Bonnie
Well, as a nurse, I can tell you it's major surgery and a very serious operation. Immediate post-op recovery is generally 6 - 8 weeks and can be extremely uncomfortable. Chances are you will have a naso-gastric tube for a few days to keep your stomach empty and that means no food and sometimes nothing to drink but ice chips. Please seek more information on complications since one of them is deat--due to shock, blood loss, and massive infection. I don't mean to scare you but I have known patients who did not heal and eventually died after lingering poorly for several months. Many doctors refuse to do this surgery anymore because of the risks involved so don't go into this lightly. This surgery is once again getting attention but actually has been around for at least 20 years. It fell out of favor BECAUSE of the high rate of complications and nothing seems to have change since then either. As for insurance, usually the only time an insurance company MIGHT pay for it is if you have been diagnosed with "morbid obesity" that is endangering your health. AND it must be recommended by a surgeon to improve your health and NOT as just an elective surgery. If you still decide to go through with this, do your research on your surgeon--check with the medical board in your city or state and make sure that he is well-practiced in this type of surgery and that no lawsuits have been filed against him. Don't just take his/her word for it because literally your life will be in his/her hands. I wish I could offer more optimistic advice but I've seen very few successful (without complications of any sort)cases. To be honest, you'd be better off finding another method of weight reduction that doesn't have such a high risk of death.