suecasb

I was approved on Feb. 15th and my band date is also on March 17th. I'm Irish so it's a doubly lucky day!:tt2: My surgery will be at Mt. Carmel in Columbus, OH with Dr.Choban. Where will yours be done? Lets keep in touch on this thread so we can compare notes.

March 17th 2008

Charlene called today with my surgery date...March 17th. Whooo!! Can someone who had Dr.Choban please give me a step by step of what to expect? You checked in and then what? Niki..you will be 5 days ahead of me...good luck! and keep us posted please. Are you scared? I am. SpecialK..maybe we will have the same date!

Hooray for you SpecialK!!! Maybe we will have surgery at the same time....you can hold my hand cause I'm a little scared..:ohmy::biggrin:

Hello everyone, I started this process on 4/23/07 and thought I would never get here....but on 2/15/08 BCBS finally approved me for the lap band!:biggrin2: Now I have gone from hoping and praying for approval to bouncing back and forth between total excitement :girl_hug: and total '"what the heck am I doing" TERROR!! Anyway...I am now an official member of the 60+ thread.

I agree with all of the above!

I don't have a date yet but Dr. Choban will be doing the surgery.

BCBS called an hour ago to say that I have been approved for the surgery!!! I am still in shock! :eek:

Niki...congratulations on getting your surgery approved !!! That is so great!!

Hi Cowboy, glad you found us. This is a great place to share all of your "what ifs". I'm still trying to get Insurance approval and I hang out here a lot. There is always someone to answer your questions and prop you up when you need it.

Welcome Ladyroz, make yourself at home.:frown: No word from Insurance yet ladies. Still waiting and hoping!

What Insurance do you have?

yea!!! my buttons are working now!

I still can't get my links button to work.

I faxed in all the paperwork for my appeal to BCBS tonight... everyone please keep your fingers crossed ...

Hi TM, I haven't given up yet. I found someone to help with an appeal and will be sending it in this week....and keeping my fingers crossed. I also have a letter from my PCP to include this time. My prayers are with you and DH..hang in there.

Thanks for the explanation Dr. Watkins. WASa,...priceless description!! You do have a way with those complicated medical terms.:faint2: I think I will stick with the Inamed !:mad:

The port on the Realize band is what interests me. A self-anchoring mechanism? How does that work? I have checked out the Realize web site and they don't explain that at all. Sounds like that would be a very good thing.

Everyone is welcome on Lap band talk, so no need to apologize for being here. I think the best thing you could do for your friend is to send them here also. This board is full of support and advice for every issue with the band that you can think of.....including this one.

Not me...I'm only on here every day.:heh:

Thanks Suzanne, I sent you a private message.

Thanks Ellisa, they have all that from my doctors. I'm not sure what they want so I guess I will just tell them the same things over again.

Thanks, I do read this thread and have checked out the link, but it was a form for your doctor to fill out and he has already done that one. I was told that I need to write a letter stating why I disagree with their decision. I am not a great letter writer! I have been prescribed a c-pap and that doctor wrote a letter to BCBS saying that the sleep apnea is directly caused by my weight and that she highly recommended for me to have the surgery and they still denied it. I need to write a really good letter because nothing else seems to be working and I can't afford to hire a lawyer to fight for me.

Deb, this time they denied me because my sleep apnea is only severe during rem sleep and mild the rest of the time! The requirements in my policy just say " sleep apnea" it does not say how severe it has to be, so I think they are changing it to suit whatever they want. I am trying to find someone that knows how to write a letter of appeal as I don't have a clue about how to write one. I am not going to give up yet!

Merry Christmas And Happy New Year Everyone!!! :rose: