Orlando?

I'm actually in Lake Buena Vista right now, living up on 535.  I just keep forgetting to change my location lol.  I'm thinking I'm still going to go to one of the meetings, and see what they have to say.  The 600 dollars up front is ridiculous!  I don't have any credit cards, and am unable to get one, so anything that I would have to do would have to be cash... and that's awful hard when you're living paycheck to paycheck to begin with.

My heart's just sinking unforunately.  Somehow I think that the surgery that at this point I despritely need is going to end up being nothing more than a distant wish.  Our deductable is 1000 and our co-insurance is 30%.  I feel very hopeless at the moment because am I right in assuming now you also have to pay your co-pays and co-insurance up front?  :/

Hi,

Well, you'd have to talk to the office, but I think so.  I paid $600 at the time I visited Dr. Ferguson and then had to pay the rest of the amount at my first appointment with Dr. Kim.  I didn't have to have my appt with Dr. Ferguson first - I chose to do it that way.  Now, I would imagine that every person's amount etc is different based on their insurance.  If I remember correctly I think the band is about $16000 so if you had to pay 30% of that it would be $4800 - is your deductible covered in that amount too or additional?  I really would just ask them - they'll contact your insurance and generally within a week will get back to you with all of the information.  I'm not sure what other options are in the area.  I met someone who had surgery with Dr. Kim and I liked what I learned about him and his practice - including that it was a center of excellence.  I have to say I thought there would be more support than there has been thus far, but I'm hoping as I get more into it I'll see more.  The support groups are difficult for me to attend - I live 45 minutes away.  I wish they would have them on the days he's actually in office so I could couple an office visit with the meetings...  I've attended one lap band meeting so far and that's about it...  I'll be going this month - and may attend the general meeting as well.  The general meeting is on my birthday though - so may not be there for that one...   Regardless it's not magic...  I have a friend who is losing circles around me and didn't have the band, but she's eating better than I am right now and she's working out.  I'm eating well - she's just better.  ;)  I have some physical issues that are preventing me from working out right now and have had a lot of stress the past couple of weeks so I'm just down 2lbs in 2 weeks - she's down 6.  She also weighs less than me right now and is 5 years older.  She is doing the 6 Week Body Makeover - www.provida.com
It's a great program IF you do it...  go check out their site.  I basically am going to follow that plan and will lose better - I wanted the band to simply help me feel satiated on less and it's doing that I think even without any restriction thus far.  What I can't do right now is eat as much salad and fruit as I'd like - I'm still trying to figure it all out.  This is the first week I've been on basically all foods - I have no problems at all eating anything...  Never felt that anything was stuck etc...  So, either I'm doing something right or maybe it's not working as well as it should yet...  I'm not sure - will ask Dr. Kim when I see him on Monday.  I wish I had some great news for you.  I hope this helps a bit!! :)

Well, I finally had my appointment with my primary doctor on the 19th. Never in my wildest dreams, would I have imagined that he'd say NO. Although he thinks I should have the surgery and fully supports it, he would NOT monitor my dieting. He said he's not a nutritionist and does not offer any sort of weight loss program. He told me to go to Weigh****chers or Jenny Craig...neither of which have doctors on staff to monitor you. I called Medicare and they said that of course they would not even consider either of those programs. It has to be medically supervised. So, I called Amanda at Dr. Kim's to see if she could help me. She gave me the names of two doctors that Dr. Kim's patients have used, one in Oviedo and one right there at Celebration Health. She asked me if I was diabetic and yes, I was just diagnosed less than a month ago. She said the doctor at Celebration was an endocrinologist, which I should probably consult anyway if I'm diabetic. I first called the doctor in Oviedo. She couldn't see me till almost August. So, I called Dr. Tanton, the endo at CH and he was able to see me on July 1st. Much better! Also, he has contracted rates with Medicare so the visits will be dirt cheap! I liked him right away, so my "6 month dr. supervised diet" has officially begun. He suggested I look at a diet called "Volumetrics". I was able to get the book online used for a penny (I'm the queen of finding cheap books!). It allows you to fill up on healthier foods instead of crap. He said though that I still had to eat less than even the diet allows. Need to be in the habit of eating smaller portions. I also have my next two visits already scheduled.

While I was at CH, I decided to attend Dr. Kim's seminar again. When I went at the beginning of June, Dr. Kim couldn't be there because of a big traffic jam on I-4, so I never got a chance to meet him. Being that my appointment with Dr. Tanton was also on a Wednesday, late in the afternoon, it was easy to just sit around with a book till the seminar began. I actually learned more from the second seminar than I did the first. He just seemed to give out a lot more information than they did at the one he didn't attend.

Now...I'm still having problems. I can't seem to stop eating large amounts of food and sugars. It's getting me so freaking depressed. I'm afraid that even after the surgery, I won't be able to maintain the lifestyle. I know that if my head isn't right, none of will be.

By the way, as for Dr. Ferguson's charge for the psych consult, Amanda told me on the phone, and it was verified at the seminar that the charge for that is $500, not $600. Perhaps her rates have come down a bit. I'm also scared of how I'm going to come up with all the monies out of pocket. For me, it will be almost 3K before he makes the first cut. I do have CareCredit, but I'm on disability and can't afford a big monthly payment. I'm just trying to save, right now. I figure I've got 6 months to save for it. Waiting for the surgery will seem like a lifetime, but paying for that feels like it's next week!