faithmd

It's not always that they need a letter of recommendation. But if that's it, certainly it can't hurt. Hopefully the sent a very explicit reason why you were denied in your denial paperwork. Then just work on that. As I mentioned for me I hadn't lost the required weight, I didn't have to write an appeal, I just buckled down and lost the 16# I needed to in the next month and then reapplied. As the poster above me said, don't give up, you will get there.

Just a side note, the company that makes the sponge has filed for bankruptcy. Guess the time off the market in the early 90's really damaged their sales (Today Sponge was at one time THE most popular form of birth control, bar none). And I agree with Alexandra...snip snip. But if that is not an option, I am on OrthoNovum (I take the generic Necon) 1/35/28. NOT a multi phasic/multi dose pill pack. I've never had any trouble with nausea, been on it since I was 18 (save for a couple of months here and there, inc the month before and couple months after my banding).

Mine required a 12 month supervised diet, too. And I got denied the first time I was submitted because I hadn't lost the required 5% (required by my insurnace company, NOT ALL ins co's) of my excess weight. So I buckled down and did it the next month. Please don't think you'll never get there. If you had started going to the doctor when you started researching the band, how many months would you have had in by now? So start RIGHT NOW. Monday morning, call you INSURANCE company, NOT the doctor's office. Have your card in hand and call the insurance folks and ask them to email AND snail mail you a copy of the requirements to be approved. What EXACTLY does the "six month supervised diet" mean? For me it meant going EVERY month and seeing my DOCTOR and I HAD to be WEIGHED every SINGLE month. It all had to be documented in the monthly office visit notes by my MD. Those notes NOT A LETTER, but the notes themselves were what had to be sent to the insurance company. I could not miss a month. EVERY MONTH. But every insurance company, and heck, every policy can be different. That's why I always tell folks to call your insurance company FIRST (with your insurance card in hand) and find out what the requirements are and which doctor they will pay for you to see. Some will only pay for certain ones. If you've gone and found a doc you like and then find out s/he isn't covered by your ins co, that just adds to the stress. Then call on Monday morning and make an appointment with your doctor, take the first available slot, maybe you can still make it in before the end of December, that would be your first month down. Make sure you discuss your weight, what you are trying to do and how you plan to change your diet and exercise to lose weight. This is VERY important (if the ins co wants office notes): the MD MUST document at every visit that you are discussing your weight loss attempts. My ins co accepted things in the notes like: Patient has cut out refined sugars in her diet Patient is walking 30 mins per day Patient is logging her calories on fitday.com Patient is using SlimFast as a Meal Replacement for two meals per day and stuff like that. GOOD LUCK!

I'm off until Christmas Eve at 7:30pm. Then I go to work and work until Christmas Morning at 8:00am But we're having a brunch/breakfast potluck, so it's all good!

I understand your hesitation, Julie. You've been through surgery a few times with your band and know there is something different this time. But as you said, give it a few days and see where it all settles out. Congrats to you on finishing this long journey of plastics (and weight loss)! I couldn't be happier for you! Hope you recover quickly from this one too and that the pain decreases quickly in the thigh area. Can't wait for pics! Take care.

Quite a few docs are charging program fees that insurance doesn't cover. I understand there is a lot of paperwork to be done, and lots involved in supporting the patient, but then come up with codes to be able to bill for office visits, etc. I can see paying a paperwork fee (something like $50 maybe) for materials, etc. But some places charge for the insurance paperwork to be filled out and submitted, ummmm, isn't that their JOB? Isn't that the whole point?

I am sooooooo excited for you!!!! I couldn't be happier! You so deserve this, you have worked so hard and it is all paying off. Loads of love to ya!

The glue over the incisions: LEAVE IT THE HECK ALONE!!!!! The other stuff all over your belly: try baby oil and let it sit for a while, then try gently rubbing at it with a dry washcloth.

:welcomeB: to LBT!!!! There is a GREAT forum here called the FAQ and References forum (it's the first one on the home page list of forums), it's got LOADS of information in it, that's where I'd suggest going and reading, reading, reading. It helped me quite a bit. From that forum, here's a helpful thread about abbreviations and terms we use: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f73/abbreviations-what-they-mean-7959/

Don't know anything about that surgeon or program, but I personally think "program fees" are a HUGE bunch of CRAP. I ended up going to a different surgeon because my first choice charged a mandatory "support group" fee. Now she's moved out of state, wonder if anyone is getting back their fees?

And Tancredo has dropped, so now all 15 candidates will fit on a poll. Smatyas, will you put up another poll and make it anonymous?

I just worked all night, snowblowed and shoveled for three hours and I'm off to bed because I have to work again tonight. ARRRGGGHHH!!!! Michigan, love it!

I think a big part of my being off track is I stopped food journaling, that and a few other things. Yep, I know what I'm doing wrong and have no one to blame but me, but I just can't seem to get back on track. I'm hoping a few things I've read (including your post) as well as me coming to terms with the fact that I can't do it alone, I need the band, that's why I got the band and it's really okay to get it filled (I have no fill other than the OR fill, I do feel a soft stop, I do get "satisfied" after about 1/2-1cup of food). But I can't stop, I gotta work on that!

MBeauty, apparently you didn't read the entire thread! The OP (who posted this in AUGUST) had LOST her band already. See, it wasn't okay and she wasn't fine. I know lots of folks read only the first post in a thread then comment, but here's an example of why you really should at least skim through before posting. Not your fault, just an advisement for the future. In any case, :welcomeB: to LBT and I do hope you are fine!

I am so glad that you are feeling better, I really am. As I said earlier, perhaps it just wasn't for you and all those posts from people saying to hang in there and that it would be better...sometimes it just isn't. I'm also very glad your recovery from unbanding was so quick. I NEVER meant for anyone to write something negative to you personally as a result of my posts. As you can see by the tone of my posts, I am sorry that you lost your band, I am sorry that it didn't work for you. As you said in your first post on this thread, if your lose you band, that was something you'd have to deal with down the road. Sadly, you are dealing with it but on a more positive note, you are doing very well and I'm sure others will unfortunately have complications and can gain strength from your experience that there is life on the other side and you can do fine. I wasn't trying to point out only that you ate early and that's why you slipped, I did ask if it could be part of the reason, or if it could be surgical technique, or any number of other factors. I say these things to get folks to think about this journey. So many people said you'd be fine, you weren't, you went to get diagnosed and thankfully it was discovered you had slipped before something worse happened like an erosion. I am an example myself, I'll gladly be an example if it helps one single person not do what I have done. I have wasted four months of this band by being pigheaded and not getting a fill. I haven't lost a pound in over three months. Whose fault is that? Mine. I'll be calling for a fill appt. on Monday. Sometimes being an example isn't the most comfortable thing, but again, if it helps one single person avoid pain or frustration or heartache...isn't it worth it?

Betsy, I've fallen off the bandwagon in a HUGE way. I haven't lost a thing in three months and have gained and lost the same ten pounds in that time. A dear friend who moved away a year ago is coming back to town the first week in January and doggone it, I want more weight off before I see her. She knows nothing about the surgery, and I don't plan on telling her. I'll be curious to see if she notices I've lost weight or not. Thank you for this thread, it may help motivate me to get back on track!

Oh yes, here's the link to her loss of band thread: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f79/my-experience-glad-journey-ending-46264/ Such a bummer she lost it!

Well all, HSH lost her band. Don't know if it had anything to do with eating early, I posted asking her if the surgeon addressed that on her loss of band thread. In any case, it's sad that she had a slip and lost her band. I guess it never really worked well for her from the beginning, but the question with that is why. Was it because she ate early? Was it surgeon's technique? Who knows? But though me may not know 100% for sure if eating early contributed to the loss of her band, it remains a possibility. So to all of you who I quoted that said "don't worry about it" or "eating solids is a positive thing" maybe you want to rethink your advice. I hope you don't have slips, but if you do, then maybe, just maybe it might be caused (at least in part) by your post-op diet...

To clarify what I mean about the adhesions/scar tissue on your liver: I wonder if your band moving around alot early on may have caused the scar tissue to form, and then that held your band in place against the liver, not the stomach. I understand what you are saying about the slip being from the band not moving with the stomach, but I'm asking myself why that would happen. It's not a complication you hear a lot about and so I am sort of fascinated by why it would take place. Maybe DrWatkins has heard about more than we have.

Hala, I am so sorry you had this problem, and I'm sorry the band didn't work for you, it totally sucks! I am not trying to be mean here, but did your surgeon address the fact you ate solids before week two in the post-op period as a possible reason for your slip? A link to your thread: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f84/i-want-cry-39917/ I ask because though it stinks and it's awful you have had to go through all of this, perhaps someone else who is not following their post-op diet plan will see that there is a reason for following one. Also, I was wondering did you get your first fill before four weeks post-op? Again, just trying to possibly relate things like early fills and eatings solids to slippage. Did your surgeon say why he though there were adhesions on your liver? I'm kind of fascinated as to why there would be some. Wondering about his suture technique or if the band rubbed back and forth, thinking about where he placed the "buckle" and things like that. Glad to also hear that your insurance will likely be paying for the removal. I also do not think 010308 was trying to be mean, I agree that it was probably meant more as a "heads up." But I understand that in the post-op period emotions are out of control from the anesthesia and sometimes we take things differently than we would at another time. I know I do. Please keep us updated about how you are doing, will you?

Jack, I LOVE YOU! I've fallen completely off the wagon, I'm totally complacent and I can't get myself back into it. Your post is an inspiration to me.

CONGRATS!!!!! How great to have a new little one I can't wait to see pictures :Banane20: :wow2: Your wife did it totally natural? :hail:

Thank you from the bottom of my nail beds, WASa!

Ooooo, who? I gotta know! Me, right? It's all about me!

Oooooo, Ooooo, Ooooooooooo! I HATE That So Much! It Makes Me Batshit. Why In The Heck Anyone Thinks This Is A Cool Way To Write Is Beyond Me! I Can't And Quite Often Won't Read Their Posts.