rabid24

I've been looking into lap band for quite sometime, but now that I found my insurance will pay for it I'm ready to go forward!! I have been lurking and learned a lot from this message board, so I'm hoping you guys can help me with some things. I just had my fourth baby (born on Christmas Day '06) and am still nursing. I want to nurse till he's at least a year old. As I do this I'm on Weight Watchers. I'm losing slowly, but losing all the same. My BMI is 41.5, and I'm afraid that if I continue losing I won't be authorized for the band any longer. Has anyone lost so much weight pre-op that they wouldn't do it? I know this seems like a strange question. I've been dieting pretty constantly for about the last 15 years. I know I need something like the lap band or it won't ever be permanent. I've lost hundreds and hundreds of pounds over the years, but am heavier than ever. I have this fear of losing weight this time, not getting approved for the surgery only to gain it all back and be right back here again in a couple of years. I don't really feel right about not watching what I eat or just not trying until I can get the surgery. Dieting is ingrained in me. Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated! Thanks! Jodi

I felt the exact same way. My mother came into town this weekend to watch my kids so my husband and I could go to the lapband seminar. Everyone in her family was mad that she was not going to be with their mom on mothers day, so she really wanted to tell them why she had to come out. I really want to keep this a secret from them, when I saw that People magazine I pointed it out to her and said "See, this is why. Everyone looks at WLS surgery as a gimick, as an easy way out. When I finally lose this weight I don't want to have the 'but she got surgery' whispers behind my back". They'll probably never understand, and that's ok. It's not about them. And I don't mind using this 'gimick' if it means I don't yo yo diet for the rest of my life.

I knew this would be more complicated than it sounded in the little insurance book. The surgeon is a preferred provider, and they have pre-set rates that they can bill at. I would be billed the 10% of that up to a maximum of $4500 a year. I have a $500 deductible to meet, but the 10% would be a lot more than that. Thank you all for your help!!! This has been enlightening. I've been trying to call the surgeons office with this question for 3 solid days, but apparently they are very popular. I just wanted to know if I should be trying to get the rest of the money together up front. I thought they would probably take the insurance money and bill for the rest. Of course, they are so busy they wouldn't really need to work out a deal with anyone. Thanks again! Jodi

Hi! I know that my insurance will pay 90% of my surgery costs, and although I know it's probably different from place to place I was just wondering what I should expect. Will they ask for the other 10% up front, or will they bill me for it and allow me to make payments? I would love to hear any and all stories in this department. TIA! Jodi

I have Federal Blue Cross Blue Shield. It's funny, I have the Standard Option (which is the most expensive), but if I would've taken the basic option I would only have to pay $100 for this surgery instead of $1300, and I would've saved $80 a month in insurance payments. Guess I'll be changing in open season!

OH MY GOSH! That has always been one of my number one reasons for wanting to lose weight. I'm so damn sick of having the nurse tell me she'll be right back because she has to go get the big blood pressure cuff!!!! Isn't it funny how the little things get to you. It's nice that they notice it bothers people now.

People are full of crappy things to say. Gotta have a reason to feel better than someone else. Well, I have LOTS, but I'll choose from a few of the most recent. When I was taking a childbirth class at the local hospital with about 10 other couples, the "teacher" pointed me out to the class as someone who's monitors wouldn't register very well because I was so overweight. It was absolutely humiliating. Why couldn't she have just said that they don't work as well on heavier women, why did I have to be pointed out? People know what 'overweight' means without an example. I felt like I was treated like a non-person. Many healthcare people don't realize that we are human, just like the little skinny ones. I don't appreciate being treated like that when I'm alone with a doctor, let alone in front of 20 other people. Oh, and this is one that was particularly humiliating since I have to see these people everyday. When I was real close to giving birth to my last baby, one co-worker mentioned to another that I might not show up for work because I was due any minute. The other co-worker replied "Really? I didn't know she was pregnant, I thought she was just fat." To make matters even worse, the first co-worker had to tell me about it as soon as I got to work. When he saw this upset me he (yes, they were both men having this conversation) ran back and told everyone else at work about what had happend because 'people shouldn't be talking about you like that'. Humiliating!

I've been wanting the lap band VERY badly, and have spent a great deal of time reading up on it. However, it seems the more I read the more I am seeing about complications (ie. erosions, slipped bands, and other reasons that make people have to have it removed). It's starting to seem like these things might just be topping out around 2 years. Is this true, or am I just reading the wrong reports and posts? If I get the lap band is this really something I can expect to have for life, or should I expect problems to go along with it? If Lap Band doesn't work long term, I guess I should throw in the towel. I would never consider an RNY. Thanks in advance!

Thank you all so much for replying! I was thinking (hoping, praying etc.) that I had just been only reading the bad stuff, and that there was much more good. I want this to work for me more than anything. I should know by now not to judge something soley on what I read on the internet. Even if it's medical reports (not just posts by a few people) you can find some really negative things here. Heck, according to what I found on the internet, both of my last two babies had a 0% chance of living (their heartrates were too low) and they were (and are) a-ok. I guess I'll just suck up the possibility that something could go wrong and think about all the things that could go right. Focusing on the fact that this could be the chance for me to live life like a "normal" person is all I need to make everything worthwhile.

I'm in Manhattan. I was thinking about going to Topeka for the surgery. We are going to the seminar there in a couple of weeks. Do you have a website for the place you had yours done? Topeka is the only one lapband.com told me about because of where I live.

I posted this in the introductions section, but I see this forum gets the most viewers so I thought I'd post it here too. I've been looking into lap band for quite sometime, but now that I found my insurance will pay for it I'm ready to go forward!! I have been lurking and learned a lot from this message board, so I'm hoping you guys can help me with some things. I just had my fourth baby (born on Christmas Day '06) and am still nursing. I want to nurse till he's at least a year old. As I do this I'm on Weight Watchers. I'm losing slowly, but losing all the same. My BMI is 41.5, and I'm afraid that if I continue losing I won't be authorized for the band any longer. Has anyone lost so much weight pre-op that they wouldn't do it? I know this seems like a strange question. I've been dieting pretty constantly for about the last 15 years. I know I need something like the lap band or it won't ever be permanent. I've lost hundreds and hundreds of pounds over the years, but am heavier than ever. I have this fear of losing weight this time, not getting approved for the surgery only to gain it all back and be right back here again in a couple of years. I don't really feel right about not watching what I eat or just not trying until I can get the surgery. Dieting is ingrained in me. Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated! Thanks! Jodi <!-- / message -->