michmcpher31

Yes! That's the same I have but it's bcbs of CA through medi-cal, even the girl at the surgeons office said BCBS was the best insurance to have to get approved. It makes me happy every time I read someone has that company and they got their surgery approved with no problem.

thats awesome hun, congrats! My seminar is the 14th, waiting on my appointment with my regular doctor to get everything all set up and submitted to my insurance. Who do you have for insurance if you don't mind me asking?

Congrats you guys, I hope you heal fast!

Hi everybody! My name is Michelle, I'm 31 and a proud wife and mommy to 2 beautiful little girls! I am looking forward to the lap-band because I am ready to get this weight off and live my life and be healthy for myself, my kids and husband. I was a healthy weight all of my childhood and I used to roller blade and climb trees just about every day! Then in high school I had dance and Color guard all 4 years of high school so I was very active and healthy. I met my husband my senior year of high school and got an apartment with him after graduation. I gained a little bit of weight, maybe 20 pounds from the time I moved out until we got married 2 years later. After we got married, I got pregnant pretty much right away and I gained 45 with my first pregnancy,I lost about 20 but a year and a half later I got pregnant again! I gained another 40-50 pounds despite watching my diet and walking almost every day from the first month up to my 8th month. After my youngest daughter despite nursing around the clock for the whole first year and a half, exercising and watching what I ate, I was only able to take off about 25 pounds. After I weaned my daughter, I couldn't stop producing milk and my cycles were weird.I was gaining weight very easily despite still eating healthy and exercising. Then I started to develop bad headaches that came with bouts of blurred and double vision so I went to my doctor and explained to him what was going on. He said it sounded like I had a tumor on my pituitary gland in my head! I was scared and didn't want to believe that's what it was. He did a lot of blood work and sent me home. I got a call a few days later and he said my hormone levels were WAY out of whack! I was producing way too much prolactin, cortisol, not enough estrogen, all kinds of stuff! So he had me set up an MRI and I went in and got it done. Sure enough, they found the tumor. Luckily it was small enough that they didn't have to operate but big enough that it was wreaking havoc in my body! So the doctor set me up with an endocrinologist who decided the best way to shrink the tumor would be with medication. Well, this medication shrunk the tumor, but it made me pack on 85 POUNDS in 6 months! I was beside myself, depressed and hated my body. Thank god for my husband, he has stuck by my through all of this and loves me no matter what! But I have tried EVERYTHING tirelessly for the last 4 years to get this weight off and nothing has worked. I LOVE to kick-box but get winded way too fast now. I LOVE walk and now that I have gotten arthritis in my ankle, it is becoming impossible to be on my foot for more then30 minutes at a time. I am very well endowed and have a lot of weight on my chest and found out last year when I hurt my back and went to the ER that when I fall asleep my oxygen dips down, so I probably have sleep apnea. My old doctor knew all of my issues and yet he never did anything to help with my weight. I am in the process of changing doctors and am very adamant about getting the lap band. I'm tired of being trapped in this body, being too tired to run around outside with my daughters for long periods of time and hiding every time I see someone get out their camera at a family event. I want my life back and want to live a long, healthy and happy life! I will be choosing my new PCP as soon as I get the green light from my insurance in a week or so. Please everyone keep me in your thoughts and prayers and keep your fingers crossed for me!

Wow! No wonder you lost 65 pounds! Is that standard for almost everyone, to do a diet like that for a month or 2? I just thought it was a liquid diet the week before.

WOW! That's great, what did your surgeon have you eat for those 2 months?

LOL I got the date for my seminar yesterday which isn't until the 14th and I could barely sleep just because I was so excited and thinking how happy I am going to be and how all the health risks of being obese are going to go away and setting a good example for my kids, wowing my husband, but whats more is the overwhelming feeling of eventually being able to feel comfortable in my own skin once again.... I can not wait as I'm sure the same for you!

And I know it's only been a week but have you weighed yourself today? Any idea if you have lost anything since the surgery?

Oh so it's like the staple your stomach and give you the lap band on top?

Iband ! Is that like an Ipad or Iphone but a lap band? Sorry, never heard of it before!

Green Bra! LOL! I was trying to think what it may have been and how it was relevant to lap band and weight loss. I was like, maybe an eco friendly good comfortable new bra had come out you wanted to tell us about it ! Well, at least you got your answer!

Yay! Congrats to all you guys going in on Monday! My seminar is Nov. 14th so hopefully I get my surgery date there soon after! I will say a prayer for everybody for a safe surgery and a fast and speedy recovery with great results!

I'm so excited! November 14th I go to the seminar for the Lap-Band for the surgeon I had been wanting! He takes my Medi-Cal Blue Cross insurance and they WILL NOT make me do the 6 month diet and because it's the *** there is no copay! I can't wait! This is the beginning to something wonderful!!!!

Thank you my dear for the info! That's what I thought.

Yes, my BMI is over 40, which is of coarse a huge reason I'm doing this, and no I was supposed to have a sleep study done like twice this year but the old clinic I used to go to kept messing it up and it never got scheduled (a big reason why I'm changing PCP), No big deal, I will let the doctor know I need it done at the appointment and get it out of the way and get a cpap if I have to, it will help both I and my husband sleep better, he says sometimes I snore like a chainsaw and he ends up going to the couch! LOL!

Lol, why did they censor the initials H. M. O. ? I didn't realize my type of insurance was a dirty word! LOL!

Wow girl so it went fast for you! I can't wait, I hope to be banded by January! Do you know if they approve easier and faster if they see you have sleep apnea? I am going to have my newer different PCP set me up for a sleep study in case they need it, last year when I hurt my back and went to the ER every time I fell asleep my oxygen would dip down and make the sensors go off, so I've been sleeping stacked up on pillows all year and sleeping very lightly. So I was just wondering about that.

Congrats!

I know what you mean hun! I do not have that many pictures of me with my kids, husband or family from the last 6 years because i have hated the way I looked! I promised myself this year that was gonna change! Life goes by way too fast to sit on the side lines! And what you said about the weight, absolutely! I had a doctors appointment about 5 months ago and prior to the appointment I was walking 2 miles, 5 times a week and did that for 3 months straight before my ankle started acting up again real bad. I lost like 8 and a half pounds and i was ONLY drinking Water and a little milk here and there, NO SODA, and was watching my portions and what I was eating. Then I stopped walking because of my ankle for 3 weeks before my appointment and when they weighed me I was shocked to tears! I hadn't just gained the 8 back but like 4 or 5 more! I cried and said to the doctor and my husband when I got home, "I just don't get it, I think my body is trying to kill me! It's like it WANTS to gain weight and I do not understand why!" The doctor really didn't seem to care as they were not my doctor but some random Joe (my doctor left the practice last year) which is why I'm choosing a new PCP. I found a great surgeon recommended to me by several people that takes my insurance and I am going to call his office when they open here pretty soon and I'm going to try and talk to someone who handles the insurance and see which doctors refer patients to them the most to see which ones are on my insurance so I can choose them as my provider. I'm lucky, heart disease and diabetes DO NOT run in my family and at last appointment they said I was not pre or regular diabetic and my cholesterol was good so i have those in my favor but if I keep gaining weight, that could change in a heartbeat! I NEED this surgery like yesterday and I am determined to make it happen and then do everything I'm supposed to to loose it. I have given up soda, can give up carbs if I have to, did it for South Beach Diet 2 years ago, only to loose 30 and gain that and 10 more back once I moved onto phase 3, so I think I will succeed once I get it done!

Good luck hun! May you have a safe and easy surgery and recovery! I hope to be banded soon also!

That is some great info!

Oh I hope yours is soon! I have to wait until next week or the week after to make mine and it's driving me nuts! I'm in the process of changing my PCP right now because my old doctor left the clinic i go to like 6 months ago so when I go in for something I get a random pick out of the hat doctor and they stopped helping me with my weight loss but they do have everything I did with the old doctor on file (watched my diet for 6 months, saw a nutritionist) so hopefully I get to pick up from there and the new doctor refers me for my sleep study right away so i can get this show on the road! Good luck to you sweetie!

Congratulations! I hope and pray to be in your situation soon! I hope your recovery is an easy and fast one! Good luck on your journey!

Yeah, I know about biotin, I have been taking it since I was like 27 because on my mom's side of the family the women's hair thins out A LOT in our 20's. My sister takes it also and she's younger then me. My Grandmother was pretty much bald by the time she was 60 and started wearing hairpieces. But she also never took biotin like my sister my mom and I. Also if you can find Keratin vitamins, they are usually very pricey, those are great for your hair also.

From what I have read in my research, after Lap band we need to take calcium, iron and a good multivitamin all which should be chew-able But this is just from what I have read, anyone with experience wanna chime in? We'd love your advice!