No hospital within 450 miles that does the ds soooooo

I am going with the gastric sleeve. I'm not happy about it but I need weight loss surgery and i refuse to get lap band. I hope this turns out for me. I'm so disappointed. I live north of pittsburgh pa and the only surgeon close to me is more than 500 miles away for the ds. UGH i'm so disappointed. :( i just want to cry. 

Hi,

I live in Maine and there was no one close to me either, I went to MI to have my DS surgery. Most people that have the DS do end up traveling. 

Trish

not to be nosy but how did you afford it? I'm on disability and the trip would break me!!! my car would never make the trip and i just can't come up with the funds for a hotel. would i be able to travel after i got out of the hospital? I wonder if my medicaid would cover travel costs. they pay for dr appointments so i'm not sure

If you had the DS, would you have it in your funds to afford the vitamins and protein?  

i guess it would depend. the lady that did my scheduling said she thought they were covered by insurance. I never gave it much more thought than that. How much do they generally cost?

she thought they were covered by insurance

I'm on medicare and have YET to find a way to get them to pay for vitamins/supplements. And going with the RNY (gastric bypass) will cost almost as much...you have to supplement with it as well.

If vitamins/supplements are beyond you, don't get a malabsorptive procedure.

My dh and I have gone thru a period this last year when proper supplementation has been beyond our budget...we still did what we could but we also know we HAD to get back on track soon. Thankfully our budget is easing after this month and buying vitamins will no longer be an issue.

As to cost, it averages anywhere to 30-100 dollars each month depending on what you need to supplement based on your labs. And that does not include the cost of protein/meat. Granted you won't be buying as much carb based food but meat is not cheap.

Liz

 I flew out to MI and stayed a week before and a week after surgery and flew home. My insurance did not pay for travel. But you really would want to think twice about the DS if money could be a problem for you because the vitamins can be very expensive at times. Best of luck making your choice.

Thank you I guess i should do more investigation and talk to the surgeon close to me that does the other surgeries. i see him on the 21st

Your profile says you have a BMI of 36.8---what we call a 'lightweight' around here. Do you have co-morbs that would indicate the DS, like diabetes, high cholesterol, insulin resistance, etc?

Many people only get one chance at WLS, so I urge you to get the very best surgery for your needs, even if that means postponing it until you can save enough to travel, etc.