blossom

Hey, 53 pounds in one year sound fabulous to me!!! Congratulations!

Leatha, I was impressed that her goal was health and not just weightloss. And I was REALLY impressed that she does not want to send the wrong message to her teenage daughter about body image and weightloss! Marie, I thought that was an interesting comment about WLS affecting her voice, too. I wish she would have elaborated on that.

Hey Lisa!!!! Another Texan is always welcome! Good luck with your journey.

Congrats!!!! Sounds like you are well on your way! I'm excited for you!

LOL!!!! The first thing I ever told my husband about the lapband was 'You better check out Inamed stock!'

Woohoo, Betty!!! I'm excited for you! You may also want to get your PCP to mention the family heart problem history in his letter. Every little bit helps, ya know?

Zoe, great to hear of your positive experience with Dr. R. I was planning to use him if I had to self pay (which looks like I won't). Hope your recovery is short and uneventful!!

LOL!!!

Wow, Marie! You and your hubby must truly be a match made in heaven!

Leatha, I am so glad to hear all went well!!! Isn't modern medicine wonderful? I was in the hospital for over a week when my gallbladder was removed (many years ago)! Girl, I love your philosophy of 'living' with your band! I'm planning to follow right in your footsteps. I can't stand the thought of another diet! Health doesn't just appear overnite, we have to advance toward it slowly or it may run away!

Penni, I bet you're having an excellent time!!!! Don't forget the pics!!!

Bye, Alex!!! Have a wonderful time! I'll bet the Cape is fabulous at this time of year. Tereasa, have a great beach house weekend! Miss you both!!!

Hmmm.... you know, my dr. has not suggested any testing for me. The only thing he talked about was visiting a nutritionist. Is that odd or did others not have to do all this testing?

Wow!!!! Lisa, with all the troubles you've had, you're doing amazingly well! Hey, you may not even need a new port!!!

WooHoo! November 16!!! Congrats, Ryan! I, too, am shooting for an early November date. I'll be drinkin' my Thanksgiving dinner too.

Ditto what Anne said. Trust your gut!

Ryan, your writing just amazes me! What an analogy! I grew up heavy too, so I can relate. Sorry to hear about your wife. I hope she improves soon.

Wow! Marie, that was really lucky for you!!!! Sounds like you found an excellent dr.

I got a letter from my insurance yesterday, but I don't really understand it. Can someone tell me what this really means? Here is the letter: We have completed our review of your request for coverage of Bariatric Surgery under the (company name) benefit plan. Based on the information reviewed, we are please to inform you that coverage is available. All covered charges are subject to screening for allowable charges. The final allowable charge will be determined when the bill is submitted and will be based on the actual service(s) provided. Please note this letter does not guarantee payment. Benefit payment is based on the provisions of the (company name) benefit plan and is subject to the guidelines, plan design, and policies effective at the time of service. If you have any questions blah, blah, blah.... I don't get it! How am I supposed to know how much they will pay and how much I will be out of pocket? This will be critical info for me since DH and I are right in the middle of seeking a loan for buying some property. We are having to be very careful with money at the moment.:think

Ssssssst!!! Girl, you sizzle!!

Thanks, Marie! My surgeon is also a laporoscopic specialist, so I am betting he's done plenty of tubals. I will call and find out!

Marie, did you have to go through the same approval process for each of your surgeries? I am thinking of asking for a tubal ligation at the same time as my LB surgery. My policy says it is covered, so I don't know if I have to go through all the same hoops to get it done.

Thanks, ya'll!!! I called the dr office to make sure they got their copy of the letter. I was told that they are now requesting the precertification, which will take about 3 weeks. They even wanted to go ahead and set a date!! Ordinarily, I would go ahead and set it, but we just happened to have recently found THE perfect property to build our dream home on, so I am afraid to do ANYTHING until we close. If all goes well, closing will be around the end of October. Anyway, thanks so much for helping me understand this!

Thanks Lisa and Alex! I found my on-line policy and this is what my POS policy says: Weight reduction: Excluded are hospitalization, surgery, treatment, and medications for weight reduction other than for approved treatment of morbid obesity. If you are covered by the Point-of-Service Medical Plan, contact UnitedHealthcare to determine if treatment is covered. So, does that mean that it is pointless for my dr. to request precertification? Or does the letter I received override that exclusion? I'm sorry for all the questions, I'm just so confused!

Wow!!! I would think Inamed would not look to kindly on a dr. making threats such as this. I would absolutely contact them about it!