mccabesmom
I have looked into WLS for over 10 yrs now. I even had surgery scheduled twice for gastric bypass. (because I had never heard of the lap-band) But money was always the issue, even if my insurance pd 50% I couldn't justify $15,000. Needless to say, as far as I was concerned, life sucked. I finally hit rock bottom, when I hit 325 lbs and my BMI was over 50. I finally concluded that if my life was not worth $15,000 our priorities were pretty screwed up. So once again I started looking into gastric bypass. Then my aunt had the lap band, and with-in 9 months had gone from a size 18-20 to a loose 6. I called and talked to her about her decision, and once I felt I had a better understanding of the lap band, I began my quest to find the best Dr. For the best price. By now, my insurance no longer covered WLS...Of course. so that meant I would now be a self pay. We live in an extrememly expensive city, where the cost of living increased 39% last year and we are a single income family. So, I decided that since I have noticed in alot of medical journals and insurance articles that alot of companies are actually paying their workers to go out of the US for major surgeries, as the cost is so much less. So I started looking south of the border. I seemed to keep coming across 1 name over and over and that was Dr Kuri in Tijuana. Once I researched Dr. Kuri and contacted 100's of his patients it took me less than 1 week to make my decision. Dr. Kuri came highly recommended, the hospital Angeles is only about 1 year old and the comment was made time and again that the patients felt that the hospital was cleaner than alot of hospitals here in the states. I called to schedule my surgery and could have been in in less than a week. I opted for 2 weeks because my BMI was so high, I had to go on the liver shrinking diet for 2 weeks. In that 2 weeks I lost 27 lbs. I had my surgery 2-2-07. The next 6 weeks were filled with frustration. Alot in part because i feel there is so much emphasis on the surgery, that the post-op sometimes gets overlooked. Not by the physicians, but by us as the patients. Once I got through the liquid state and was able to return to regular foods, I didn't loose another lb, I probably even gained some back. I was not prepared to still be able to eat just about as much as before the surgery. Once I researched, I found out that the band is not working at all until your first fill. I had my first fill on 3-15-07 and have since lost another 35 lbs. I STARTED in a size 28+... Today 5-7-07 I bought a size 18 pant (at a real store...no elastic waste band!!!!) and didn't have to buy my shirt in the fat store!!!!! My goal is to be down a total of 100 lbs by the end of the summer. I have since had 3 other family members go to Dr Kuri as well and all had great experiences as well. My brother works in a hospital as their maintanence foreman and he could not believe the cleanliness and quality of craftmanship at hospital angeles. If anyone has questions or concerns about going south of the border, feel free to contact me. I could have had the surgery less than a mile from my home in a brand new state of the art hospital. I chose Dr. Kuri not only for the savings, but also why would I go to a Dr here in the states who probably doesn't have more than 20 surgeries worth of experience, ( they have only been doing the WLS surgeries since 11-06) when Dr Kuri has been doing the lap band for over 9 yrs and does on the average of 5-7 a day 5 days a week. Dr Kuri had done the lap band for 5 yrs before it was ever approved here in the states. I love the fact that the lap band is so minimally evasive and that it is 100% reversable. I LOVE my lap band. For the first time in years, I am in charge of my life, not food. I am not totally consumed with food. It is GREAT!!!
