HELP I have questions about vsg to ds and about medicare/medicaid
I had vsg 8 months ago today. My weight loss slowed to a crawl at 3 or 4 months and completely stopped at 5 and a half months despite everything I have tried. I've only lost between 54-58 lbs depending on the week. The surgeons first goal for me was 70 lbs at six months out. I have terrible gerd and am throwing up a couple times a week. I originally wanted the ds but the nearest surgeon was further than three hundred miles away and there was no way I could get that far and wouldn't dare try driving back home after such a surgery that far so I settled on vsg. My surgeon retired and the one that replaced him does the ds... if i'm not mistaken.. and I want to know if it's possible to get the ds this far out from my vsg. also I want to know if anyone has done this with medicare/medicaid?? Medicare paid for the vsg and would have paid for the ds so I'm wondering fi anyone here has successfully done this. I had read somewhere on here that sometimes they do the ds after the vsg due to severe gerd. Is that true? I almost want to call the surgeon that is three hundresd miles away to see if they would finish the surgery for me. So what are your thoughts and what do you know about the insurance situation?
on 1/13/14 4:18 pm
There may be several problems. You would still have to qualify, which means a BMI over 40, or over 35 with co-morbs. What is your BMI now? Any co-morbs like type2 diabetes or high cholesterol?
Also, while you have the DS stomach already, there is a synergy from having the stomach and intestines done at the same time, which can be lacking when it's done is 2 parts, as yours would be. The results likely wouldn't be as good as a virgin DS.
Also unsure if a "revision" would be covered, as this would probably be considered one.
