Qvrfullmidwife

My surgeon said that they prefer that you wait a year but if you dont...and then he shrugged "well, we just unfill you til you are done breastfeeding".

The surgeon that I saw said that it is very common for people who have ben banded to find themselves in a place of addiction to something other than food and to be aware of and on your guard against this.

StacieM I have seen the surgeon, the appointment with the nutritionist and psych will happen during the 2 week pre-op diet...all that they lack is for us to pick a date. Technically it could even be July, we just have to give them 2 weeks warning. We are just working on finalizing the money and dh taking off work for a few days to tend to the farm and kids while I am down. I feel really blessed to be able to be a midwife. I finished my training before I had any children. Since my 4th was born I severely limited my practice and only in the last few years have I started to be comfortable with being more busy as my olders are now old enough to handle pretty much anything that arises at home.

I hope to lose 80-100lbs. I am self-pay. It is going to definitely stretch us to do LB, I do not see how we could possibly do PS. Is there any chance that PS just wouldnt be needed? It seems as if everyone who loses the amt of weight that I want to lose needs it, whether they actually DO it or not.

I don't drink, but when my husband heard that after lapband carbonated beverages are out, he asked if that included beer and I said that I would ask here.

Maybe if I ever need another cesarean my handydandy OB will oblige...probably unlikely, tho, huh? LOL... I'll take the need for plastic surgery over the need to lose weight anyday!

I was prepared for my PCP to be negative about it, but when I brought up the idea of WLS (at the same appt where he broached the fact that it looks like I am now diabetic) he said "well, that is an option, but I would recommend banding for you..." Well, now THAT was hard! He then gave me the name and number of the surgeon that I will probably use. To bad the insurance isnt as easy! Good luck!

Self pay here and if all works out well the goal is August.

I am in the decision/research stage and ran across this article. To say that I am disheartened would put it mildly... Junkfood Science: <i>Junkfood Science Weekend Special</i>: Bariatric surgery - the most life-altering decision you’ll ever make

I would give it at least 3 months of feeling "normal". Then I woudl sit down with my PCP and my spouse and have an open discussion, all three of you. And if they all agree to reband but havce issues with the surgeon then I suggest you consider yourself thankful that they are OKing the band after all that happened and not insist on the surgeon of your choice. There is no guarantee that the surgeon would even consent to take you again as a patient.

I have enjoyed asking questions for the past week or so, so I figured that it was time that I do an intro... I always naysayed WLS. Then about 6 weeks ago while waiting in a dr office with a daughter I read an article on lapband. I was immediately interested. Lapband as opposed to other forms of WLS addressed all of my reasons for not being interested in WLS. I didnt think it an option as I was not a 40BMI, in fact several points off. Right about that time my oldest got her permit to drive and they asked her height....she didnt know so they measured her and I was stunned because I knew how tall *I* was, and she and I were nearly the same eighth and they were saying that she was shorter than THAT! So I hesitantly told them that they were wrong...they contended back that they were not, long stort short, I was measured that day (and several times in teh next few days) and I am SHORT. Well, a full 2 inches shorter than I thought...which also means that I am fat...as in my BMI qualifies me. The joke in our house is that in one week I got short, fat and old. (This all happened the week I turned 41 ) (I know, that 41 isnt OLD per se and that a BMI of barely 40 isnt near what some people have to deal with, bu to *me* that is how it felt) The next week I had a checkup and lo and behold I am also now diabetic and my BP, always 90/60 is now reading 130/mid 80's. :phanvan Time to do something...for good, as opposed to what usually happens where I lose 30-40 lbs and gain it right back again. Except that I have not been this weight for 5 yrs which the insurance company mandates. And the insurance requires a 6 month diet at which point we will have been transitioned to the insurance at my husband's new work which excludes WLS altogether. So, my dh has committed that we will do the lapband even if it means taking out a home equity loan on our already paid-for home. We have applications out for loans and we are just waiting to see what we will do. Our plan is to use Dr Wilkenfeld in Conroe, TX. We are hoping to have more children and the goal is to get this done SOON as time is not on our side for many more children. I am not telling people that I know, not even my older children at this point because I do not want to be disappointed if/when it doesnt work out. I fel like I am holding my breath right now. Even if/when we DO proceed I am not inclined to tell anyone. We already get lots of prying questions about personal decisions that we have made such as our family size, homeschooling, etc, so I dont feel like adding yet another reason for people to feel like they can weigh in withtheir opinions. Anyway, sorry for the tome. I SO appreciate having this place to come and learn.

In truth, having had a baby every other year the only doctor's appts that I have records of are during pregnancy from my OB. I kind of kept my head in the sand the rest of the time, figuring what would they say "hey, you look great but you gotta lose some weight?!" (until recently although I spent my entire life obese i was in good health) I have years of weightwatchers weigh in cards but not 'doctor' weigh ins.

Plus it seems to me that the very first day that I found lapbandtalk there was a post from a gentleman whose daughter had died a few days post surgery. He laid the blame not on lapbands but on the inattentiveness of the surgeon. I wish I could remember what the thread was so that I could find it again...

One of the reasons that we chose Dr Wilkenfeld (besides being fairly impressed with his experience) is that he offers a reduced cash fee ($12,900) that we found reasonable that includes fills and followup for a year and then a reduced fill rate for after the first year. And he is local to us to boot.

This is a good point, I think that I will have to keep this in mind...so, did you pay upfront and then they submitted and you were reimbursed, or...???

Yes, no and no. YES, the coverage that we have now (BCBS Activecare w/TRS) covers WLS incl papband. But they require 5 years at a BMI of 40. NO, I do not have that. Also, they require a 6 month diet and if all goes absolutely perfectly when I finish the 6 mo diet I will be right at the time when we will be switching to the insurance with my husband's new employer. And NO, the new insurance does not cover it, not for me and not for anyone, it is categorically excluded. So we had a choice to make...try like crazy to jump through BCBS hoops, hoping that they might approve me, but if they dont then we are 6 months further down the road with no hope in sight, or go straight to selfpay. So we have applied for home equity loans and will selfpay ASAP.

Well, I hope to have more children post band and one thing that I am looking forward to is the chance to actually see a difference between pregnant and nonpregnant, to actually need maternity clothes as opposed to just larger sizes because they dont make 'maternity' clothes in such large sizes. Wearing red without feeling like a giant tomato to weigh LESS than my husband without having to pray that he gains weight

As a midwife I would be concerned about the malabsorbtive aspect of the bypass. It is the primary reason that I did not consider it as I would like to have more children and worry about being able to provide incredibly important nutrients to a developing baby.

If you have had a band for 5 or more years... where are you, weight-wise, related to your over-all goal? What complications, if any, have you experienced? What are the best things about the band? What are the worst things? And...(drumroll please) would you do it again?

I think I am gonna be sick...

"So, my question is, for all of the testing that needs to be done before hand, will the insurance cover those? Or will they deny it because of what the testing is for?" What I was told by the surgeons office is that even if you are cashpay they will bill the insurance company for what they can and in this case it woudl cover labwork, just billing it as needed for general health/checkups etc esp if ordered by your PCP.

We currently have BCBS and the list of what you have to have to be eligible to be covered for lapband includes a history of five years of morbid obesity, or a BMI of 40. For real?! If they really stick by that, do they then look to see if you have been at the lower BMI with co-morbidities? I just crept over 40, and just added co-morbidities and I am not sure ow they would verify consistent BMI anyway as I have been pregnant twice in the last five years! Can anyone weigh in on this?

Oh, I understand...not angry or anything, more bemused. At least BCBS policy is better than the policy we will evcentually be moving to which excludes it altogether. However...I know that I have been at the lower BMI prob with comorbidities for the 5 yrs...do they look at that and if so do you have any idea how they will address the pregnancy issues...after all how to differentiate between gestationsl diabetes and type 2 or Pregnancy induced hypertension vs generic hypertension?

Hmph. I guess having been in weight watchers on and off since 1978 wouldnt count as evidence of a chronic battle with weight, huh? I have been fighting and fighting weight for forever but always stayed pretty healthy and just below 40 until this past year when I both crept over 40 AND developed diabetes and hypertension. To me those are a wake-up call that *something* has to be done. So tho I have had a weight issue forever I guess I have just been too healthy, huh...Good thing that we were already saving up for it...

If you havent read yet, take a look at the thread :second bandiversery". It really made me think, I have much the same questions as you...