Price of lap band removal

HI

wow theres so may people having to pay for removals and sleeves after the band :(

I feel super lucky my surgeon Mr Ray Mchenry @lapsurgery is doing the whole thing for free (i was expecting $5000 which i was more than happy to pay), well apart from the PHI excess $250 just gotta wait until the august next year. POO!

If your having the same surgeon remove the band that intially inserted it I dont see why you need to pay... its a bit of a joke if you ask me. But people can be greedy :(

Good luck with your op :)

I'm having my band out on 4 Nov. Charge is $1000 for anaethetist and assistant in the surgery.
Then $250 excess for hospital.
To have the sleeve done is $3000.
Mine is a different doctor to the one who put it in.

To make matters worse, I've cracked a tooth and been quoted $4500 to have a new one screwed in (I'm a grinder :) Looks like the cc will get a work out in the next twelve months lol. Great news that you can claim medical expenses in your tax. I'll be doing that for sure.

Ive so lucky im having my band taken out tuesday and my dr in brissy is bulk billing the lot and they annetheist (spelling sorry) too so its just costing me for the sleeve done in jan which is only going to be 3500 and 400 very impressive!





Bek

Hi mammabear25I too live in Adelaide. I was banded 16 months ago and am not happy with my band at all. I have only lost 8kg in that time and feel like a big faliure. The dr that did my band does not do a sleeve I was wondering who did yours.



Thanks Sharon

Hi Jelly,

I actually totally agree with your last statement: why is the lap banding going ahead with so many patients having severe problems with it>

I have a few gfs who have the band and they have all been successful with loosing weight but sadly they have severe reflux, vomiting and they dont eat healthy normal food...i asked this question when i saw my surgeon and he said its not that bad different people have diff complications and yet the side effects (refulx etc) are not classed as complications>??? So i went for the sleeve straight up because i know i could not live like that....i can only sympathise with my friends with the band cause it must be hell ....but good luck with your sleeve.....week 8 for me and im down nearly 13kgs....i couldnt of done that by myself:)

Hi Jelly,

I too have had a band and had it removed. Mine lasted about a year and a half and then the last 6 months was a pure living hell. I vomitted after everything I ate. I had indegestion from hell and ended up with acid regurgitation..both which I was on medication for and still lived on ant acids. I ended up in alot of pain and with no fill in my band couldnt keep cup of soup down, so I went to see my surgeon and it had to come out and it had to come out that day...he rushed me onto the hospital theatre list and I was in that afternoon and band out by evening...I cannot tell you how great I felt with it out. Instantly...even the minute I woke up in recovery, I felt relief. That band inside of me was nothing but a foreign body.

I didnt have to pay anything but my PHI excess which was about $250 and an extra night hospital stay because I vomitted a bit post op they kept me in an extra night to keep and eye on it...but I vomit alot post anaesthetic and thats all it was.

I also totally understand the feeling of being sick of failing all the time. I was lucky with my band that I lost wieght and never put any on. At the time mine came out i had lost 34kgs and was a size ten. Then the band came out I found out I was pregnant and went through that fine and hardly put on any weight, I even left the hospital almost the same weight as when the band came out.

But now my baby is 15 months old and I have put almost all the 34 kgs back on. Because during and after my pregnancy I kept the weight off and looked fantastic, I feel even more upset and ashamed because I feel like I have just thrown all of that hard work and hell I went through away.

I can't fight the fight anymore and thats why I'm having the sleeve.

The sleeve is much easier to live with than the band...I am actually suprised that they still put the bands in considering all the probs they can have.

Good luck wiht your journey whatever you decide to do and you are in the right place for advice and info. This website is fantastic and the best thing is you are getting the advice and info from people that have gone through it. No better place than from the horses mouth as they say!

Good luck.

Hi Jelly

I had my band put on back in 2000 by a Doctor in Brisbane . And in August I had it removed by Dr Taylor in Sydney, and it was covered by the $4950 that you pay if you are having the sleeve done with him.

I decided that I am having the sleeve, because I have lost nothing since the first 3 months of having the band and I have suffered from reflux and vomiting at most meals for so long I wanted it out, BUT I have to say that in the three months since I had it out I am slowly gained weight as I have been for the last 5 years. I cannot do it on my own and I have heard mostly good things about the sleeve, so I am having hopefully the last WLS ever.

I wish you all the best with whatever you decide

Flick

Hi Jelly,



My doctor was Craig Taylor with the OClinic.



To be fair, my lapband positively was vile from day 1. On the 3rd day I got a tiny table stuck and vomited salivia for 3 hours until I could drag myself back to the surgeon and have all my fill removed. The next 6 months were total hell with the band, I would get a tiny amount of fill and be back in the surgeon's office, vomiting salivia into a towel on my lap whilst I waited for the very same fill to be removed.



I really had a terrible time but stayed in touch with Craig throughout it all. He was very, very kind to do my band removal and sleeve for free - I remain so grateful to him for doing so. He is a totally supportive and caring surgeon.



I was also in top private hospital cover the whole time, which certainly made things easier for Craig to be able to offer his services again to me for no gap.



Please stay in touch and let us know how you're going,



xxxHuggyBear

Hey Jelly..I'm so sorry you have had a bad run :(...I just hated the way the lapband worked and was sick of my kids seeing me puke every time I ate.. the band was suppose to work how the sleeve works..small meals,chew chew..yeah right! I can't give up on finding an answer..I need to do this for me and my 3 children,they only have me and what sort of roll model am I if I stay this size and do nothing!..I too have spent a lot of money but all I can hope is the buck stops at the sleeve...I wish you the very best on what ever you decide..I know I don't want to look back and say "WHAT IF" big hugs for you (((hugs)))

Hi Huggy Bear

I noticed that you are from Sydney as well.

May i ask who your surgeon was?

Dear Jelly,



I am so sorry to hear your surgeon is charging you.



My doctor removed my band for free and then sleeved me for free too. And I know other surgeon's have done the same. I think it is unreasonable of Dr Talbot to charge you for removal.



My thoughts are with you,



xxxHuggyBear

Hi LISSYD,

After thirty years of yo yo dieting and many expensive diets and products as well as insertion of the gastric balloon i said to myself the lap band will be my only WLS. I just carn't do it anymore. I am tired of failing and tried of spending so much money with a bad outcome so i won't be having the sleeve or any other WLS.

Hi Jelly,I had my band out by the surgeon that put it in! all I had to pay was my phi excess of $250.. everything else was free...There is a lady on here who's surgeon took her lap-band out for free and also done her sleeve for free..so It's confusing as to how some surgeons charge for this and that and then their are some that don't charge anything..I don't understand it..I still have to pay for my sleeve but at a discounted rate I too feel like a failure from the band and am soooo scared I am going to fail the sleeve aswel...the mind is a powerful thing and atm it's controls my every attempt I have at weight loss:(...So jelly are you going to have the sleeve??

I had my lap band inserted by Dr Talbot in 2009 and due to it being problematic and ineffective i now have a surgery date to have it removed. I was given a quote of $2800 and after a rebate from Medicare and PHI i will be out of pocket around $1000 and that does not include my PHI excess and the cost of the anaesthetist .

When i queried this amount i was told that it was because i am not planning on having any more WLS. To add insult to injury i weigh more now than when i had my band inserted.

I am so disappointed and feel like a failure. I am considering finding another surgeon who will remove this foreign body without me having to pay a gap.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.