I finally met with my doctor yesterday to ask him if he would be supportive of my decision etc. The appointment went so much better than I thought it would and he was able to put my mind at ease.
He asked a million questions and I was able to answer them and I think that helped him realize that I've done my research.
The key points we talked about were - him (black, me blue):
- Where are you going? Mexico Where in Mexico? Well hahaha this is the part that mom, dad and Crystal freaked about.....it's in Tijuana. Makes sense. Tijuana is just across the border so people cross the border constantly to have procedures done. It's much cheaper and they have lots of really good clinics there.
- Which surgery are you planning on having done? A vertical sleeve gastrectomy. Well that surgery is common and known all over the world, I'm not concerned with the type of surgery. What I would be concerned about is the place you are going. Have you done your research. Yes I've done lots of research and I'm on forums where I talk to past, current and future patients. I've talked to coordinators and the surgeon himself has even been replying to my questions. They offer a lot of support. The surgeon has lots of training and does about 8 surgeries per day and has been a keynote speaker at a bunch of different bariatric conferences. Okay well it sounds like he's competent then and knows his stuff.
- You need to know that if there are complications afterward you won't find a doctor here who will help you. What do you mean? If something happened and I had to go to the hospital they would have to help me wouldn't they? Oh yes of course they would. What I mean is that if you had a complication and it's an emergency you would go to the hospital, but if you came to me with a minor complication and I had to refer you to a specialist, because you've had the surgery out of country, they would put you on a waiting list and they wouldn't see you for a long time. Oh okay, so that brings me to the insurance. I found of that I can get insurance and if there are complications while I'm there all costs would be covered and if there were complications once I'm back, once I'm stable they would fly me back and forth between here and Mexico as many times as needed within 12 months of the surgery and would cover all associated travel, accommodation and medical costs etc. So should I consider getting that then? Well I can't tell you what to do but that might be something you want to consider only because of how hard it would be to see someone here after.
- The Royal Alex here has a bariatric after care program I could refer you to but again you would be on a very long waiting list. That's what I thought. I looked into their program and most people are on at least a year and a half waiting list. Yes. Put it this way. I have one client that fluctuates from 400 - 500 lbs and he has been on their waiting list forever. Now he turned 60 and they won't touch him because once you hit 60 you aren't a candidate. The age wouldn't apply to you but if you are comparing yourself to some of the other candidates you are small and so you would be waiting for a long time.
We talked about a lot of things. I gave him my input into why I was choosing this surgery over the others (Lap band, gastric bypass etc.) and told him about the various vitamins that I've already been taking etc.
When all was said and done he gave me a hug and said, well I wish you the best of luck with it. That went better than you thought it would didn't it? Lol........yes, yes it did.
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