Trying to find information

[lostnlooking]

Hello I am new to the forum. I am 27 and need help, I have been denied by my insurance 3 times now and feel very discouraged. I was approved in October but then last month I got a letter saying that my company has dropped all the weight loss sugary and support. I have appealed it and denied every time even with letters from my PCP and the surgeon saying that I need to have weight loss surgery. I have looked into self pay in the States but the cheapest I found was $12000 and it was considered a in-out patient so I would have it done in the morning and discharged that evening. I don't think that is safe or right. Plus I would have to buy a plane ticket and pay for a hotel because you have to come in the day before for lab work and EKG. I am a single mom and this is just to much for me so now I am looking at Mexico. My family is against me having any weight loss surgery, they say eat less exercise more. If it was only that easy, I have a bad back and knee so almost everything I do hurts one or the other. I cannot share with them how I feel and there is no way I could ever tell them I am looking into Mexico. I just don't need that stress.
Now my biggest problem is how to choose a doctor there are so many, and then are you better off going through a company or though the doctor? I really need help.

[Stacy'sSleevedLife]

I know how you feel, it is very over whelming. The best advice I can give you is pick a doctor then use Google, Bing and Yahoo to search that doctor then pick another and do the something. Forums are not always the best place to look when searching facts. Forums are great to hear about experiences with the doctors. They are also great on talking to people about what it is like before and after WLS. Feel free to PM me with any questions. I was a single mom when I went to Tijuana so I have been in your shoes

Good luck

Stacy

[michael95472]

All I can say is , I had Dr Almanza and I don't regret a thing. I would do it all over again.

[Bananna]

I'm with you sweetheart! I'm a single mom and insurance isn't covering it either. I'm going to Mexico self pay. Dr Velazquez is doing it for 3499.

[Kindle]

I went to Obesity Control Center in Tijuana. It is an International Center of Excellence which means it exceeds standards of most US hospitals. It is not an assembly line operation....they do no more than 5 surgeries/day and you have personal one on one care the whole time. Dr. Ortiz and Dr. Martinez are both Bariatric Surgeons of Excellence, have performed over 16,000 bariatric surgeries and their complication rate is 1/10 that if the US average. Dr. Ortiz is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and has actually taught laparoscopic technique in the US and Canada. The other bonus is that you deal with OCC and their staff and surgeons directly. There is no middle man medical tourism company to get in the way. I had direct access to both surgeons, the cardiologist, anesthesiologist, followup Doctor, dietician, office manager and shuttle driver.

My insurance didn't you cover WLS at all, so I spent months researching self pay options both in the US and Mexico. I went with the most qualified, safest option I Could find and didn't let cost make my decision for me. I had no complications, an easy pain free recovery and was back to work in just 7 days. Their postop care has also been excellent, being available 7 days/week for any questions I had. They've even email me, checking on my progress 2 years out.

Good luck.

[Bananna]

I'm going to be booking Dr. Valezquez in Tijauna. If you spend a lot of time on this forum AND youtube you will learn a lot! Dr. Valezquez also teaches at a medical college. I found out they do 4 surgeries a day. If you call or email them they will give you a coordinator who is right on top of things and calls you back in minutes not hours or the next day like in the USA. I haven't booked my surgery because I needed a new passport but they have sent me all the before and aftercare instructions which I liked. One day last week I called 8 times in the day because I thought of questions. They have people 24/7 to answer your calls or emails. I was watching you tube videos of people talking about complications and so I emailed a question at 11:30 pm and 2 minutes later it was answered.
As for how am I going to pay for it. I'm selling an extra vehicle. But my advice on saving is every time you use a debit card take an extra $5-10-20 and tuck it away.

[lostnlooking]

Thank you all, this gives me a place to start looking and names to start doing my research on. It is hard to find time to look with work and trying to keep up with my kids and baseball. But I have to get this done so I watch them grow up. I am scared this is a lot of money to me. I don't have all the money right now but I am saving I might have to look into getting a lone because I really don't want to put it off any longer.

[Bananna]

I found a credit card with 0% for 2 years.

[lostnlooking]

I have really bad credit so I don't think I will be able to get a card, but I am trying to find someone who works with a credit company so maybe I could get a loan. My other fear is some of the things I have seen in the news. I normally don't watch the news because it seems everything is wrong in the world. I told my BFF and she keeps sending and showing me all these stories. I know she just wants me to be safe but sometimes it is just to much. I don't know how to tell her that I don't want to see it without hurting her feelings, but it cant be all bad, right.

[AnaiDdes]

i went to Dr. Ponce in Tijuana. Im really happy now! you can research for your self,cecelia lane can help you on her youtube channel too, she is their Ambassadress.
Good luck!