TheLid

I am new here, and I am trying to find a good Doctor. Has anyone out there had the Lap band done in Tri-Cities or Spokane? I have been seeing commercials lately, but I don't really want to go to a doctor who has not done very many procedures. My insurance is BCBS and they WILL pay, but I have to go to someone who is contracted with them. Has anyone found a good doctor who is contracted?

I am moving from Washington to SLC in a few weeks and I need some suggestions on a doctor to follow-up with. I have had my band since August and I am doing well, but I am worried about going down there and not having a doctor to follow up with in case of emergencies. I am also looking for an apartment to rent. It is so frustrating trying to find a place, because thy all look nice on the internet, but then I hear that the area, management, etc is bad. Any suggestions? I am going to be working at Primary Childrens, so it would be nice to have less than a 30 min commute to work. I am also a 27 year old female living alone. I would like to live close to other young single adults who have high standards. Any help would really be appreciated.

Thanks for the link. That is exactly what I was looking for. I'm not looking for a roommate, but I do want to be in an area that has a good singles ward. Hopefully the institute can give me some pointers.

Dr Fox has an office in Richland (Tricities). I don't know how far that is for you, but I really like him. He does take patients from mexico. His phone number is 509-943-0710. I hope you are feeling better. Let us know how it turns out.

I am glad someone put up a thread for Eastern Washington. I am in Moses Lake. I was banded by Dr Fox in August. Everything is going great. I am excited for you to get your band. I did not think the pain was very bad. I took pain meds for about 3 days, then I quit because it made me so nauseated. I was still sore for a few weeks, but I am so glad I had it done.

I am a walking contradiction. I want people to notice that I have lost weight, but I do not want them to say anything else. My highest ever was 300lbs before the lap band. I have been losing weight pretty steadily since I started my lapband preop diet a little over 4 months ago. Today I am 224! I am so happy. I went from a size 22/24 top and bottom to 18 pant and 14/16 top. I think I look a lot better (I actually have a figure), yet I get so frustrated that some people don't notice! Hopefully they do notice, but just don't want to say anything. I am completly in the closet with my lapband. Only my parents know and they are sworn to secrecy. One of the things that I really hate is if someone does notice, they have to ruin my triumph by asking how I did it or how much I lost. It is none of their business how much I have lost! Just say I look great and end it! I don't know about you guys, but I am embarased that I let my weight problem go on as long as it did, so I don't want to tell them how much "repenting" I have had to do, or that I am only about halfway done. Wow that was a run-on sentence, oh well. When they ask how I did it I just say, "I started doing all the things the doctors tell us to do. I am very careful about what I eat and I exercise." People always look a little let down. Did they really think I was going to tell them I had surgery? In truth, diet and exercise is exactly how I am doing it, I just have a little help with the band. It is still a mind game every day. There is no easy way to do it. I know this was long, but I had to vent. I wore a new outfit to church today that made me feel like a million bucks. I was sure that it would make people finally notice. No one said a thing. I do feel better having gotten this off my chest.

Yes I have BCBS of Iowa. I know it is confusing because I live in Washington, but the company I have insurance through is based in Iowa. I have to wait to have my surgery until my summer school quarter is out. I will have my Preop appointment on July 27 then my surgery on Aug. 15 or 17th. Woohoo. I'm sure you will have no problem getting aproved since you did the supervised diet and have comorbidities. Good luck to you.

I live in Washington so I am having it done here by Dr. Fox. I don't have a date yet. I have to work out some things with my schedule first. Hopefully I will have a date by Monday. I know I really got lucky with not having a supervised diet. My Dr is very strict with pre and post op follow-up, so I will be on a supervised diet with him for at least the next year or two, until I reach my goal weight. Woohoo!! How much longer do you have before you can submit your info to the ins? I hope everything goes smoothly for you.

I just found out that I am approved! I haven't been on this site in a few weeks because I didn't really have anything to say, and I have just been too busy with school. I am so excited to be approved. They did not make me have a supervised diet. Maybe I just got lucky. Originally my Dr told me to wait to do the psych eval and all the other tests until I knew if the insurance would pay, then they sent in all of the other paperwork to the ins. THe insurance then said that they couldn't even make a decision without the psych eval. Once I found that out it took two and a half weeks to even get an appointment (that was just pure luck, because all of the other providers I could find were scheduling people out at least a month in advance). Once I passed the Psych clearance we faxed everything again to the insurance and of course they didn't get it. I think it is amazing that it takes a week for them to know if they have something or not. We re-faxed everything (this is the third time now) and I got approved in a few days. I think that the only reason they finally approved me so fast was because I was calling them almost every day for a few weeks. Not to mention my Drs office was calling. One lady even said, "I think I have talked to you about this before." My BMI is 47 and so far I don't have any of the co-morbidities on the list. I hope you all have good luck with the insurance.

I think this is a great post to have right before mothers day! I have enjoyed reading about your moms. Right now I am living at home (after being on my own for over 5 years). I am trying to save money while I am going to school. It has been really hard to give up a lot of my independence. The one thing that makes it all worth it is my mom. She constantly shows me love and support. She encourages me to do better every day. When I come home from school she asks me how it went. She knows everyone in my class by name if not by face. Nursing school can be very emotionally draining, but she is always there for me with a shoulder to cry on. She has always been there for me even (especially) when I had no friends to lean on. She is the only one I am telling about the lap-band. SHe wants to see me succeed. My mom is great and I love her a lot.

What kind of history did you send? A letter from you or actual chart notes from the doctor and reciepts from the gym? My Dr sent everything in on friday. I gave them a letter to send from me that had a pretty detailed description of my diet and exercise history, but I don't know if it will be good enough. I hope they take my word for it. I should have sent a picture so that they would see how much I really need this surgery!

Well I really hate to burst your bubble, but I have been to the temple and I have seen many marriages performed there. Many of the things that you have been told have been taken out of context and I can understand how you could misinterpret their meaning. They are not things that are kept a secret until you get married. I also know plenty of Mormons who are not “afraid” to talk about these principles. They are common knowledge to the membership of our church. You should ask one of your LDS friends about being “eternally pregnant”. Use those words. They will probably laugh. Since there is nothing that I could say to try to convince you of the truth of our beliefs I am not going to go into detail. All I will say is that these are things that are very special to us. Every church has their own beliefs about what happens after death. No one can agree about what will actually happen. I don’t agree with some of the beliefs of Catholics, Jews, Muslims etc., but that doesn’t give me the right to disrespect their beliefs. You can show respect without being in agreement. I also firmly believe that if you have questions about what any religion believes you should ask an active member of that religion. You can not only talk to people who have left that religion. Get both sides, but keep an open mind (not so open that your brain falls out). My mom was raised Catholic, but she left that church. My aunt and grandparents are still very active Catholics. When I have a question about Catholic beliefs I ask them both. However, I tend to take what the Catholics say more seriously than what my mom might say. Usually, she tells me to ask them anyway. They are the ones who are living that religion every day. I am not trying to convert you. A chat room full of strangers is not the kind of place where I am going to open up and share the deepest feelings of my heart. Religion and politics. Two things you don’t discuss at the dinner table. Why do you think that is? It always ends with mudslinging (or food-slinging). I don’t think anyone ever changes their position because of someone else’s comments. I think that we are going to have to agree to disagree on this subject. Let’s just try to keep the peace.

Before I respond: I want to say again that I am sorry that you have had bad experiences with Mormon people. I am trying really hard to word this in a way that it will not be misinterpreted. I do not condone any bad thing that any Mormon has ever done for any reason. Now for my response: So, are you saying that we should not do nice things? I guess I don’t understand how good works are a bad thing. I know that many Christian religions do not believe that you need to have good works to “be saved”. I personally think that being a Christian means that you accept Christ as your Savior and you want to try to follow his example. He spent his life in service to others, so shouldn’t we? Obviously we would be nothing without His sacrifice. Serving others is a way to show our appreciation. I am really not trying to start a “Faith vs. Works” debate. And to all of you out there who don’t believe in Christ anyway, you can just ignore this paragraph. I am not going to try to convince you that he is real. As for your sons friend who is going to go on a mission… I really hope that he doesn’t. There are enough people out there with a bad view of the church. The last thing we need is some kid out there representing the church that doesn’t believe in it and doesn’t really want to be there. Before going on a mission a person has to have several interviews with their local church leaders to be sure that they are going for the right reasons. If this kid lied during those interviews the leader would not know unless someone else told him. I hate to call someone a liar, but if he had told his leader that he was having sex, drinking or smoking he would not have been allowed to go on a mission. Unfortunately people do lots of things for the wrong reasons. Going on a mission to get a car is not a good reason to go. It doesn’t make the mission a bad thing; it just means that the motivation is wrong. (Doing good works so that people can see you vs. doing it because it is a good thing to do). Some people’s parents buy them a new car for turning 16 or graduating from high school (mine didn’t). Should we criticize them too? As for being eternally pregnant… I think that sounds like a horrible idea. Luckily Mormons do NOT believe that. I am not married and don’t have any children. Someday I hope that will change. Right now I am in nursing school. I love it and can not wait to graduate next year so that I can be an RN. I was always taught to get a good education. Very few things in this life are for sure. You never know if your husband will lose his job or even (heaven forbid) die unexpectedly. In an earlier thread someone said something about Mormons home schooling. As long as I am on the subject I want to say that I don’t KNOW any Mormons who do this. Yes, I have heard of it happening, but it is not very common. If you choose to home school your children it is a personal choice. My aunt is Catholic and she is very in to the whole home school thing. I don’t think that children come out any smarter in the end. I figure we are all paying taxes to support the public schools, so why not take advantage of it. To each his own, I guess.

On behaf of Mormons and Christians everywhere I would like to say that I am sorry that so many people have been offended by people who are claiming to "live the higher law". I don't think that you have to be a certain religion to be a good person. I have known plenty of athiests who would give you the shirt off thier back, while another Christian is too busy to bother. I also don't think that just because you profess to be associated with a church automaticaly means that you are living and acting according to the teachings of that church. None of us are perfect, but hopefully we are trying to be a little better every day. We are a work in progress.

<p>Ever since I was in my early teens I have had dark hair on my upper lip. I think that it is partly genetic, because my sisters, mom, and grandma have it too. As I have gotten older I even have random dark hairs showing up on my chin and cheeks. I have tried a few different "permanent hair removal" laser treatments, but none of them are really permanent. It is also starting to show up on my breasts and lower abdomen. This is really embarasing. Someone told me once that it was because of my hormones and if I lost weight I wouldn't have that problem. Has anyone out there had it go away after loosing a lot of weight?</p>

I have BCBS and they will cover my surgery, but they say that they want notes from the Dr showing at least 6 months of a supervised diet. Has anyone else gotten out of this? I have been on a lot of different diets, but I never went to my Dr and checked in with him. He has written a letter of medical necessity for the surgery, but will this be good enough? I would really like to not have to spend more money on unneccesary Dr visits and have to put off the one thing that will really help me keep the weight off. My weight is fluctuating between 287 and 300. At the rate I am going I will be over 300 if I have to wait.

So you are using your tax refund money? At 18 years old where do you work that pays well enough to get $8500 back from taxes?

What do they check for PCOS? I think the only thing my dr checked was testosterone. Should he have checked Estrogen? I am very dark haired and light skin, so I know that it shows up more on me than some people, but it is driving me crazy that it keeps coming back even after getting the laser treatments. The lady that does the laser keeps telling me to do this spit test thing that she swears by. She says it is more acurate than a blood test to check hormones for menopausal women. I am only 26! Has anyone heard of this?

Are you through Wellmark? I am really nervous that the next person I talk to will say yes on the supervised diet. I don't want to wait! I don't want to pay for it myself either;) I hope all goes well for you.

Yes, I have spoken with my Dr and he did blood tests to check for testosterone levels. It was normal. I guess I will just have to wait and see if anything changes. I do end up bleaching my facial hair about every 2 weeks. It would be nice to get rid of it all for good!

I am getting everything together to have surgery in August. I hope. My insurance tells me something different every time I call them. Frustrating. I am LDS and live in Washington. I've never lived in Utah (that tends to surprise people;)

I was told at the seminar that I would need a 6 month supervised diet, so I started worrying that I was going to have to put off my surgery. I am on kind of a time crunch since I am in nursing school year-round with only a 6 week break Aug-Sept, so I really wanted to get it done the first part of August. I don't know If I will even have this insurance next year. I called the insurance again and they said that they do not need a supervised diet, they just need documentation that I have talked to my Dr about my weight issues over the years. I asked specifically if it had to be every month and she said, "No". I asked if a letter from my doctor stating that I have been working on this for over 10 years blah, blah, blah...would be good enough or if I had to have specific chart notes. She said, "No, the letter will be good enough." I was so happy to hear that! My big question now is: What if the next person I talk to tells me something different? I have the Lady's name that I talked to, so can I hold them to it? Also: Will going to a chiropractor for degenerative doint disease in my neck and lower back count as being treated for an "obesity related comorbidity"? This is driving me crazy. I am a person that is very in to details. I have to know the answer to everything before I do anything big. I know I should just let my Drs office take care of all the insurance stuff, but I am a control freak. Thanks for all of your advice.

I live in Washington, but my insurance is Wellmark BCBS of Iowa. I am also starting the process of getting all my stuff together to get aproved by the insurance. Have you checked to make sure that it is even a covered surgery with your plan? Mine is, but I have to show that I have tried other things first. I got my PCP to write a letter stating that I have a long history of diet and exercise and that it has not resulted in permanent weight loss. I hope this will be good enough, because I don't have a lot of doctor visits that focused on my weight. Each plan is different, and I have found that every person you talk to at the insurance company will probably tell you something a little bit different, so write down the name of each person you talk to with the date and time. Good luck.

I have been browsing this site for over a year and I have finally decided that I am getting banded! I am a nursing student, so I have to wait until August for a break from school. My insurance says that they will pay, so I am looking for the right surgeon for me. If anyone has had a great experience here in Washington I would love to hear it. I live in Eastern Washington, but I would commute if I could find a good surgeon.

Thank you so much for the information. I will probably end up going with Dr Fox. Right now I am not too worried about needle sticks. I have to get allergy shots every week and I am a nursing student, so I have lots of exposure to needles. How big are the fill needles? Do you think it is easier for a Dr to find it without the Fluoroscope if he is the one who did the surgery?