South Carolina Weight Loss Forum

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ladellinger
on 10/22/09 11:30 am - Columbia, SC

Topic: RE: New to all of this and need info

Has anyone had teh surgery with Dr. Joya in Puerta Vallerta?

thom9ch
on 10/22/09 6:31 am

Topic: RE: New to all of this and need info

I can not tell about self pay either, but Dr Rowitz is going to do my surgery and he is a very good physician, he is located in Anderson

PUDYTAT
on 10/21/09 9:04 am - CAROLINA SHORES, NC

RNY on 10/13/06

Topic: RE: New to all of this and need info

I had my surgery in Charleston at MUSC w/ Dr. Byrne who was wonderful and very knowledgeable. A friend of mine had her surgery in Lexington Med Center in Columbia, she raves about her surgeon also.

My suggestion would be to contact their surgical coordiator and/or their financial dept. They may have a payment plan. I know the hosp I work in, even though we do not do weight loss surgery, we do have payment plans for pts. that are self pay. Good luck in your endevor.

Donna

Mary H.
on 10/19/09 11:56 am - Gray Court, SC

RNY on 10/31/06

Topic: RE: New to all of this and need info

Welcome! I don't think I can answer your question on the self pay or surgeon in your area. We have a great one in the Upstate, Dr. Eric Bour. I know the surgery isn't cheap,but I'm sure it is cheaper when it's self pay instead of what they charge when insurance is involved. My surgery was 3 years ago and the hospital bill I received came to over $47,000.00. Mine was covered 100% by my insurance though. I figure your probably looking at at least $30,000.00, but that is just a wild guess. Call around to some bariatric surgeons and see if they will quote you an approximate price on self pay.
Good luck with everything.
Hugs!
Mary

IF WE WEREN'T ALL CRAZY WE WOULD GO INSANE!
Jimmy Buffett

ga_ginger_10
on 10/19/09 1:07 am - Atlanta, GA

RNY on 03/27/01

Topic: HOLIDAY TIPS TO MAINTAIN WEIGHT LOSS AND EVEN LOSE WEIGHT!

To make the Holiday Season a healthier one, experts say, it's important to do three things: Practice awareness, manage your stress and emotions, and plan in advance. Imagine how you'll feel on New Year's Day when you begin the New Year knowing you got through the Holidays and you didn’t gain any weight or perhaps you lost weight! This is the beginning of what is the hardest time of the year for most….including me to keep the weight off. BUT YOU CAN DO IT!! So, keep your weight loss goals in mind daily.
Empower yourself….
Be in control…..
I personally stay on track by weighing every morning around the same time. This tells me where I am for the day and what I need to do. If I am up a couple of pounds I know to really watch my caloric intake, make sure I am getting my water in and definitely exercise. We can all do this…but it isn’t magic…it does take planning!
Here are some tips to keep in mind …perhaps post them somewhere so it will remind you. You can stay on track maintain your weight and even lose weight…

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TIPS ON THIS TOPIC VISIT MY BLOG AT

www.gingerrock.blogspot.com
Have a wonderful holiday!! Ginger

Don’t Skip Your Workout
Don’t Eat Mindlessly
Buy Healthy Food
Don’t Shop Hungry
Don’t use Food as Entertainment
Don't beat yourself up is you fall off the wagon, just get back on

Open RNY 3/27/01 400 lbs - 170lb. Please visit my blog at www.gingerrock.blogspot.com. You can also find me on facebook www.facebook.com/GingerRock and Twitter www.twitter.com/GingerRock
~Ginger~

ladellinger
on 10/17/09 12:04 pm - Columbia, SC

VSG on 12/07/09 with

Topic: New to all of this and need info

I am looking into having WLS. I will be a self pay patient. Can anyone tell me a good surgeon in SC and if they have paid out of pocket what am I looking at spending?

Thanks!

Member Services
on 10/16/09 8:23 am - Irvine, CA

Topic: Health Tracker Update: Meals and Reports

Last week we released two major updates. First was the public release of OH Groups where any ObesityHelp member can now create their own Group. Second was the addition of Activity Tracking to Health Tracker, which provides a robust and easy to use tool to track and monitor your exercise and activity. Today we have added My Meals and an Activity vs. Weight Loss Report to Health Tracker.

My Meals

My Meals allows you to group and store multiple food and beverage items as a custom meal that can be used over and over again. If you have meals that you eat on a regular basis, you will no longer need to log each food item individually.

To access My Meals, go to your Health Tracker in My OH and click on the Nutrition tab. You will see My Meals listed under Nutrition.

Creating a new meal works similar to your Food Log. You can search for food items on the right and add the foods to the meal on the left. A Calorie Breakdown chart and Nutrient Summary Label are also available for each meal.

Once a meal is created you can add that meal to your Food Log from My Meals by clicking "i had this" or you can search for the meal from your Food Log.

When searching for a meal to add to your Food Log, all meals will be returned when "My Foods" is selected in search. So, to "drill down" on meals that you have created, select to only show "My Foods." When a new meal is created it may require up to 30 minutes for that meal to be indexed and become searchable.

Activity vs. Weight Loss Report

Adding to the Macronutrient and Export Reports previously available, there is now an Activity vs. Weight Loss Report. This report will allow to compare Average Time in Activity vs Weight over time, providing you with further insight into what impact physical activity as on weight loss and weight loss maintenance. In Health Tracker, click Reports and then select Activity vs. Weight Loss.

We hope these additions to Health Track reduce the time required to log your daily food intake and makes it easier to view how physical activity impacts your weight.

Create your first meal now!

If you have any questions, comments or concerns about this release, please post them on the Main Message Board.

Mary H.
on 10/11/09 1:30 am - Gray Court, SC

RNY on 10/31/06

Topic: RE: I need financing.....I Hate Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina

The only thing I would have against going out of the country for the surgery is this......What if you had an complications following the surgery, it could be a problem finding someone to take care of you back here in the US and I know that if the insurance company has a no coverage clause then they definetly won't pay for anything related to the surgery even after the fact. Sometimes taking the cheaper way out can end up being more costly in the end. It's great if everything goes as planned, but you should always plan for the unexpected also.

IF WE WEREN'T ALL CRAZY WE WOULD GO INSANE!
Jimmy Buffett

Mary_SC
on 10/10/09 1:12 pm

Topic: RE: I need financing.....I Hate Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina

I also have the 'looser' insurance and couldn't afford to have the surgery at MUSC (they quoted me $27500 inclusive but since when doesn't a hospital charge for extras?). My solution was to go overseas to India for my gastric bypass this past April. Airfare (for one), visa, procedure and hospital stay plus four days at 5* hotel was less than $13000. I went by myself but if I had had someone go with me their airfare would have been around $1200 and that (plus some food costs at the hotel) would have been the only additional expense. The hospital will let a guest stay free in the room (international patients get a private room and there are two beds) and there isn't a 'second person' fee at the hotel.

I know this is a 'drastic' solution but my Internist was very okay with India (said he wouldn't do post op care if I went to Mexico - which I hadn't even considered) and it was the ONLY way I could afford the surgery. India has excellent Doctors BUT you have to know what to expect. I never felt I wasn't getting excellent care but the hospital wasn't all decked out like MUSC. It was clean but they don't spend money on 'can lights' and fancy pictures and don't care if the bedspreads in the room match each other. I knew that going in so was okay with it but if you've never been overseas it might have been a surprise.