blessedmom2fourkids

I just got my insurance approval so my 9/28 date is set! I only have two days of a clear liquid diet since my doc's office requires patients to lose weight before surgery. I'm so ready!

Some insurances require nutrition counseling for 3 or 6 months and may depend on how high the BMI is and whether you have comorbilitis. According to my insurance I needed nutrition counseling for 3 consecutive months. I would check with your insurance company directly so you know for a fact what you need to do.

I have not had the surgery yet,but decided on lap band because it was less invasive with a lower morality rate. I have a husband and 4 children and so I needed the option that would have a better chance of me seeing my little ones again :-) I knew my husband wasn't going for anything he thought was invasive, like cutting on my stomach. I liked the idea that it is reversible. I wanted a slow, steady weight loss to give my skin time to bounce back if it is going to :-) I didn't feel, nor did my surgeon think that I had enough weight to lose for any other surgery. For me, if it wasn't the lap band then it wouldn't be any of them. From here I have about 90 lbs to lose and I know I can do that with the lap band.

Hi - My insurance company required three months of consecutive dietian appointments, but there is no requirement on their part to lose weight. But, the place I chose to have surgery does require you to lose weight. For me it was 10 lbs in the three months. If you haven't lost it within 2 weeks of your surgery date they will postpone your surgery until you've lost it. They basically said they wanted to see how serious their potential patients were about the weight loss and wanted to see if they could make the changes they will have to eventually make later. I did lose the weight within the first month by telling myself that I wanted this bad enough to buckle down and give it my all. I know its not easy, believe me I know. My nutritionist gave me a calorie goal for each day and I track my calories using www.livestrong.com which is totally free. I workout about 5 days a week. If you have to lose a certain amount of weight contact your nutritionist again and ask them for more detailed info on how you can do it, if they don't require you to lose then attend your last three sessions and just do what you can. I think the insurance companies just want it documented that you tried something and didn't just revert to surgery. I've tried everything myself and have been successful in losing, only to gain it all back eventually :-)

Ive used this one for months before I even decided on wls. I use vanilla in water or skim milk, only 1.5 scoops at a time though, thats 30 grams of protein! And it tastes the best out of any I've tried.

It depends on the psychologist/psychiatrist. Some require more, some less. My insurance required one to say i knew all the pros and cons but the actual psychologist required me to see her three times. She was great. I had to take the MMPI test which was about 550 questions, time consuming but not that bad. They just need to make sure there are no underlying, un-treated issues.

I have told my husband, obviously and some of my closest friends. I had mix reactions from others. My husband and sister are very supportive, but my closest friends just don't see me as being big enough for surgery even though my BMI was 40. They aren't anti-surgery, they just would prefer I not have it. I don't share the details. Once my surgery date gets closer I will share with the ones that may notice my absence like my bible study group. I'm not keeping it to myself out of shame, but I too didn't want to hear a lot of others' opinions. I'll tell my dad at the last possible moment to save him the worry. My mom passed after what was supposed to be same day surgery and he still has a bad taste in his mouth from that.

I had one last yr from too much running at 250 lbs. I thought it was just shin splints until I went in because I could no longer run through the pain. That's something you should really have seen. If icing it doesn't help, and giving time to heal doesn't work, go to the doc. Only an X-ray can say for sure if it's a fracture. It could be shin splints but they could require some physical therapy. Good luck!

Even at my largest my Polar fit fine. My Garmin does also but if you are going to be using it at the gym mainly then you may want to go with Polar, as that is what most exercise equipment uses. My Garmin chest strap does not read on the machines there but my Polar chest strap picks up the heart rate without me wearing my watch.

Always check with your insurance first. Mine didn't require a referral. Also, know what your surgeons office requires before attending a seminar. My surgeon is the head of bariatrics at the university and your info seminar and consultation are on the same day. You even see the dietian that day, which is nice because it counts as one of my 3 required visits to her, and you get weighed in that day. The weight that day is the weight they use to submit to insurance so make sure you know where your BMI falls just in case. Good luck on everything!

Hi!! I've been penciled in for Sept 28th. Everything looks to be in order and it will go off to the insurance company for approval after my third dietian appointment in a couple weeks!! Can't wait.

Hi. I'm new here and was wondering if anyone has had any problems or has anyone has an easy time getting approved with Medica insurance? At my consultation I was told that that was the weight that insurance would consider when deciding to approve the surgery. I was at like 40.6 BMI, which is over their 40 BMI requirement. Everything else they require I will be able to meet. I'm penciled in to have surgery at the U of M at the end of Sept. I'm just concerned or I should say worried about whether they will try to deny based on the fact that I'm just over the requirement with no co-morbilities. I'm no longer at that BMI because my surgeon would like for me to lose 10 lbs before surgery as is required of all his patients, so since that day I'm down about 13 lbs so now I definitely wouldn't meet the BMI requirement but my surgeon's office is convinced that the insurance companies don't see subsequent weights after that first consultation weight. Thanks all!