kayjay50
Hi everyone, I am new to posting on this site. I have been lurking in the background for a long time. I use to belong to Lapband Talk back in the day of my lapband. In 2001 I started researching WLS it was then that I found that my insurance at the time (Kaiser) and my secondary Premera ( Nelson Trust ) would not cover any type of WLS. Finally in 2004 I made the decision to go to Mexico and have the LBS. I paid for the surgery out of pocket and it was around 10,000. I did very well lost a total of about 100 pounds. Was doing pretty well until I got real sick, very tired exhausted. I had seen my PCP many times and was being treated for many things from pneumonia to nasal infections. This started in November 2005, in Feb 2006 I started coughing up blood. I told my husband to take me to OHSU in Portland OR about 50 miles from where we live. We live in small town of Castle Rock outskirts of Longview, Kelso. I had already been to our home town hospital St Johns recently and was treated for pneumonia. When we arrived at OHSU they ran many test and decided I either had lung cancer or a very bad infection in my lung. I was hospitalized and they did lots of test over the next few days. They were almost sure that it was an abscess on my lung but I would have to go home and wait 14 days for the results. I received a phone call from them stating that is was not cancer, and indeed an abscess on my lungs caused by aspiration into my lungs. In the long run my lap band had been too tight and I had aspirated in to my lungs. I was on strong doses of antibiotic for about 3 months. My health improved as the abscess healed. In 2008 my heartburn had become unbearable. My PCP sent me to see Dr. Deveney to have a endoscope to see what was going on. It was then that Dr. Deveney told me that my band had slipped and needed to be removed. Again insurance would not cover this procedure. Since the cost of removal was so much at OHSU I went to Dr. Neil in Olympia. I paid for that procedure about 6,000. Since then I have continued to gain my weight back. I am now just about the same weight that I was when I went to Mexico for the band. That is my story this far I am now considering the Gastric Bypass here in the states. I will be paying out of pocket again since my primary insurance provider now Premera (Nelson Trust) has exclusion to any WLS. I am currently considering Dr. Deveney at OHSU to do the surgery. The cost there is around 25,000. So it is quite an investment. I am looking for any advice, support, ideas that anyone can provide. I have a few friends that have had the Bypass and they both have very different views. So I am aware that we are all different and things turn out different for each and every one of us. So please share with me what you can about your experiences. I am hoping they can help me with this decision. Thanks a bunch…….Kathy
