Lap DS or Lap RNY or open DS or...

[Guest guest]

Sigh...I have a problem, and I want to know what y'all think...

I have the wheels in motion for Dr. Rabkin to do a lap DS (first

consultation appt 10/29, so I'm at the *beginning* of the wheels moving),

but he's no longer contracted with any HMO or PPO. My insurance will cover

the surgery, but Dr. R's professional fee is $12,000. Since he's an

out-of-network provider, Cigna will pay what's " reasonable and cu stomary "

(for them!), but whatever's left over will be out-of-pocket by me. That

means that on top of the $1000 out-of-pocket max for the surgery itself

(hospital stay, anesthesia, etc.), I'll be paying upwards of $10k out of

pocket to Rabkin (not to mention waiting and waiting for the other $2k from

the insurance company). That's a whole lotta money.

My quandary is this: After reading about the DS vs. the RNY, I'd pretty

well decided for the lap DS (no dumping, less restrictive lifestyle, better

weight maintenance stats, etc), but there are other doctors who are in the

network who will do a lap RNY, so my cost would be $1000. TOTAL. (I

know -- there's no amount of money that you can pin on your quality of life,

but bankruptcy would affect my quality of life, too!) ARE THERE ANY DOCTORS

IN CALIFORNIA WHO DO THE LAP DS other than Rabkin (Jossart has moved onto

other things, from what I've heard)?? I looked on the

fourlane.com/mgb/findadoc site, and it lists a handful in NY, one in OR, one

in GA, one in MS, and one in VA, but that's about it. Do I opt for the open

DS with another doc who is in-network (are there any in Northern Cal??) or

do I do the lap RNY or do I fork over approximately $11k to Rabkin to do the

lap DS? Or do I find a way to get myself to Oregon and hope that Welker is

in-network?

Something else to keep in mind...I have two small children and a full-time

job as a teacher, so I can't bounce all over the country very easily.

Thank you all in advance for your replies...I know you'll come up with good

ideas!

alyssa