Welcome
Welcome to TT Alex, the best resource for those of us who have had or are contemplating wls.
I'm in the Phoenix area and my surgeon is retired unfortunately. I had my surgery years ago and had insurance so I can't address your price question. That may be why you haven't had a lot of responses, as the majority of us had surgery with insurance coverage.
There are good and reputable surgeons in Phoenix, so you might investigate those options. Dr. Simon and Dr. Juarez are the names I know. No clue how much the cost is. But you DEFINITELY must have follow-up AND PRE-OP CARE/COUNSELING/INSTRUCTION/DIETICIAN information that is close to you geographically. It is CRITICAL to your success with this surgery and in dealing with the potential complications.
Personally I would choose to pay more and wait until I had the money (or go into more debt if that's what you're doing) JUST so I had the reassurance of a doctor close to home and so you have the counseling and all other psychological preparation for this life-changing surgery.
And like posted above, doing a search on all the threads is VERY helpful. I spent a lot of time doing that when I found this resource.
I'm a big advocate and post a lot about the aspects of mental, relational and other changes that accompany surgery. Those aspects that are not physical. I think that is one area that is a little weak when it comes to pre-knowledge and post-op success: dealing with the issues that got us to the point of needing surgery.
Best of success to you on finding a surgeon you are confident to have do your surgery and one that has a full practice of support for those other areas outside of the physical aspect. One member here went through Kaiser's program in California, and from what I know about his success, it was the BEST program I've heard of. I can't comment on others' support pre-op but I know his was awesome (BajaBigDog is his name).
__________________
Open Roux-en-Y on October, 2002 - 7 year anniversary is right around the corner
Height: 5'8"
Highest weight: 300 lbs. with a BMI of 45.6 
Current weight: 140-145 lbs. and a size 6/8 with a BMI of 21.7 
Total weight lost after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass: 160 lbs. POUNDS!
Last edited by Phoenixfire; 12-19-2008 at 05:38 PM..
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