First appt with Dr. Rabkin Wednesday for Revision RNY-DS

Hi Yall

I am in the process of starting my journey from a failed RNY to a DS revision.  I am really scared .  I went to a DS support meeting last week and I was shocked at the foods they were eating at that meeting and at the information I found out there.  I am so glad I went to that meeting because those women helped me out a lot just by answering my questions.

I have my first appt with Dr. Rabkin on Wednesday and I am excited to hear what he has to say.  I choose him because I know he is one of the best, if not the best doing this revision surgery.  I am so nervous about the pain and about the pooping issues, but moreso the pain and recovery time. 

I would love if you all could help me through this decision process and road to DS.  I have been researching it for over a year now and I know a lot but it is always great to hear from people that have been through it, that way I can get a personal account. 

So if anyone has any advice, warning, suggestions, or any input please share with me.   Also if there is anything you want to know from me just ask, I am an open book and not shy at all.

I will be paying out of pocket, which will cost the same as a luxury car, but I believe it is worth it because my health is going south again along with my self esteem. 

 

 

Hi Lee,
I was at the meeting. Those ladies are awesome. I'm scheduled to have my surgery this coming Thursday.
I see any pain from surgery as highly temporary. It's such a brief thing compared to a lifetime of many different kinds of pain for me and my loved ones. It is so worth enduring the operation if it means starting a new, exciting chapter in my life.

You were there?  In San Jose meeting?  What is your name, help me recall who you are.

I am so excited for you getting your surgery on the 28th.  We MUST keep in contact so I can see how things go for you.

 

 

 

Doh!  I keep forgetting there are Rabkin support groups all over.  I was a the San Francisco meeting. 

However I'll keep you posted about my progress, especially over the next few, momentous weeks. Things get into full swing on Tuesday, when I have pre-op appointments with Rabkin's office, and then the hospital.  Preparations have been ongoing for a while now.  I've stopped certain meds, prepared my home to be an inviting place when I return, ordered some of the post-op vitamins, and gotten the pre-op prescriptions filled. I've been practicing deep breathing, and re-reading Jon Kabat-Zinn's Full Catastrophe Living so I'll be able to relax and better handle pain.

 

Are you self paying?

How long did it take you to get to this point in our journey?

are you a virgin DS or a revision from RNY?

 

 

Kaiser is paying. I had never heard of the DS before Dr. Fisher at Kaiser Richmond recommended it for me. I think the rationale was I was nearly 60 BMI when I was referred to Kaiser's bariatric department.  The journey started October 1st when I asked my PCP for a referral to Kaiser bariatric. I had reached the end of my rope so to speak, at 450 pounds with chronic leg edema, diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, back pain, and chronic abscesses on my belly and thighs.

I work in health care, in a medical case management office. My nurse co-workers (and my mother) instilled in me a great capacity to nag people.  So that's what I did, every step of the way.

I'm a virgin DS.

That is great that kaiser will pay, they won't pay for revisions so I will be paying out of pocket.  

You've got a great support group there and one of the best RNY-to-DS revision surgeons on the planet.  

--gina

Congrats on your decision! I've been wanting to do this for several years now, but no one in my area is qualified. I also had RNY in 2005 with minimal weight loss and now a messed up pouch!

 

If I may ask- how much is your self pay, and do you have to pay all up front in one lump sum? Good Luck to you!

Here is just a small portion of the email I got from Mat, the financial guy at Dr. Rabkin office about the cost.

Here’s a breakdown of the fees and how things would work: the total estimated self-pay cost for conversion to Duodenal Switch with Dr. Rabkin is $35,000 - $40,000, assuming that you wouldn’t have to be in the hospital longer than usual (more on that below).  The breakdown of the total is as follows: $15,000 for Dr. Rabkin’s fees, $16,500 for a 4-day hospitalization, $1,500 for the anesthesiologist, and around $500 - $1,500 for the professional fees of the pathologist, radiologist, or any other provider involved in your care while you’re in the hospital.

Those providers do their billing totally separate from ours, so all I have to go on is what other patients have told me regarding their fees, and that’s where the $500-$1,500 figure comes from.  If you have to pay out-of-pocket for a psychological evaluation (which we require in order to medically clear you for surgery), that fee tends to be around $300 or so, depending on who does the evaluation.  That brings the total close to $35,000; conversion patients sometimes need to stay 1 additional day in the hospital and are more likely to require non-routine preoperative testing for which the hospital charges extra, so that can push the total closer to $40,000. 

If you had to stay in the hospital longer than 4 days (i.e., if you weren’t discharged by noon on the 5^th day), the hospital would charge by the day up to a $75,000 cap.  The $75,000 includes the aforementioned $16,500, but none of the other fees.  The per-day hospital fees are in the $1,250 - $4,000 range, depending on whether or not you would have to be in the ICU and how long you had to stay (for days 5-10, it’s $2,000 per day or $4,000 per day for the ICU; then it drops to $1,250 or $2,500 per day after the tenth day).  I feel I should point out that according to the hospital, none of Dr. Rabkin’s patients have never gone anywhere near the $75,000 cap.

 

They do have some companies that will finance you, but I hate bills and will be paying out of pocket in one lump sum.