? for those that travelled outside the states

 Hi all, I mostly read, but not post. I find everyone's input helpful as I gather information for my potential journey.

I have come to the realization that despite the fact I can appeal my insurance's wls exclusion clause, it probably won't be successful. I have also realized tht given my medical issues, I really need to find a way to have the DS surgery as self pay. After looking at the vetted dsfacts list and calling around, my original choice is way outside what i can afford going into debt.  My second choice, Dr stewart in TX, has more reasonable self pay rates. However, going to either the vetted docs in Brazil or Mexico seems like   an option I should at least investigate.  I am foing to have to travel regardless, since the closest vetted doc is three hours away.

For those that choose to go overseas, would you do it again?  If you had complications, how did they get resolved? I guess I need to find out how far out past surgery can the surgical complications occur (leaks, infections, etc that would require surgical corrections). Are there any other issues that I haven't thought about.  I would rather make the right overalldecision rather than the cheapest financial decision. My life is worth it. I would loveto hear all input, good or bad. Now is the time to assess everything.

Hi,

I traveled to Brazil because at the time I had surgery the self-pay price for revision surgeons that I considered was around $50,000. I narrowed down my out-of-the-US surgeons to 2 and chose Dr. Marchesini in Brazil.  My total including airfare, food and hotel in 2005 was $13,000.

Ok, fast forward to 2011.  The US dollar is weak and I believe that lap surgery with Dr. M is somewhere around $16,000 and then you need to add your airfare, food and hotel.  I love Dr. M., hell I would marry the man (but he is already married) and had the very best care of my entire life in Brazil but I think that you would be about the same price going to Dr. Stewart in Texas. Do the math and see.

I had zero complications.  Complications can occur at any time but are most frequent in the first 2 weeks.  Dr. M will not do your surgery if you don't agree to stay 2 weeks minimum. Also, at the time of my surgery up to 2 weeks of hospital stay was included in the price, I don't know if that is still the case.

Dr Ungson in Mexico is an excellent DS surgeon and his patients have had great results and seems like very little complications.  I didn't choose him as I was a revision and at the time, he had only done 6 revisions.  He was very honest with me as I was with him.  Hopefully, some of his patients will chime in with current prices.

Email them both and also Dr. Baltasar in Spain and see what the current prices are for a virgin DS.

I was lucky in that although my insurance only covered RNY, they did cover any complications or aftercare connected.  The only thing I needed was lab work.  I don't know what your insurance will cover.

Good luck,
Michele

 Thank you so much for your response. I have a bunch to think about and consider before making any decisions. I didn't consider Spain because I figured anything in Europe would suffer from the crappy US dollar.

Well, the Euro is really crappy at the moment, too, so you might be surprised.

 Excellent point. I am probably a year away from surgery. I have some things that needing to be resolved and get sorted out prior to comitting to that big of a change.

I also traveled to Brazil to have Dr. Marchesini do my DS.  I had never been out of the country and initially was a little apprehensive about going so far from home but I am so glad I chose him as my surgeon!  He is an outstanding surgeon and a warm and kind man who went out of his way to make my husband and  I comfortable.  He was available to us 24 hours a day.   I had no problems whatsoever.  I cannot say enough good things about him!
  
If you want more details PM me and I will be glad to share more of the specifics or contact him directly via email @ [email protected]  He is excellent about getting back to you quickly and will give you loads of information including cost and what to expect.  (Last year the entire cost of my surgery including air fare for two, hotel, food, hospital, doctor, and meds was $19,000.)
Good luck! 
Lisa

Six years ago I went to Dr. Marchesini in Curitiba, Brazil, and would do it again in a heartbeat! The experience was so wonderful that I chose to go to Brazil for my plastics, too. The level of care down there far surpassed what I had ever received here in the states, and I've had my fair share of surgeries! Dr. Marchesini is an amazing surgeon; my open DS (including gall bladder removal) was done in 56 minutes, and I had no complications. You are required to stay in Curitiba for 2 weeks after surgery, because if there are any complications, they almost always make themselves known in the first 10 days. I had a leak test before he let me leave the hospital. 

You are very right to research! I also was unable to get insurance to pay, so actually researched Dr. Marchesini and comparable surgeons for over a year before going ... I felt 100% comfortable with my decision. After all was said and done, I knew it to be a blessing in disguise that insurance wouldn't pay, because I ended up with a much more brilliant, skilled, CARING surgeon than I would have gotten here. You should join his yahoo group at http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/DrMarchesini-DS/ . You can read the files, read past posts, and ask questions. 

Best of luck to you, whomever you choose!

 Amanda,

Thanks for your insight and the info.  Iam glad that the doctors want you to stick around for a period of time after surgery. I makes me less nervous to hear this.  This is a big decision and I want to get as much info as possible

I am a self pay pre op and I decided to go with Dr gagner, I am a revision so I wanted a very experienced surgeon that was reasonable priced. He is based in Canada and may be worth checking out, his details are on the surgeons list on DSfacts.com

Good luck in your search

 I did a google search on him and the first page had a couple of entries asking where he was. This was in another forum in the early 2000s, so he may have been in the process of moving his practice.

I never thought of possible going to Canada, thanks for that Idea.