Okay so it's not going back now. I've had all my tests, met all my doctors, paid all the money, and have been doing my "liquid diet". My surgery is just one week away. This time next week I will be out of surgery, relaxing and resting in my hospital bed at Innova Fair Oaks in Fairfax VA (you like how I slipped that in there right? well that's just in case you want to come visit, send me flowers, a singing telegram or whatever). hopefully I won't be in too much pain and I'll be walking around the hospital. they say it's really important that you get up and get walking after surgery.
so what shall we talk about today? how about some financials...
every since I've started this blog I've gotten tons of support and I truly appreciate it. in addition to the support I've received alot of questions and several people have reached out to talk about their own personal weight loss journey. it's been really rewarding to have people share with me. it's like I started talking thru this blog and now people are opening up as well and I love it! a couple of people specifically mentioned they were interested in getting surgery as well so I'll just mention some of the financials because if you are like me...money does matter.
so as it would turn out the financials aren't as clear as I would like them to be. ever since I started this journey I have asked, how much is this surgery going to cost me? sadly I haven't really gotten a clear answer. like i mentioned in the first blog, my insurance, which is Cigna covers 80% and I have to cover 20%. so what exactly is 20%? seems like a fair question right? well I'm still not sure. I've talked to Cigna and they explained that although I'm responsible for 20%, my insurance coverage has an out of pocket max of $4,000 so that's the very most i would have to pay. okay great, a figure finally! I also spoke to the insurance coordinator at my surgeons office (shout out to blue point surgical group) and tried to make her give me some info regarding payments. yet again she was iffy. her answer was that it really depends on the surgeon, how long the surgery takes, how long I'm hospitalized, etc. she also mentioned that although I'm responsible for 20% with Cigna I won't be billed 20% of the total surgical costs but some percentage of that..okay great! so how much am I looking at? I wasn't about to have her give me some wishy washy answer again. or atleast i tried to get some clarification. The most I was able to get out of her was that she's never seen a patient pay more than $2,000 out of pocket. she went on to explain that whatever is charged is able to be paid with a payment plan and that it's very flexible
Okay great. so i originally i was anticipated $4,000 out of pocket now it seems like that figure could be cut in half. So let's see what happens. A couple of years ago I went to the emergency room and was charged liked $1500 just for one night because all the doctors and radiologists all charged me separately and boy did it add up. so we'll see what happens with this. I will keep track and see what everything comes to and share all that info with you. I'm hoping this helps someone who may also be interested in surgery.
one last thing, although the surgical group is flexible and will work with you regarding final payment for the surgery you still have alot of small appointments with doctors, nutritionists, and other things that you have to pay before you are even operated on. Thus far I've already paid between $1000-$1200. so please keep that in mind if you are considering surgery.
with all that said for me it doesn't make a difference whether the surgery is $2,000 or $4,000 this my body and my life and i think it's worth it! how much of us put that much money down on a car? and I'm pretty sure none of us would argue that our bodies are worth alot more than any four wheels.
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Thanks for taking this journey with me!!! <3
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