Overseas Holidays with Gastric band

[ejc1905]

Hello All,

In May I am flying to Florida. I have a couple of questions regarding the Gastric Band.

1) Do I need to announce that I have a gastric band on holiday insurance?
2) Do I need to have an adjustment to my band before I fly?
3) Are there any special considerations I need to think about (apart from food choices of course!)?

Many thanks,
ejc1905

 

[jaffa_cake]

Hi as far as I can remember if you are flying longer than 4.5 hours you may need a slight de-fill, give your provider a ring and ask them to be on the safe side!

As for the holiday insurance i'm not 100% sure you would need to ring them and ask if you would need to divulge those details

Sorry I cant be more help

Jaffa

 

[cazbandy]

Hi there, I hope this info helps

1) Do I need to announce that I have a gastric band on holiday insurance?
NO, simply put. I travelled without any mentions of this and all was ok.

2) Do I need to have an adjustment to my band before I fly?
NO, simply put. You may experience a slight tightening but nothing to bad and as you come down to land the pressure equalise and it returns to normal.

3) Are there any special considerations I need to think about (apart from food choices of course!)?
I did not eat on the plane, just drank, to be on the safe side.

 

[Barbie-Pink]

Hello All,

In May I am flying to Florida. I have a couple of questions regarding the Gastric Band.

1) Do I need to announce that I have a gastric band on holiday insurance?

ejc1905

In my opinion you should always declare bariatric surgery as a pre existing medical condition on any insurance!

You need to check you are covered especially when travelling to the USA. I believe the consequences of travelling without disclosure are too horrid to contemplate. You could easily loose everything you own if you need emergency medical treatment.

Always check then you will be ok!!!!

 

[cazbandy]

In the States you have to pay for any kind of medical care, emergency or otherwise.

The only possible but very remote chance of happening, if you are careful is getting something stuck. The US hospitals are very geared up for this type of problems as this sort of surgery is commonplace there.

But as they say I will leave it up to you to decide what is best for you.

I just took out the cheapest insurance available and it did not ask anything about this kind of thing.

 

[Roch]

I have read on another wls site that it is fraudulent if you dont declare to ur insurance company if u have had surgery in the last 12 months, but on the other hand have also read that quite a few insurance companys wont give u insurance if u tell them u have had wls in the past 12 months.
From reading on line i saw a few wls peeps that got holiday insurance post band from the post office and Hsbc and declared their surgerys, and had no probs at all.
Do a google search as some but not many company`s will give u insurance after a wls procedure even in the first 12 months but not so many and also some might want to add a hefty surcharge on to ur policy, good luck xx

 

[phatmomma]

We have just booked for eurodisney and i fully intend to ring the insurance company and declare my surgery (oh yes and we're driving not flying). If you have some kind of emergency then your insurance company would rub their hands with glee to find out you have something undeclared....

 

[cah-ching]

We have just booked for eurodisney and i fully intend to ring the insurance company and declare my surgery (oh yes and we're driving not flying). If you have some kind of emergency then your insurance company would rub their hands with glee to find out you have something undeclared....

TOTALLY agree with you on this. There is no way I'd go on holiday without telling my insurance company. They all work differently; tell them and let THEM decide whether it is relevant to your policy or not - Phatmomma quite rightly says that they would rub their hands with glee at something you failed to tell them thus rendering your insurance null & void.

I'll certainly be doing what Phatmomma is when I go away in a few weeks.

 

[Mandie]

I intend to contact my travel insurance today to inform them of my surgery , as i am flying to a remote island and it would be very costly should i need medical treatment , i'm not taking any chances , i'll let you know how i get on with them .

 

[Mandie]

Hi everyone , i have just spoke to AXA(lloyds tsb) travel insurance , i was told that they class gastric banding as cosmetic surgery , as it is a choice, not an emergency due to health risks ,so i am covered at no extra cost , i made sure that it was input on their computer just in case .

 

[phatmomma]

Hi everyone , i have just spoke to AXA(lloyds tsb) travel insurance , i was told that they class gastric banding as cosmetic surgery , as it is was a choice, not an emergency due to health risks ,so i am covered at no extra cost , i made sure that it was input on their computer just in case .

Excellent idea Mandie, if its noted there is no comeback...

Plus i'm a great believer in not tempting fate

Happy hols everyone x