Hello

[star0210]

That's great news and that's a great price!
Dr. Ungson in Mexico charges $13k for a virgin DS. Price is all inclusive...including all pre-op testing, hotel the night before surgery, hospital stay, transportation to and from the airport. The only thing I had to pay for was my plane ticket.
I was a revision...went from VSG to DS and had a partial re-sleeve so my cost was $14,500.

 

[Barb1]

Welcome Debbie! I am so excited for you. I am also very happy to see you where open to suggestions. The fact that you found a vetted surgeon for yourself but also have a perfect solution for your family is wonderful. I wish everyone out there could be so lucky. I look forward to following your journey.

 

[Barb1]

I am sure more will chime in but I wouldn't let it stop me since you will be going to one of the top DS surgeons compared to one that is not! Just my 2 cents! If I where you I'd just be doing a happy dance!!

 

[robs477]

I just got a call back from Dr. Greenbaum!! Tooo excited for words!!! Aprox. $11,000 and Moorestown is 25 minutes from my brother in law so my husband is excited!!! The kids and him could have a vacation visit family & I will still save $20000.00!!!!! I will be calling them in April to start the process so I can have surgery by the end of June!!!! You guys rock!!!

THAT IS FLIPPIN AWESOME AND A GREAT PRICE!!!!!!!!....CRAP....I RAN OUT OF CAPS! .....CONGRATULATIONS!!

 

[robs477]

Hi Debbie. Welcome to the board. I am a self pay also. My DS surgery w removal of my gallbladder and appendix and repair of a hiatal hernia is scheduled for Monday w Dr. Greenbaum. He does the DS in one stage. The cost will be less than $13k (absent complications of course). He's located in NJ. Just putting this info out there so you can compare self pay prices and maybe have another option if you need one.

Good luck!

GREAT JOB Jen for passing that on! How cool is that to be able to help somebody save that kind of $$$$$$$$$$$ and get the great care they need!

 

[aaa]

Welcome & congrats!

 

[Jen-2]

@robs477 that's what I love about this board and this DS community! I can't say enough good things about the posters on this board - YOU ARE ALL AWESOME!
I just want to pay it forward when I can.

 

[Debbie]

I am so excited I could piss myself!!!! LOL I have called everyone and everyone is supportive and can't believe the price difference. Thank you thank you thank you!!!

By the way I have a call into Jawad about the SADI because if that's what they do he mislead all of us he specifically said DS & did a drawing for it and everything.

OK I will shut up now! I cant think about anything except this will happen sooner than later!!!!

 

[southernlady]

One more question I have a friend who is very concerned that I would be doing an open surgery instead of it laparoscopically. What is the major difference and should that be a concern for problems after my initial follow up since he will be so far away?

I've had both...open hysterectomy in 1994 and lap DS.
Besides the obvious of being opened up versus 5-7 small incisions...
Open, no gas to "blow up up so they can work
Lap, gas which means gas pains but it is very small incisions.

Inside, you are still sliced/diced/and put back together.
And if you have had abdominal surgery before, open may be safer cause he can actually see what is there. The down side to open is it is harder to recover from the first week in that honestly, you feel like your insides will fall out (they won't).

Once healed, not a bit of difference except the size of the scar.

 

[Jen-2]

@Debbie Dr. Greenbaum's office is very accommodating to patients who will be traveling for surgery. He'll try to do the initial phone call and some post op visits by phone as long as you aren't having problems. I was able to do all of my pre-op and pre-admission testing locally. I've only had to travel once so far to have my initial consultation with him. That was after we had already spoken by phone and email. I will have a 2 week follow up after surgery in NJ with him but the 1 month appt. I can do by phone if I'm not experiencing any problems. I think there are also 3 month, 6 month, 9 month and 1 year follow up appts. Most of those again he'll do by phone if I'm doing ok. So far my experience with Dr. G and his office and Virtua Memorial Hospital have been great. It seems to be a well oiled machine that he has in place. I've found that his office and the hospital coordinate well with each other. I've had excellent communication with both the various hospital departments and Dr. G's office. Tina is his coordinator and she's great.

If you have any questions while you go through the process don't hesitate to ask. There are also other posters on here that had their surgeries with Dr. Greenbaum and they'll help answer your questions too.

Glad Dr. G is an option for you! Good luck!!

 

[Larra]

I'm so glad this is working out for you. Great decision, and will work for your family as well. And 20K is nothing to sneeze at.

 

[DianaCox]

Not to be a Debbie Downer here - but is that the INCLUSIVE price for your DS?? Does that include the hospital or just Greenbaum's fee? How many days? What happens if you have complications? Does it include anesthesia? Medications? ASK A TON OF QUESTIONS and make sure you FULLY understand the price and your exposure.

 

[Debbie]

I will have to pay for pre-op tests but that is covered by my insurance. It includes surgery & hospital for 5 days and then follow up. I will ask about meds but they should be covered by regular insurance. Obviously if there are complications the price would go up, but I would have already had the surgery and that would have to be billed later. as far as Anesthesia Jen- 2 might be able to clarify that for me she goes in with him on Monday. Her price was slightly higher but she has to have gallbladder/appendix etc.

I will be calling him in April and they will set up my phone consultation with him and get the scripts for the pre-op then. If everything looks good I can then schedule for June/July.

And thanks for the feed back I am new to this and so glad I decided to research more before making a commitment to Jawad.


I wish FLorida would require Bariatric Insurance - it would make things easier!

 

[Jen-2]

Here's a list of what I've paid so far:

Virtua Memorial Hospital - $5165 (this includes the surgery and the in hospital care from Monday through Friday) Any additional stay would be at an approximate rate of $850 a day - possibly less.
Burlington Anesthesia - $1560
Virtua Surgical Specialists (Dr. Greenbaum) - $3649 (my understanding after discussing this with his office is - this includes the one stage traditional DS surgery, removal of gallbladder, removal of appendix, repair of hiatal hernia and 90 days of follow up care and any charges for his services for in hospital complications or post op complications during the 90 days)
42 protein shakes from Dr. G's office - $125
post op prescriptions - $40

pre-op and pre-admission testing I had to complete:

3 Nutrition/WLS classes - $ 75 (25 each)
pulmonary test and consultation - $214
cardiac clearance - $135
UGI - $219
chest x-ray- $14
blood work - not yet known
(I also completed a psych consult for my previous doctor and insurance requirements before I changed to Dr. Greenbaum and self pay. Cost was $132. Dr. G does not require a psych consult for self pay)
**the above amounts for the pre-op and pre-adm testing were adjusting by insurance. I paid these amounts bc I had not yet met my deductible.**

future costs and potential future costs:

Dr. G does a liver biopsy during surgery and does an upper GI within 24 hours to check for leaks so there will be bills for pathology and radiology. These amounts are not yet known. Also Dr. G indicated there will be some hospital consultation costs that can't be avoided. These amounts are not yet known. I think some of that has to do with being in the critical care unit for the first 24 hours before moving to the bariatric wing. Potential costs: the costs of any complications that arise in the hospital minus any fees for his services.

Dr. G told me to expect the total to come in less than $13K barring any complications.

**I'll update this post when I have the final costs for the unknown amounts.

 

[Jen-2]

@Debbie Dr. Greenbaum removes the gallbladder and appendix during his DS surgeries if you haven't already had them removed. Also, I had no idea I had the hernia until I had the UGI. If you find out you have one as well - the cost of that repair is already in his original price.