Purplrose323

I also use NY bariatric group. Dr. Holliver assisted on my lap band surgery in 2004. Dr Garber did the actual lap band surgery and just removed the band for me on Wednesday. Dr Angstadt however, will be doing my sleeve. The nurses at Mercy are wonderful. Not sure if my sleeve will be there or at St. Charles in Port Jeff as I'm still waiting on a date and have some more consults to do. Good Luck!!!

I've heard that Dr Ahmad is excellent. A friend of mine had lap band surgery with him and had all good things to say. As every surgeon is different, I'm not sure what you should expect from him as I use another surgeon. Just be ready to ask questions and good luck with your journey!

My surgeon does it as a 2 procedure process. He wants the stomach to heal from the band before he goes and a does the sleeve surgery. He told me that band patients tend to have a higher risk for leaks if the surgery is all done at once due to the stomach becoming thicker where the band was. That being said I just had my band removed on Wednesday, now on to the next part of my journey.

Thank you for that info! I can warn my hubs, I hope it's not as bad as post partum depression. Don't wanna go thru that again!!

Hi Amy, I'm sorry your mom isn't more supportive. Hang in there! A friend of mine had WLS and her father was the same way, very unsupportive, told her she was taking the easy way out, etc etc. Fast forward to 5 years later and he tells her how wonderful she looks and how great it was that she did this. I myself am in the process of having trying to get revised from lap band to sleeve. This time around I only told certain people. You will find some positive and some negative, but you are doing this for you and no one else! I have gotten so much support from this website it's amazing and a Godsend, fill the void from those that don't support my decision. Good luck with your journey!

If this is the same isopure I used when I had my lap band done, it has a horrid after taste. I never did finish it, hubs had to go out and buy a different flavor.

Hi there! Sorry you are having to deal with all the insurance bull ish! I'm also a revision candidate. I was supposed to have my band removed tomorrow with an endoscopy but I have a cold so was rescheduled to June 19th. My doctor does not do all in one revision surgery. That being said I also have BCBS of NY, not sure which BCBS you have and I'm scared to death they will deny sleeve. Apparently my insurance also treats you like you are starting at square 1 and never had a 1st surgery to begin with. My doc told me that bc my BMI is 35 and I have a comorbidity they should cover it. I lost weight with the band but have gained a lot back as I was either a forced bulimic or I felt like there was no restriction. I was banded in September of 2004. I wish you the best of luck and pray your surgery is approved!

Just wondering if everything went thru with your insurance? I'm in a similar situation. I was banded in 2004 and want revision. My BMI is 35.1 and I have no comorbidities. My husband has empire bcbs ny thru an NYC union. I'm going for an endoscopy in a few weeks to find out if I have any issues from the band. I'm convinced there has to be something after basically being a forced bulimic for more than 5 years. Hope everything worked out for you. Thanks for any info.

Thank you for all your responses and weIl wishes! I have empire bcbs, however it's thru my husbands union, and I'm not sure how it works. Says you need to call the union for precertification, and I know for a fact they are pain in the ass with most anything at least before it was bcbs they went thru. So I'm trying to stay hopeful and positive, which this last year has been so difficult. I haven't been to the ER with regards to the band at all. I'm sure though if I kept living with it I'd end up there at some point. I was honestly living silently with the band problem, afraid there was no other tool for me to keep the weight off. No one knew not even my husband how bad the vomiting and stuff had become until I had my son and it was back to have the thing filled again. I practically broke down. So here's to hoping I can have this done without having to gain back all the weight lost from the band and it's complications!

I've had mine 9 years coming up in September. Just went to my surgeons office today to discuss removal. I hate it! I have an endoscopy scheduled on 5/16 to see if their are complications from it, etc. Good Luck on getting your revision!!!