crystal w

Hi everyone, I'm trying to find anyone that has this insurance that completed the required 3 months supervised diet and gained during that time. I was wondering if your surgeon's office submitted anyway and if you got approved. If it was denied, did you have to do another 3 months during the appeal? I'm looking to revise from band to sleeve. When I started this I was 233 and 244 at my last weigh in on Mon apr 4. On wed the 6th I put myself on an all liquid diet and I'm down to between 235 and 236. I want to call the bariatric nurse tomorrow and ask her to schedule another weigh in for me and then submit Do you think I should lose a lot more before I try? Thanks for any suggestions/advice Crystal

Sooo happy for you!!!! Good luck with everything. Here's to a smooth surgery, quick recovery and and complete success!!!

You'll be done in June.

Thanks Stacy. Even if I got down to 229 my BMI will be 43.2 so I'm ok there. This morning I was 234. The nurse wants to show at least some loss from the initial weigh in. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for both of us. And please do let me know what you find out from the ins co. Good luck!!!!!!!!!!!

I have FEP Blue also, I'm in Ohio. The sleeve is covered. You can read about the requirements here: http://fepblue.org/b...11-RI71-005.pdf. BMI of 40 or 35 with co mobidities. Good luck! Crystal

Specifically any revision from band to sleeve patients. Are you happy with the treatment you received? What was your experience? Thanks for any info Crystal

I developed this extremely painful staph infection in both legs in November. Had no idea what it was but dr said it is very common and aggressive. It eventually healed and I thought it was over. Wrong. I continue to get these in various places all over my body. An ER dr said some people just end up as carriers and just have to deal with and hope that it never gets bad enough to require surgery. So, my long winded question is, do you think I'm going to have a lot of infection problems or possibly be denied surgery (lap band) because of this? My initial consult is 3/20 and I will ask him, but this is another worry that's been creeping into my mind...I'd really appreciate some feedback.

11/06 I started battling MRSA. I would get a sore every month from Nov to March. It was on my skin, not in the blood. My surgeon discovered a yeast infection under my breast. I'd had it forever, just thought it was heat rash, something I would have to deal with since I was so heavy and have great big boobs. Once that cleared up, I haven't had any other MRSA problems. I did have a course of Vancomycin via IV the morning of my surgery, just to be on the safe side. Check yourself all over for any skin conditions. If you have MRSA just on your skin and clear up any skin problems, maybe it won't come back. Good luck and keep in touch. Crystal

Thanks for sharing your experience. Can I ask what cup size before & after? I was in a C cup in fifth grade so I've always been top heavy, even before all the weight gain. I'm now buying 48 DDD bras. Probably need bigger but that's the biggest I could find at WalMart and I'm NOT paying more than $15 for a bra. My back may suffer but I'm too much of a cheapskate to pay more than that. Will you have problems with sagging as you lose more? Thanks, Crystal

I never thought about the bleach in the bath water idea. I have heard that phisoderm helps and I sprayed that PS cleanser on my hands a couple times just to make myself feel better. I've got about four lumps in my armpit that I cant get to drain. Thanks for sharing your ideas. It makes me feel better to be able to talk about it with people who understand that we're not unclean or unsanitary in any way, we're just unlucky!

Thanks HeatherGurl, I'll be meeting my surgeon in exactly 2 weeks. I plan to have extensive conversations with him about it. My husband and one of my daughters have had problems too. I know that everyone has it on their skin and under nails etc, but I just cannot imagine why it has hit us so much. After I learned what it was I started keeping spray bottles of bleach water in my kitchen and bathrooms and made sure no one shared towels, took all precautions I could think of. My daughter in law found a cleaner/disinfectant called PS that is supposed to kill it so heres hoping that works. It just grosses me out so much and I feel guilty that my family is suffering from something I had. :phanvan

I developed this extremely painful staph infection in both legs in November. Had no idea what it was but dr said it is very common and aggressive. It eventually healed and I thought it was over. Wrong. I continue to get these in various places all over my body. An ER dr said some people just end up as carriers and just have to deal with and hope that it never gets bad enough to require surgery. So, my long winded question is, do you think I'm going to have a lot of infection problems or possibly be denied surgery (lap band) because of this? My initial consult is 3/20 and I will ask him, but this is another worry that's been creeping into my mind...I'd really appreciate some feedback.

Thank you so much Dr. C. I've been so worried that I wouldn't be able to get the band because of it. Do you think since I most likely am a carrier, that it could attack the band even after it's healed? Thanks, Crystal

My psych eval was really easy. Met the doc on a Thurs, talked for about 40 mins re: did I understand the changes that would come after surgery, did I have a support system, etc. Went back the next day to take the MMPI test, 567 T/F questions. It was hilarious!! I don't know the reasoning behind the order the questions are posed, but it just struck me so funny. Here's a little sample of how the test goes: I would like to do the work of a forest ranger T/F I have women in my live that I admire T/F I hear voices when I'm alone T/F If I were a reporter, I would enjoy reporting sports T/F I am sometimes awkward or clumsy T/F I enjoy playing rough sports (like football or soccor) T/F I hate my entire family T/F and it goes on like that for 567 question...I go back in a few days so he can go over the test and let me know how I did. Hopefully he won't keep trying to make me wear that weird jacket with the extra long arms that tie in the back again!!:heh:

:angel: Thanks everyone for responding... I'm a natural worrier so this has really been bothering me. I've been struggling with my weight for so long and feel like I'm this close to finding success at returning to my normal weight...I have this feeling that it's my luck to get quick surgeon/ins approval but this nasty little B*@#% is going to ruin it all for me!!! I called the surgeon today & the nurse said it's not an automatic disqualifier, just be sure to discuss it when I see the doc 3/28. Please say a little prayer for me if that's your thing. I'll keep you all in mine. :angel: Thanks Crystal

Have you ever heard of anyone being denied because of it, or is it possible to have a course of preventive meds?

Thanks for replying. And I agree that it makes much more sense to pay for a procedure that leads to better health rather than paying for continuing health problems.

Did your insurance give you a hard time about the second surgery, assuming you didn't self pay? I've been wondering what happens in such a situation. Crystal

Thanks Lisann. I can't wait to have this done. I hope it will allow me to finally feel like I have some control over my weight. Being a part of this forum already gives a little psychological edge; not feeling so alone anymore. So thanks to everyone for responding to posts and posting your own thoughts & experiences. Have a great day! Crystal

Thanks. I'll try that. They're from St Elizabeth & St Joseph Surgical Weight Loss Center in Youngstown Ohio.

Or Dr Robert Woodruff, jr. or Dr Brian Mirza? very eager to hear about your experience with him/them.:noidea:

Hi everyone! Hope I'm in the right place, I'm from northeast Ohio (East Liverpool). I noticed a lot of Dayton, Columbus & Cincinnati people, but none from my neck of the woods, so decided to introduce myself to you all. Here goes... I'm 37 as of 12/31/06-married since 16 (between 130-135 lbs then)to a really good guy-1 son who's 20, 3 daughters 16, 14 and 11. the boy met a very nice girl 3 years older than he is who had a little girl-they all hit it off so well that they had a little boy of their own 9/04-that worked out so well #3 is now under construction-oh, almost forgot-they all live with me!!!! So my big fat gut is probably the result of the stress hormone cortisole and not due to the fact that I never met a cheeseburger & shake I didn't like. :hungry: But seriously, I started gaining weight at 17, and have been up to around 270, the lowest about 185, now back to about 260. I'm 5'1", so that puts My BMI to more than 49. No comorbidities that I know of yet, but surely they're lurking around the bend. I've been researching WLS for about the last 8 years but never had insurance that would cover it. Got a MUCH better job 3 days after my grandson was born and this insurance started covering it this year so I was off and running. I contacted St Elizabeth & St Joseph Surgical Weight Loss Center in Youngstown Feb 7. Since then I've scheduled my psych eval with a local Dr for 3/1 so I can have the report available for my initial consultation w/the surgeon, Dr Vincent Vanek. Molly at the center said my ins doesn't require the supervised diet & if I get the psych eval done ahead of time, it will go even faster. So I'm hoping & praying that this 8 year process goes fast! I'm so glad I found this site! It's wonderful how open everyone is since this is such an emotional and scary process. It helps so much to be able to read about your experiences. Hope I didn't put people to sleep with my boring bio. I'll stop now because I think I just gave myself carpal tunnel from all this typing..

I'm supposed to hear from them today or Mon for initial consult date. Any info would be greatly appreciated!

I had to read your post twice, could have sworn I had written it! I haven't weighed myself in a while but guessed 260 on the BMI calculator so I'm 49 BMI. Soooooo tired of always being the biggest person in the room(weight wise-only 5' 1", so you can imagine how I look since circumference is greater than my height!) I love looking at pictures of my family over the years. I really hope that someday I can let myself be in some of them and enjoy the happy memory instead of feeling like crying because I look so awful. At 37 you're supposed to be energetic and active but I just count down the hours til I can go back to bed! I really hope this is the tool for me and I learn to use it to its fullest ability. I should get scheduled for my initial consult today or Mon. I scheduled my psych eval for 3/1/07. They said it will be a total of 4 hours-1 first meeting, 2 for the testing & 1 to write the report. My WLS clinic said if I'm able to provide the report at the consult that will make the process that much faster. Here's to finally getting started-let's hope we all have nothing but forward steps from now on!