Hi everyone.....I had gastric stapling surgery when I was 19 years old. My doctor informed me that if I didn't have the procedure I would not live to be 30.I weighed over 300 pounds then. I lost over 150 pounds and got married a year later.I had 3 children with this man and 5 years into the marriage became unhappy and started drinking to cope.Well,that put the weight right back on and I stayed at about 250 for the remaining 10 years of my marriage. the last 3 years changed me and my life for the better. I started working in our town grocery store after being home 13 years raising children. We started a dieting contest among co-workers who wanted to lose weight and so I decided to try. I won the contest for the women's group and just kept right on losing. I quit drinking and started working as a dept manager in the store.....In a year I had lost down to 130 pounds which I have kept off for 2 years now. I am very happy with myself except for the loose skin on my stomach. I want a tummy tuck so badly,but probably wont ever be able to afford it....would anyone have any ideas? Do they do "payment plans" on these things?.....I will appreciate any input. Thanks for reading!!
I also had a Gastric by Pass and now after losing 133 lbs my doctors won't do a body lift on me because they say my medical ins. won't cover it and there is no way we can afford it, so here I am stuck with a body I can't stand to look at I've talked to many people just to be told there is no help for me. So after losing all that weight I'm stuck wearing something to hold me in so I can look somewhat good in my clothes. I'm 56 yrs old and should be happy with me but I'm not. Anita
I recently visited a plastic surgeon for a consultation regarding abdominoplasty. Unlike most candidates for the surgery, my stomach was stretched from two pregnancies and did not go back to normal. I am a small person with extra skin, a small umbilical hernia as well as separated stomach muscles. Unfortunately for me, insurance does not cover for this reason, however I was told that those who have lost weight, especially through gastric surgery, do have a chance of being covered. This would mostly be available if the extra skin is causing other medical issues such as a rash that you need to see your primary care physician for. Good Luck Ladies!
Sorry, I had one more thought. If your place of employment offers a Medical Flexible Spending Plan, you can defer up to $5000.00 per year pretax which you can use to reimburse yourself for the surgery. Then you would be able to make payments pretax from your paycheck, so this would be like having a payment plan. You would just need a credit card or something to pay originally but you get reimbursed within a week with most plans.
