Paying for surgery?

[Lauterbrunnen]

So I've been saving for a while. I seem to be stuck at a thousand dollars at the moment because I keep spending more money than I should be... My question is, how much should I be looking to save? I don't want to set up any kind of consultation until I know I have at least most of the money.. Does this sound ridiculous? I live on the east coast in Maryland, about a half hour east of D.C. and a half hour south of Baltimore.

I picked up a second job, so I'm working all seven days of the week to make as much money as possible. I'm also about to start training to be a shift manager where I work, which will be nice because of the extra money.

[headheldhigh01]

it sounds circular to me.  part of the purpose of the consultation might be to get a basic read on the cost by the surgeon.  it's possible it could be more involved once he starts, or maybe less.  

also if you can't tell him you've saved four and a half grand (or whatever) yet, he can't say "what a coincidence..." (joke).  

use the free market and shop around,  if you spend $500 on three consultations and save yourself $1500 or $2000 in package costs, it's obviously worth it.  the surgeon's fee will be only one part of it (sometimes around 2.5k-ish), anesthesia etc might be separate, and a hospital at night is a d@mned expensive hotel if you can avoid it.  you know how long and hard you worked (seven days a week is tough) to save up just that first thousand, let alone the rest.  see what you can learn with even just a few calls.  even if they, partly understandably, don't want to commit to a firm quote, you might get a sense of range and at least decide if you want to do the consultation.  you're definitely in a region with specialists.  

[headheldhigh01]

spambot alert on teju 23451.  moderators please ban, all 3 posts are similar with external links.