Considering going from VSG to DS, Please help.

I will be a self pay patient, for sure.  I paid for my VSG and already know that my insurance will not, in any way, entertain the thought of covering weight loss surgery.  I don't mind.  I will be more than happy to pay for the revision. As I see it, my health far out weighs the cost of the surgery.

i certainly realize that I will be signing up for a lifetime of diligent supplementation. I'm 100% on board with this. 

Thanks to all the wonderful DS people out there that have shared their testimonies and experiences, I really think this might be the answer for me.

Ruby, you are so right! Your health is worth every penny you will pay for the revision. Be sure to ask Dr. Ayoola's staff if he has a package deal of some kind for self-pay patients. And if he doesn't work out for you, check out Dr. Ungson. Starr has told you about her experience with him as a revision patient and from what I've heard his rates are very reasonable. He is definitely very experienced with the DS, as he's been doing it for years, and is the only surgery in Mexico most of us would recommend for the DS either as a virgin DS or as a revision.

It is difficult for me to answer your question about recovery for a revision patient as I didn't have a revision. So I will just tell you that my own experience was that pain was not bad at all, but I struggled with fatigue for much longer than expected. Eventually I felt fine, and almost 9 years post-op I can say that it was well worth it and I have absolutely no regrets.

Larra

I paid $14,500 for my revision but that included the partial re-sleeve. 

To have just the switch part would have been $9k.

very reasonable.

My whole experience was smooth and easy. Basically I just showed up in San Diego and the rest was handled. The hospital was small and very nice and immaculately clean. 

Gosh, that's not too bad at all.  I plan on charging it to my Care Credit c/c and paying it out for a year or so.  They offer an interest free option if paid in a certain amount of time.

Thanks for sharing the cost.  I had no idea really... 

I used care credit for my first VSG and paid it off within that time frame so no interest.

This time I just pulled from my savings account. 

The surgeon who did my original VSG here in the states charges $40k for a DS and he's not even know for doing them!

Mexico was definitely the way to go for me!

I just got an e-mail from Dr. Kim's office, here in Dallas.  They charge $25k for the switch surgery!  WOW!  I need to rethink this now.  I was expecting somewhere around $10-15k.  I may need to go to Mexico.  

It sounds like your experience was pretty great.  I like the idea of just showing up in SD and they take your from there.  

How long was the travel time from SD to Mexico?  

It was a couple of hours drive. 

A very nice gentleman by the name of Ernesto picks you up and drives you to the hospital.

The day you arrive you have your pre-op testing. I had bloodwork (you have to fast that day), a barium swallow to check on my sleeve, and a chest xray. I met with Dr. Campos after all of that to discuss the procedure and fill out the consent forms (I didn't see Dr. Ungson himself that day). Once that's all done, Ernesto drives you to the hotel. The hotel was VERY nice. I was able to have a very light dinner that night which was great because I had been on a liquid diet for 5 days. You're picked up the next morning and taken to the hospital for surgery. Everything was very efficient and smooth. I got to speak with Dr. Ungson for a few minutes when he arrived before my surgery but I had done a ton of research and Dr. Campos had answered my questions, so I didn't really have much to discuss with him. Very nice man though. The rest was just recovery. It did get quite boring. We could have gone back to the hotel on Tuesday but they didn't have any rooms available so we had to stay at the hospital. Ernesto drove us back to the airport Wednesday morning and we flew home! 

It was easy peasy. 

I had exactly the same experience, including wishing I could leave a day early. 

Larra, would you mind giving me some insight on the recovery period with patients, like me who have already under the sleeve proceedure and then later, decided to have the DS proceedure? I'm most concerned of the recovery time. I can't be off work for too long.

Thanks Again and Blessings To You As Well,

Ruby

I had my surgery on Black Friday...day after thanksgiving. We flew home the following Wednesday. I went back to work the next Monday. I have a desk job. 

The worst part of the whole thing was the drain. I didn't have one with my VSG. Once that came outing the third day, everything was instantly better!