difa

I'm sure you're giddy and dancin' around the room. Congrats! And Good Luck!

I have GEHA insurance. You have to have six months of weight loss/nutrition visits with your PCP. Your BMI must be 40 or greater with no co-morbidities or 35-40 with one or more co-morbidities. I started last November and should have my band in June. Good Luck!

My doctor covers all fills for the first year....

I got my deviated septum fixed, uvula removed, palate tissue removwd and turbinites trimmed back in december...helps some.

It made or broke my chances....my bmi is under 40

I'm having my surgery at a hospital and I'll pay 3k at the most. There's no way they are charging 100,000 for that surgery.

shop around...ive never heard of the 100k lapband procedure..no one in my area would charge that...in fact cash buyers are paying 12k....my insurance has it set so that he can max charge 18k to them..and i pay 15 percent of that...look around....i guarantee you that you are getting messed with...either that gal is wrong or they are a con game...call your insurance and they'll tell you what the CONTRACTED amount is with that doctor...I'm sure that gal is wrong.

You've got support here. I fully understand how difficult the liquid diet can be. You will push through it, and you will succeed. My wife was banded back in October 2011 and it was hard for her, especially since she can't handle broth (or Soup for that matter). I'm getting banded in June so I'll be in the same boat as you I'll be here non-stop post op!

that can't be right. That means the doctor giving you the band is charging almost $100,000 for the surgery. Something is not correct. Most surgeries are $11,000 - $18,000.

I went for a sleep apnea test this past december. I found out I have SEVERE sleep apnea. DING my lapband will be covered by insurance. I'd rather not have sleep apnea, but losing 100lbs will probably get rid of my need for the machine. Good Luck!

Good Luck!

Good Luck! You Will Succeed!

I'm 36 and I have a two year old son. I want to live as long as I can so I can be there as a grandparent and even as a great grandparent. I have severe sleep apnea, and herniated disc. Obesity runs rampant through my biological father's family and when I see a cousin of mine who probably weighs near 400lbs and has severe sleep apnea I just can't help but know I need to nip this weight thing in the butt right now. I've already made sure that all the junk food is out of the house...and my son will eat healthy and will play sports, etc... Good luck on your journey!

Yes they bill you after....even though the insurance pays 80-85% there are other factors like deductoble you might have already met and max out of pocket

Pollyanna congrats on the weight you've lost so far!

Most insurance has an agreed amt that the doc and hospital can contractually charge and on top of that ins will pay a portion and you pay the rest. Cash payets at my docs office pay 12k out of pocket. His price agreed with my insurace is around 16-18k. Ill pay 250 deductible and then 15%.

Most insurance has an agreed amt that the doc and hospital can contractually charge and on top of that ins will pay a portion and you pay the rest. Cash payets at my docs office pay 12k out of pocket. His price agreed with my insurace is around 16-18k. Ill pay 250 deductible and then 15%.

I have GEHA (federal medical insurance) and they had me on six months of Doc visits on my nutrition and weigh-in's and a nutrition class. My bariatric doc has other requirements. If i didn't have serious sleep apnea I probably would have needed to have gained another 20 or so pounds before I could get the surgery. My BMI is around 38.

Good Luck Jodie! You'll succeed! I have a son who'll be two on May 3rd and he's one of the reason's why I'm getting lapband.

So I posted this question in the general surgery section of the board but I don't know if it belongs here instead: So during my psych eval the psych doctor said the most I would most likely lose would be 50-60lbs on the band. I weigh 265 and i am 5'10". and he also asked if i would be fine if i weighed 200lbs because statistics show the most i would lose was between 50 and 60 lbs. thoughts?

Good luck to both of you!

very true....there are other message boards where people got the band back around 5-7 years ago and they all ended up going back and getting gastric bypass or the sleeve and all they do is warn people not to get the band. I avoid that message board like the plague...

My surgeon told me the cost with insurance or if i was a cash payer. If my surgery was 20000, the most I'd have to pay is $3,000 after the $250 program fee. Though if I remember correctly I think the cost is like $16k-18k for the lap band surgery with my doctor. Luckily i was told that since I have an FSA that they will allow me to pay for the program fee after the surgery. I have paid $10.00 for the psych eval and that's it....so far. I have $2500 in my fsa...I think my wife had to pay around 1600 - 1900 to the hospital that the procedure was in (same insurance as mine). Mine should be cheaper since my procedure will be at the outpatient building versus the hospital.

Well I mean it. My wife was banded last November (late October?) and she's lost around 45 lbs. She's frustrated that she hasn't lost more than that, but still she's come real far. I'm real proud of her, and I always have a big grin on my face when she sees she went down a couple pant sizes. Here recently she had someone make a comment about her being fat and how they had to deal with it because she was near them. She just ignored their comment, but if I was there I would have had him on his knees apologizing to her and then after she accepted the apology I would then allow him to leave to change his shorts. Funny thing is, the guy was probably 60-80 lbs overweight.

Thanks, I appreciate the followup! Probably the best question asked by the psych doc was: Why are you wanting Lap - Band: Give me three reasons. 1. To be there longer for my family. 2. To lessen my co-morbidities (severe sleep apnea, herniated disc, poor circulation in my legs), etc. 3. To get ahead of possible future (and most likely) health problems. I strongly think that being obese can increase your chances to certain types of cancer. I had a grandfather who had cancer that started in his pancreas. Now he lived to age 78. But because of his weight he had to have hip surgery among other issues. My grandmother passed away from cancer (where it started, no one knows). I know that if I don't lose the weight now, that I will have an ever harder chance of losing it in my 40's and with that my father had a heart attack in his mid 40's ... that's why I'm getting the band!