Candle

Sorry to hear things didn't work out with the insurance - at least you know you did EVERYTHING you could! You really have provided some great resources & information in the insurance forum for people in need. That said ...<O:p</O:p <O:p</O:p I have researched self pay options because I am nervous about what will happen with my own insurance. If I have to go self-pay I would go to Dr K in Denver. <O:p</O:p<O:p</O:p I've emailed with one of the girls in his office a few times and she was really helpful! They charge $9950 total. I think 3 months of after care and fills are included. I forgot to ask but I think it's been posted here that fills are only $15 after that!!! (I could be wrong - sounds too good to be true, right?) If you need to finance, they do not accept Capital One but they do have their own financing option. Care Credit? I haven't looked into the rates or terms of this "loan" .... I would think nothing is going to be as appealing as the medical Cap One program at 1.9% interest for up to 5 years.<O:p</O:p <O:p</O:p For Mexico</ST1:p options, Dr Ortiz seems to be the stand out choice!!! <O:p</O:p <O:p</O:p

My mom told me that about 1/2 way through 1st grade, my teacher told her that she thought I was getting chubby. My mother said it took her a few months to agree. By 4th grade I was FAT. I remember being soooo embarrassed when my mom made me get a training bra near the end of 4th grade :cry I had 2 spinal surgeries for scoliosis when I was in the 7th grade. I know that I weighed 160lbs when the process started. After being in the hospital for a long time and having to be home schooled, with limited mobility while healing ... I was just over 200lbs when I started 9th grade. Plus the fusions on my back meant I wasn't going to grown in height any more. I'm 5'4" which is only an inch taller than I was before the surgery. My sister is 5'9" and my brother 6'1" - lol (I only know these exact #'s because I have my surgical records.)<O:p</O:p <O:p</O:p I blame part of it on genetics, my brother and sister and a few of my cousins, aunts and uncles were/are larger. Polish family - lol. Plus my mother’s weight always went UP and DOWN ... usually one extreme or the other. She didn't set a good example for diet & nutrition. She was a bad cook (lots of hot dogs, mac-n-cheese, pizza, ice cream etc) and never really pushed any of us to play sports or even play outside.<O:p</O:p <O:p</O:p The other part of my weight is depression and just being a lazy adult. Since I'm placing blame - lol - I'll also blame drinking too much and smoking too much pot in the past - lol - stupid munchies!<O:p</O:p <O:p</O:p I really have no idea what I will look like "thin" ...I'm more worried about my mental state *if* I am actually ever able to get to a "normal" weight. I wish my insurance covered mental health - I think the band is going to force me to deal with some of my "issues"<O:p</O:p <O:p</O:p *sigh*<O:p</O:p <O:p

Be sure there are NO gaps at all. I've read stories from more than one person that 5 or 6 weeks went by between vistis instead of 4 and they had to start the 6 months all over again!! I'm on month 2 of the diet and my doctor is just recording my vitals and making notes about what I am doing to lose weight. Low calorie and low carb work best for me (I have PCOS and low carb is the only way to lose weight) and recording my exercise. My surgeon has a form that she simply fills out each month and faxes to them.

I've chosen the band just as much to help me lose the weight, as to help me KEEP IT OFF! It's normal to have doubts ... you'll do fine I'm in the same place. I weigh about the same as you and anticipate being banded in Aug. (stupid 6 month dr supervised diet for insurance) In the last year, since I started working at home, I've gained about 25-30lbs. That put me over the 300lb mark and is what has put me over the edge. I am soooo uncomfortable in my own body right now. Me and my SO talked about vacations for this year and decided to save our money and take a REALLY nice vacation next year instead. We went to New Orleans in October and I was miserable. Too tired to walk very much - uncomfortable on the plane - ate and drank too much while there. Our last vacation before that was Vegas in April. I wasn't quite as heavy but still had all the same problems. The walking killed me - I was too uncomfortable to get massages or be touched at the spa - didn't want to wear a bathing suit, so no going to the pool - hot and sweaty being in the desert heat. I have the same thinking as you about not putting my life on hold but I haven't enjoyed our last few vacations anyway so, I'd rather wait. My SO is taking a trip with "the guys" in May anyway so he's ok with waiting. (and he understands) I really want to get the ball rolling on diet and exercise (but don't want to lose too much on this supervised diet either) We're looking to adopt a dog right now - I hope that will get me walking more at least!

I've read on here, that there a few docs in Mexico that do it for anywhere from $7000-9000.00 There's also one in CO that does it for $9500.00 Depending on the reason WHY his plan doesn't cover it ... you may also try getting an attorney. Good luck.

Thanks for the reply Doesn't it seem like this is all so much more complicated than it should be? lol

I met Dr Geiss today. I was very impressed with his office, the helpful and friendly nature of his staff. I didn't really walk away with much of a vibe on 'him' but I'm sure he's had to do that little introductory ‘meeting’ a million times. I know I have confidence in his abilities and the availability of his staff. I've done A LOT of research on the band and I knew they could tell that when I was there. They answered all of my questions and I didn't end up wasting any time with repetitive information. I'm a little overwhelmed right now .... so many tests and so much information to absorb!

I have my first meeting with Dr Geiss tomorrow.

That's along the lines of what I was going to say. This isn't an ear, nose, and throat doctor ... this is a doctor that sees fat bodies everyday. I'd rather be naked in front of him than any other doctor I can think of. I've watched 2 or 3 Band surgeries on or-live.com and the doctors always stand on the side - not between your legs. And the only area of your body not covered by that paper, is your tummy. My fear is having surgery at "that time of the month" I had an operation when I was 13 and had only been having my period for about a year at that point - I was mortified when they just stuck a pad between my legs and told me not to worry about it. :heh:

Even if the band has a small amount of metal it wouldn't be enough to set it off.<O:p</O:p <O:p I had a spinal fusion about 20 years ago and have metal rods (for support) running along my spine and I've never set one off. (I think the rods weight just under 3lbs, so it's a significant amount of hardware)<O:p</O:p <O:p

I realize that most people probably had this covered by insurance or did self-pay & paid one lump sum but .... I was wondering if anyone could throw out a few figures they might remember for doctor(s) visits. Since my insurance has an exclusion, I am looking at purchasing a "hospital only" plan with another company but it doesn't cover office visits. This plan would replace my current plan until next year, so I am really nervous about making this change. There's a co-pay of $20 for diagnostic lab tests and x-rays, so I think the tests themselves are covered, just not the fee for the office visits. I know the surgical consult is $350 and I've heard the physiatrist is around $250. I have to do the 6 month diet w/ my PCP which is $75 per visit ... any numbers you guys can throw out there for further testing would help! I was planning to ask this question tonight at the seminar my doctor holds once a month but there was an accident on the highway that kept me in traffic for almost 2 hours - I missed the seminar. I was in tears in the car I'm seriously considering self-pay at this point .... my SO isn't really into that idea. (We just emptied our savings buying a house last year)

I just emailed Dr K's office about this the other day. They said they work with Surgeryloans.com for financing. I haven't looked into what rates they offer. The 1.9% w/ capital One is very appealing. I was sorry to hear they don't accept it.

IMO - fitday.com is the best. I've used it in the past and plan to use it again in the future.

Thanks for the reply. I seem to have the COPY option when highlighting text [now] - maybe it was just a fluke earlier when I was trying to copy the recipes? Glad I started this thread though because the "CTRL C" trick helps me spell check my own posts in WORD …. it's just a habit since another forum I post in has no spell check.

Thanks!! That works. *blush* I noticed the problem originally because I was trying to cut > paste my own text to WORD, so I could spell/grammar check *blush* before I posted a rather long post. The forum spell check (ABC) prompts me to d/l iespell.com and I didn’t want to. Thanks again!

Try ehealthinsurance.com Put in your location then start calling the companys with plans in your price range. Give them the CPT code for Gastric Banding 43770. I am going through something similar. My company has a small business plan with BC/BS and all WLS is excluded. Not by my employer but by BC/BS - I guess for them small business gets classified as COMMERCIAL - the commercial classification is where the exclusion comes from. That may be the case for you too. I was able to find a plan here in NY that was reasonable $$ and I "think :phanvan " will work for me. It's a hospitalization plan. It doesn't cover office visits but it looks like the surgery will be covered and small co-pays for the pre-op testing. *crossing my fingers no complication with the band or otherwise requiring many office visits, come up until open enrollment on my current BC/BS plan comes back up in January 2008 * Good luck.

I am also pre-band. One point in relation to your insurance, see if you can find out from your insurance company or your doctor (if they've had experience with your insurance co) if they require any period of a doctor supervised diet. Some insurance plans require nothing, some require any where from 3-12 months. This means visiting a doctor once per month for that time frame. If that is a stip on your plan, it sounds like you may have it covered since you've done medically supervised diets in the past but most insurance plans have SPECIFIC requirements. Some even specify it has to have been done within the past year. If your seminar is not until 4/17 you may want to start the doctor supervised diet now, just to get the ball rolling. I would do a search on 'United Healthcare' and also visit the INSURANCE forum to see if others have experience with them. Good luck!

That is also what I understood the pre-op diet to be for. To help shrink the liver, so there would be less chance of complication during surgery. Have you watched a video yet of the actual surgery? It's pretty crazy when you see them lift the liver up off the stomach and that huge clamp thing (retractor?) hold it in place!!!

I bet you will be able to win an appeal. Maybe you should contact one of the lawyers that specialize in this type of thing, to assist in your appeal? With a BMI of 43, I find it hard to believe you have no co-morbidites or health complications! No joint pain (knees)? Back pain? High cholesterol? PCOS? Sounds like you have a problem with the 6 month supervised diet too. Do you have records of visiting a doctor once per month for 6 months straight? I've heard people say they missed (as little as) 1 week and there was a 5 week gap in doctor visits ... that got them denied. I've got my fingers crossed for you!!

Keep the faith. Maybe your HR lady can get it added or your employer can purchase a rider to your current policy? 2-3 months isn't really that long to wait. I just started a 6 month supervised diet because my doctor's office knows it's a requirment of the insurance company I am purchasing a new policy with. My current policy with BC/BS won't cover any WLS. I'm not even 100% sure I'm going to be covered by the new company.

Woo-Hoo!!!!!!!!!! Congrats!!! :rockon: I'm so happy for you - I've been keeping up on your progress.

I'm not banded yet but ... I'm 5'5" and would be considered "big boned". I'm at about 310lbs right now and my goal is to be about 180-190lbs. (It's weird to see that as some people's STARTING weight!) What you are saying may be true ... I guess I'll find out. Right now that's my goal for a few reasons: I just want to be healthy and feel better. I don't want to have too much loose skin. I find curves on a woman very appealing and I know my boyfriend does as well. I want to be able to live like a normal person and not be thinking about that extra pound or two ALL THE TIME.

I'm also pre-band. First thing you need to do is call your insurance company and get that part of it straightened out. I decided about 6 months ago that I've had it with my weight and poor health and started looking for a solution. About a month ago I decided the band is the right choice. My SO has been very supportive of my choice BUT he doesn't understand it. He has NEVER had a weight problem - he's upset he doesn't have 6 pack abs any more He has said a few times "let's work more on your diet and exercise - I'll help you" and I appreciate that but ... someone who has never struggled with weight - especially a man - just can't understand it isn't that easy for us. I brought up the band a few times casually but didn't really fully explain everything and tell him I AM GETTING THE BAND until I fully researched it myself. He's coming with me to the seminar my doctor's office holds once a month, so he can learn with me, all the details and get our/his questions answered. We've watched the surgery on or-live.com and talked about in depth the huge commitment and life-style change this is going to take. I've printed out a bunch of info on the doctor I've chosen and we both feel confident that I've picked the best doctor in my area. I hope things work out for you but don't get upset with hubby yet - present him with a well researched "presentation" and I'm sure it will help him process it a little better. Good luck.

I would be ok with that. When I did the laser, it worked really well. They said it gets rid of about 70-80% of the dark hairs - I think it was a little less for me but still very effective. It just bugs me that I spent all that money and I have new hair growing in now. If that stopped, I'd be ok with spending the money to do the laser again. I did like 3 sessions of electrolosis before the laser - NEVER! AGAIN!

On my upper lip and chin, I had 6 treatments over the course of a year and it worked really well. Not much pain at all - just the upper lip. Then I moved about 3 hours from my doctor's office. Which sucks because sessions were $275 and then $95 after the first 5. I think all offices structure their pay scale like this and now I have to go to someone new and spend the big $$ again. errr!! It's been a year since I stopped and I'm not happy that I spent over $1000 and am finding I have hair on my chin again. Damn PCOS!! I want to ask my doctor about Vaniqa cream. Has anyone tried it? Can you get it from any doctor or does it need to be a dermatologist? Those with PCOS - after weight loss do you find less hair growth?