Alexandra

Hi Alex! I'm fine! You know, life goes on (and on). Work, kids, family, house, all that is good. Banding seems like ancient history now, and I am not happy to admit it *feels* like ancient history too. I need to get more active here and bring my own health back into the forefront. I've gained back way too much weight. I'm still holding out for that brain surgery that will turn me automatically into a naturally thin person!!

Hi Jack, Alex, Wheetsin! (HI MOM!!) and anyone else I forgot--it's nice to see so many familiar names. Just wanted to pop in and say HI. I'm not doing well with my weight, but everything else in my life is as good as it can be so I can't really complain. I'd love to get back to that place where being banded gave me control, but I think I've discovered that I never had any control and still don't. Ah well, anyway, I can't go into a long thing now but will definitely try to get back into the habit of visiting here more often. I'm so glad to see it thriving--Alex, this is extraordinary!!

Hi guys! Just poking my head in here as I do once in a while. I'm so glad to still see some familiar names. Can I come back??

Aetna still considers the LapBand "investigational/experimental" and excludes it completely on a company level. I have never yet heard of any cases where Aetna paid of its own accord, so unless or until Aetna changes its policy on the band being investigational the best bet is to see if you have an external appeal provision in your state. I did, and I won! Here's how it went: The State of New Jersey, like many other states, provides for a third-party review of insurance carriers' decisions. That means there might be a law in your state that provides you with the right of EXTERNAL review if you have exhausted your company's appeal process and lost. In my case, I took my Aetna denial through the third-party process, and my case was referred to an INDEPENDENT reviewer in accordance with the state's mandate. The third-party reviewer agreed with me that the band should not be considered investigational and that IN MY CASE it was a medically necessary procedure. Now, I knew from the start that Aetna had a policy against covering the band, and I also knew that I couldn't switch insurance carriers until my company's next open-enrollment period almost a year away. So I decided to get started anyway investigating weight-loss surgery. The pretests and qualification criteria are the same for all types of bariatric surgery, so the carrier may very well cover what your primary care doctor refers you for in the early stages. Even if you have an exclusion for weight-loss treatment, perhaps some of the visits and/or tests could be covered simply as diagnostic procedures. Aetna covered the office visits (except for the psych eval, because the person I had to go to was out of network and I have an HMO), blood tests, nutritionist visit, and so on. All of this took more than three months to accomplish. Then the cycle of request, denial, appeal, denial, stage 2 appeal, and final denial took another three months. Then I took my request to the state and waited *another* two months before the decision was finally made. Now it's almost a year after I started and if I hadn't won my appeal I would be switching carriers right about now with all my prequalification testing long behind me. I wouldn't have to start all over again with another carrier. My point is that even if you know or think your carrier won't cover it, start anyway and proceed as though you are considering ANY type of weight-loss surgery. You'll be glad you got started, because it takes time to amass the tests and histories that every carrier needs to evaluate candidates for WLS. A year from now, Aetna and other behind-the-times carriers may very well have changed their tunes completely and you'll be that far ahead of the game.

Alcohol doesn't affect your band in any way that I know of, Mio. There are no special harms that can come to you by drinking while banded, other than the extra calories and risk of overeating while impaired. Relax!

You can drink with a band, sure. Just be aware that besides the hundreds of empty calories you're ingesting, you may also feel the effects faster because you're not eating as much the rest of the time. Also, a good reason to avoid drinking is that it leads to overeating (speaking from experience, here). So go ahead and drink if you want, but realize it may sabotage your weight loss program for several days afterwards.

So my story is long and boring, but suffice to say that since April 2007 I have essentially not had a properly adjusted band. During the last two years I've allowed the old behaviors of speed eating and grazing to rear their ugly heads again. I just got another fill yesterday and today I have another chance to make this work. It's not the band, it's me. It's ME who can't seem to take the small bites and stay away from nibbling. A properly adjusted band should help by providing negative effects to those behaviors, but you'd think that after four successful banded years I'd have learned them already. Amazing how these reflexive habits take hold and take over when you're not FORCED to think about them and consciously stop. I don't harbor any false imaginings that this won't be a struggle for the rest of my life. But once again, I'm on board with a working band and hope it will help me gain control.

Can you point me to the thread where this happened? If they were deleted by mistake I may be able to restore them or somehow figure out the answer to the mystery.

The tone really does have to change, and a moderator (me) is watching. I am sorry for the negativity that seems to have snuck in. Back to the subject at hand. I'm a bandster who is happy with her band and very happy with the decision I made years ago to get banded. Even if the sleeve had been an option for me back then, I would have gone with the band as a first move. I'm of the opinion that implanting a completely removable device is less invasive than removing a significant portion of the stomach, and as such it would have absolutely been my first choice. But that's me. Even with a BMI of 48 at the time I was healthy (relatively speaking) and my FIRST priority was minimizing postop complications so I could get back to taking care of my two (then) small children. It was the band or nothing, and I fought my insurer for over a year to get it. My band worked wonderfully for me for three-plus years, when I started to have complications. But the complications were relatively minor, I remained completely healthy and whole, and even now after three surgeries and significant regain I am still 100% positive I made the right choice for me. I certainly don't rule out a possible revision to a sleeve or whatever else for me some day. But the arguments about which surgery is "better" than another are worse than pointless. Everyone is different and has unique needs. There are a lot of details to consider when making the decision to have WLS, and no one knows the right answer for anyone else.

HH, you must learn to make your points without personal attacks. Same goes for Wasa and TopTier. Your opinions are all excessively clear and there is no need to continue the ranting.

I wonder if you somehow put yourself on ignore? I've never heard of such a thing. Can you see your posts in this thread?

My doctor also mentioned that my esophagus is enlarged, but I have no symptoms that I can detect. It's up to me to keep my bites tiny and think about my esophagus when I'm eating--sloowwly--and I'm just going to keep on going. The last fill I had was two weeks ago or so, after a year of what felt like an empty band (though I know it wasn't completely). Good luck to us!!

Are you scrolling up in a thread to see earlier posts? What happens when you try to read a thread from the beginning--what do you see when you get to where your post should be?

Thanks for the voice of reason, Jachut. There is absolutely no need for all the personal attacking going on here, Wasa. Please tone it down.

You need to see your doctor and see what's going on, and soon. I know how hard it is with a newborn but your own health has to come first or you won't be able to take care of her! You could have swelling or a slip or who knows--but this will NOT go away by itself. You absolutely must have it checked out, and soon! Good luck to you, and congratulations on the new baby!!

Thanks, y'all!! I'm feeling really good these days and am REALLY enjoying the early satiation that a properly adjusted band gives me. Once again I can go several hours after a meal without wanting to eat. Yay!! I really appreciate the words of support. Thank you!!

That seems like it eroded into your stomach very quickly, Bobo. March till June? It sounds like there must have been some underlying reason for that to happen and you should question your doctor closely. Banding is likely not right for you at all if you experienced erosion so fast.' ETA: Wait, you lost 73 lbs in four months? Or did you mean to say you were banded in 2008?

Um... tea bags and Water? Lipton has a Cold Brew teabag that brews up quickly in cold water. That's what I use when I want to make a quantity of iced tea. If desired, sweeten to taste with the artificial sweetener of your choice.

Cleo's Mom is right--before you need legal advice you need MEDICAL ATTENTION. This is NOT the way the band is supposed to work; you have very likely suffered a slip and that can lead to severe complications if not addressed. It doesn't matter whose fault it is, or what led up to this situation, you simply must have it checked and taken care of. Call your state's department of insurance and ask them what the fastest way is to be covered under your state's public program. But no matter what they say, GO TO THE DOCTOR.

I think this phase passes, Linda, as you and your body get adjusted to things. Your system has changed shape and air is finding new pathways. You'll learn to minimize the effects through the ways you eat and drink. (I don't know what you can do about the flatulence, though!)

This is an old thread. Mildge and VeeJee--do you want to start new threads about your removals? P.S. Hi Road Queen!!

This is simply categorically untrue, and why there's no point in continuing this conversation. You clearly don't understand--and don't value--the most basic underpinnings of American society.

Bolding mine. Do you get the point, Pattygreen? YOU BELIEVE, yadda yadda yadda. You are not in charge of society. What you believe is not the determining factor for the country. The beauty of our democratic republic is that you can exercise your beliefs in peace, and so can everyone else. Don't tread on others' where they are not treading on yours. Singing a religious song at a concert is not tantamount to establishing a religion. How do you not get that? Schools that ban all references to religious life are taking it to an absurd extreme, you'll get no argument from me on that. And, in case you didn't know this, the words Under God are not part of the original pledge. In fact, when I was a kid, I was taught the "real" pledge that puts the emphasis on indivisible, the way it should be.

No kidding. My kids sing plenty of Christmas songs at their holiday concerts. My daughter has been whistling "Amazing Grace" since she played it at the spring concert a few weeks ago. And why should spring break be scheduled around Easter? It's on a Sunday! Good Friday is not a legal holiday, and neither is Passover.

I love the various Greek yogurts and Chobani is a great new brand. Also good are Fage and Oikonos (sp?). I add a tsp of fruit preserves in exotic flavors and am a happy camper. I also recently discovered Rachel's brand cottage cheese with awesome flavors. In single-serve packages, no less!