  And, I really don't have energy to work at Starbucks!  LOL Kim

I have UHC and it didn't cover it for me either. It's the employer's option to elect to not cover it.

I financed my surgery and it's worth every penny.

How much money did it cost w/ Dr. Simpson? Kim

Ahhhhhh Kim I am sooooooooo sorry!  That is the stinkiest of news to one of us waiting for our healthy dreams to come true!!!  Any chance at the next open enrollment that your hubby can change or upgrade insurances?  I guess if it was an employer exclusion then it might be pretty tough. There are medical loans available and many people refinance.  Maybe your pcp needs to visit with your husband about your health issues related to your weight so that hubby understands the full picture.  Many people can lose weight.  We have all lost weight millions of times.  But......addressing our health through WLS is sometimes more than a tool; it's often a lifesaver!!!!  The surgery itself; is definitely a tool to help us achieve something that we were unable to manage on our own and allows us the opportunity to regain health and have renewed, prolonged chances for a better quality of life! I have seen hundreds of people come up with a  way to finance their surgery once they have committed to doing it.  If you are passionate and willing to be pro-active and do the research necessary to make the right choices with a surgery then maybe you could find family members that could support you? Lapbands and Vertical Sleeves are generally the least expensive out of pocket. The Arizona range is (I may be off if prices have changed since fall): $13,500 Dr. Eric Schlesinger (just did my Revision to Distal which is the lower half of a DS) $!4,000 Bridges St Lukes (Jurez and Fang) $16,500 Dr. Terry Simpson $17 plus:  Dr. Blackstone, Dr. DeBarros, Dr. Orris, etc. All of the above surgeon's have complete Before and After Care programs.  Dr. Schlesinger and Dr. Simpson include all of your office visits and Fills for the first year in their cash price package. Mexico is definitely an option and though I would NEVER recommend it to anyone.......if I had co-morbidities, felt hopeless, and had no other opton.......I'd probably head that direction myself! Good luck sweetie pie!

Wow, you sure must be feeling better, you sure do sound better.  I do hope things are getting better each day. Thank you so much for the info.  I actually cut/pasted to my husband's email on the prices, as I think he will at some point agree to at leas a band.  He doesn't like the DS/RYN option, but the thing I have been reading and I know you work in the health care and might know the TRUE answer is the the band has a lower % of cure rate of the co-mor.  I have severe sleep apnea, pain in knees at all times, and DDD of the spine and tears in L-4, L-5, and S-1 and will need surgery to correct at some point in time.  Do you think that this is true.  If I am doing to pay 14-18 for surgery, then I want to make sure that I get ride of the co-mo or just pay a few more k's and do a RNY or DS and have it completely done away with. Yes, right now, I do feel totally hopeless, but thank God for this OH sites abd the forums or I really would be at a lose.  Everyone one here is really helping me keep it together.  My husband words that hurt me so much was--I thought you said it was only a tool.  But, he doesn't realize, how it is "THE TOOL" that might save my life.  My God, he is a damn doctor and doesn't even realize this. This is so damn unfair. Sorry for the vent, I am just so unset right now about this all.  This answer is calories in = calories out.  Simple as that.  Well, I have dieted and counted my calories my way to 270 freaking pounds. Again, thank you for such good information, as always! hugs, Kim

Kim... The thing about comorbidities is that it depends on which comorbidities, how far they have advanced and which surgery type. Back pain, for example... that comes with weight loss and not surgery type. Diabetes.... there was a study that came out recently that has completely changed the world of medicine when it comes to diabetes.  Science is now looking at treatments for diabetics at a whole different angle.  The reason is bypass.  I can't remember exact numbers but I'll try to find a link to a study that shows the numbers.  They found that with bypass surgery diabetes went into full remission after about 10 days.  I'm talking insulin dependent diabetics and not just those on oral meds.  They started looking at everything from nerve receptors to hormones to see why this happened. Now, with banding the same thing happens and it's within a small percentage (somewhere around 80-90% as with bypass) but the difference with banding is that diabetes went into remission with weight loss instead of surgery as in bypass. Diabetes is the only one of typical comorbidities that I can think of off the top of my head the surgery type makes a difference vs. weight loss.  Sleep apnea often times resolves itself with weightloss, joint pain is much better EXCEPT that you will find a great deal of knee pain with those approching goal.  It's because many start running after they lose weight and hurt their knees. ;o)  I'm an example, I was running 7 miles a day and messed up my knee but it wasn't weight related, it was running related. Hypertension... again, comes with weight loss. If you have read studies regarding comorbidities and surgery type I'm wondering if those studies are including the amount of pounds lost or how close people are to a normal weight.  Banding probably has the least people at goal when considering DS, RNY, Sleeves, and banding.  If someone is not losing enough excess weight their other medical issues may not get better. Banding is a great option for many, it's the least invasive and easiest to do a revision to go back to the way things were before surgery. Here is a link that puts the various WLS types in perspective: http://www.lapsf.com/weight-loss-surgeries.html I have done a really good job with my band, I'm not belly aching about it in the least but I do have to say that if I had it all to do over again I'd get a sleeve.  The initial surgical complications are a small bit higher than for banding but long term complications are drastically less than for banding.  There are no fills, unfills, restriction issues, port pain, port flips, infections, erosions, slips, etc.  You get a sleeve and after 30 days the surgical risk is over and you go on with your life.  Aftercare is exceedingly limited.  It's just not necessary. Like a band you still have to watch what goes in your mouth.  You can eat around a band and you can eat around a sleeve.  So the work still has to be done. Many years ago when they were doing bypass they found that some folks had so many weight related complications that doing the entire bypass procedure was too much OR time and it was risky.  So they started doing it in two sections, first a sleeve and then after the person lost weight and was more stable for surgery again they would go back in and finish the bypass procedure. Well, they found it was not necessary to do the full bypass.  People were losing almost as well with just the sleeve as they were with bypass so they started making it a surgery of its own. The old sleeve technique from the 70s was a horror, it was a horrible surgery, done open vs. lap, very risky, many leaks, loads of problems, then the stomach would stretch and the person started gaining weight. There is a new technique now that has much improved weight loss, risk, etc.  They save a more muscular part of the stomach vs. an elastic portion and people are losing weight like champs.  It is what I would do if I had it all to do over again.  Less risk than banding long term, fewer complications, fewer revisions, minimal follow up, you absorb everything you eat, however some have to take a SL B12 weekly.  A tablet under your tongue weekly that you buy over the counter.  That's it. I'm just throwing it out there in case it will help. As for hubby's comment about the "tool".... my husband wasn't for this procedure in the least and he's a doc as well.  He's a believer now! ;o)  The thing about losing weight is that traditional diet and exercise just don't seem to work well.  At least the diets didn't work well for me.  I tried really hard and just couldn't do it.  It was too hard.  Call me someone with no self control, a lack of self discipline, whatever.  It's all true, I can't do it.  Banding/Sleeves/Bypass... those are really hard too.  The lifestyle change, head issues (please see my blog), the works... it's really hard but the difference is that WLS is the kind of hard WE can do, OUR population.  That is the difference. Good luck to you!

Kim... I found the link I was referring to earlier, this is the condensed version: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/72982.php It's really amazing what they are finding because of this study.

Joyce.... With all due respect you really need to start educating yourself about options in Mexico.  In many ways it is no different from having surgery in the US.  There are good doctors and bad doctors, just like the US.  For goodness sakes, we have a pediatrician in Maryville that is a convicted pedophile.  Would you prefer a skilled doctor in Mexico see your child or a pedophile?  We don't police our doctors all that well in the US.  Just because someone practices in the US does not mean he is skilled or professional without a felony conviction or drug/alcohol issues. You used to work for Simpson and he was very anti-Mexico but only because he was losing cash pay business to Mexico, not because it is actually dangerous to go there.  It's almost become a bigoted issue at this point.  I really question if people don't want to go to Mexico because of a hate for Mexican folks.  There are very real doctors in Mexico and very real nurses as well a very real hospitals and patients.  There are many times that the care in Mexico is superior to the care in the states.  One has to do their research and find out what is best for them. When I came here looking for information each time I would post a question about Mexico you would PM me with the evils and horrors of Mexico and quite frankly, my research showed you were wrong.  You were in error on many levels and you really shouldn't PM people warning them about things when it might be an area that you can educate yourself about.  I did and I had a fantastic experience.  I received better care there than I would have in the US.  If what you were saying to me in PMs was factual then you wouldn't have needed to say it in PM where others could challenge you on these comments.  You could have posted the information instead, true? Just as in the US there are really crappy doctors, average doctors, and doctors that are superior in skill, reputation, etc.  One doctor there was voted in an international bariatric position by US doctors.  They voted for him over the US doc that was running.  Just because it is Mexico does not mean it is inferior in the least. One of the doctors on your list I wouldn't send my poodle to, I have taken care of that doctor's patients in a medical setting when they bypassed too much intestine and the patients were not absorbing anything.  They went from tax paying citizens to folks on welfare with feeding tubes and a horrible quality of life and this did not just happen once.  This is superior to a skilled bariatric surgeon in Mexico? I am a nurse and I did the research, you can too. The prices vary in Mexico for surgery, but the better docs are going to be a bit more expensive than the trashy docs that depend on people shopping for price vs. skill.  But typically the fee structure is: Bands:  $7500 Sleeves:  $9K Bypass:  10K DS:  No clue, there is only one doc in Mexico that does DS (most don't feel it is a safe procedure and they refuse to do them) that I would ever suggest anyone go to and I have no clue what he charges. There are several docs in the Phx area that will follow up folks that had surgery in Mexico.  It is another myth that they refuse.  Just certain doctors refuse, they are miffed... they wanted the surgery money and they did not get it. Remember, when it comes to banding these doctors were the proctors for US surgeons, they taught them the procedures and techniques for folks such as... Simpson. There is a link on another board that I wrote myself, my ID there is WASaBubbleButt.  I wrote a very long list on how to research a Mexican surgeon.  It would apply to all bariatric surgery types however this one was written for banding but it still applies.  It will also apply to US surgeons.  The link is: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f11/researching-mexican-doctors-101-a-43575/ Actually, it would be a great reference for here!  Yes, I know you'll love seeing that thread daily when you come here to read. ;o))))))) Please, if this is not a matter of commissions on your part that leaves education.  It's time, educate yourself on the reality of Mexico for bariatric surgery. Cheers.

I do recall your situation.  I remember you PM'ing me for help.

Very glad things have turned out well for you.  I'm always thrilled when anyone has had a healthy, successful weight loss and is living a full life.

Joyce

Hi Joyce... No, I don't recall that it was for help as much as something else. Sounds like you are doing pretty darn good yourself!  Are you happy with your revision?