piercedqt78

My mom married and divorced the same man twice, I guess it is more common than one might think. I hope that the move is a smooth one for you and your children. The good thing is that you will find a church family and they will have loads of companions in no time. Take care of yourself in this difficult time, it will get better~Mandy

My system will not tolerate sugar subs. I get the worst migraines you can imagine. I have used stevia and can tolerate it in small quanities, but if I overdo it I am bed with a damp towel over my eyes and my hubby is giving me an imitrex injection. (not fun) I have to be on a liquid diet for 14 days prior to surgery, do some doctors do a no/low sugar diet? I don't have the diet yet, I am still fighting with the insurance to come around and approve me. ~Mandy

I recieved this in an email today and it made me think. I thought you all might enjoy it: Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they haven't thought about it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know it was coming or are too rigid to depart from their routine. I got to thinking one day about all those women on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut back. From then on, I've tried to be a little more flexible. How many women out there will eat at home because their husband didn't suggest going out to dinner until after something had been thawed? Does the word "refrigeration" mean nothing to you? How often have your kids dropped in to talk and sat in silence while you watched 'Jeopardy' on television? I cannot count the times I called my sister and said, "How about going to lunch in a half hour?" She would gas up and stammer, "I can't. I have clothes on the line. My hair is dirty. I wish I had known yesterday, I had a late Breakfast, It looks like rain." And my personal favorite: "It's Monday." ...She died a few years ago. We never did have lunch together. Because Americans cram so much into their lives, we tend to schedule our headaches.. We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves when all the conditions are perfect! We'll go back and visit the grandparents when we get Stevie toilet-trained. We'll entertain when we replace the living-room carpet. We'll go on a second honeymoon when we get two more kids out of college. Life has a way of accelerating as we get older. The days get shorter, and the list of promises to ourselves gets longer. One morning, we awaken, and all we have to show for our lives is a litany of "I'm going to," "I plan on," and "Someday, when things are settled down a bit." When anyone calls my 'seize the moment' friend, she is open to adventure and available for trips. She keeps an open mind on new ideas. Her enthusiasm for life is contagious. You talk with her for five minutes, and you're ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of Rollerblades and skip an elevator for a bungee cord. My lips have not touched ice cream in 10 years. I love ice cream. It's just that I might as well apply it directly to my stomach with a spatula and eliminate the digestive process. The other day, I stopped the car and bought a triple-decker. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I would have died happy. Now...go on and have a nice day. Do something you WANT to......not something on your SHOULD DO list. If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting? Make sure you read this to the end; you will understand why I sent this to you. Have you ever watched kids playing on a merry go round or listened to the rain lapping on the ground? Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight or gazed at the sun into the fading night? Do you run through each day on the fly? When you ask "How are you?" Do you hear the reply? When the day is done, do you lie in your bed with the next hundred chores running through your head? Ever told your child, "We'll do it tomorrow." And in your haste, not see his sorrow? Ever lost touch? Let a good friendship die? Just call to say "Hi"? When you worry and hurry through your day, it is like an unopened gift....Thrown away... Life is not a race. Take it slower. Hear the music before the song is over

Are you at the Dolphin Resort in Disney???? If so say hi to Mickey for me, we are good friends. Also have a kaki gori (sp?) in EPCOT too they are loaded with calories but yummy and great for the florida heat. If it is not the same resort hope you are having fun~Mandy P.S. have a cabana boy for me too

I am waiting for the doctors office to call me back with the reason for the denial. I called to check the status and the insurance compny said a letter was faxed to the office and one was mailed to me today and could take up to 2 weeks to arrive. I called the office and the co-ordinator is going to get my fax and call me back.... This stinks...~Mandy

Don't cha mean... Can't live with em' & can't shoot em' <---did I say that out loud???? ~Mandy

I totally agree with Jack, give me 1/2 a can of diet anything and I have a migraine for days. Same with most sugar free candies and such. If it can cause a migraine that bad or have a laxative (sp?) effect why would you want to consume it???? ~Mandy

I am still waiting to be banded, but I have totally given up all pop. I quit cold turkey and to make up for the caffine I made a gallon of iced tea 1/2 caffinated and 1/2 decaf tea bags and I am drinking that for the caffine. I tried to quit cold turkey when I got pregnant and I had really severe headaches, so this worked much better. I picked up my husbnads pop last night by accident and it was horrible, I have lost the taste for it all together~Mandy

We are a family of Disney Nuts so it is Disney Husband.....~Mandy

Is there a list of all of the bcbs companies that cover the band? I also know that every company sets its own limits for what it will cover. ~Mandy

Going to the bathroom is pretty easy actually, just flip up the lower half and go, then flip it bak into place~Mandy

90% of the time I am a stay-at-home mom to a wonderful almost 4 year old daughter. The other 10% of the time I manage a tattoo studio and I am a body piercer. My baby is starting preschool this year and I will add a few more hours to my work schedule and then next year when she start kindergarten I am going back to school for nursing. (I think) At work I manange 3 artist that act like my almost 4 year old most of the time and I do all of the general shop stuff. I have been in the business almost 10 years and really love it. ~Mandy

Are insurance companies always this wishy washy? I called to get DETAILED reasons of why I was denied and they are now saying that it is not experimental and that they do infact cover it. I just have to appeal and have the doctor call and do a peer to peer phone conference. The lady that I talked too said that she has seen hundreds of these approved in appeal. She also said that it was a poorly worded form letter that was sent to me and I had a really good chance of being approved if I appealed with help from the doctor and I also called Inamed and they sent me a bunch of reports that I can include in my appeal. They will help with appeals if anyone needs them too, they do a whole appeal package. I am going to call the doctors office tomorrow and see if they can do a peer to peer for me. Wish me luck~Mandy

Does anyone think that contacting Inamed will do anything for me? Will they send BCBS the information to support the fda approval for the band showing it is safer and just as effective as GBP? The reasons for the denial are as follows: "A proceedure or treatment is considered experimental/investigative if: 1) the intervention does not have FDA approval to be marketed for the specific relevant indication (or) 2) available scientific evidence does not permit conclusions concerning the effect of the proceedure or treatment on health outcomes (or) 3) the proceedure or treatment is not proven to be as safe or effective in achieving an outcome equal to or exceeding the outcome of an alternative therapy (or) 4) the proceedure does not improve health outcome (or) 5) the proceedure or treatment is not proven to be applicable outside the research setting" I don't feel that any of these describe the band at all...that is why I was thinking that maybe Inamed would be able to help out. Will they defend their product? ~Mandy

I am going to appeal. I spoke with the surgical co-ordinator and she offered to help any way she can, she is the best!!! I am going to call the Illinois Insurance review board and see what is available to me. If the insurance is from philly and I am in Chicago what states review board should I call? I am also going to call the Union Pacific (hubby's employer) and see what they can do for me. I think there are 2 options with them, they can call bcbs and get it approved or they can let me change insurance carriers, they also have United Health Care. I was not aware that the policy would be so different. My mom has UHC and they told her on the phone today that with the diag and proceedure code that I had it would be covered if medically nessary. (my step dad and husband are in the same union therefore we have the same insurance) Say a prayer for me tonight, I need it~Mandy

They have the band listed as experimental... the surgical co-ordinator says that it is pointless to appeal as they will deny me again. I am going to try to get it financed. Anyone have a good source? ~Mandy

The one at wal-greens were blank and you could add anything you wanted on them. My best friend had GBP and his medical id says "see information card in wallet". They are around $25-$50 depending on the style and metal content. I am thinking about getting one after I am banded. Not a bad idea and if $25 could possibly save my band then it is worth it~Mandy

I wonder where Stevia comes into this? I have been using stevia since I read about it here. My whole family loves it.~Mandy

The father admitted that he killed both girls and dragged their bodies into the woods. http://story.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/girls_dead <~ Here is the full story~Mandy

Not yet, but I am hopeful. I am playing the waiting game now. They have 30 days to decide, but say it usually only takes 2 weeks. We shall see~Mandy

It actually depends on the insurance. Some require a nutritionist, and most will not pay for this, that is one way to get some to give up I think. My insurance requires a psych eval and it is not a covered service, I had to go through the mental health service company that my husbands work uses. They may or may not cover it I should be getting a bill anyday now. The most they cover is 75% if it is "medically nessary" (ie a chemical imbalance or depression) If not it is covered at 38% and the rest is on me. Every policy is different. I had to have 6 months of accumilated weightloss attempts with my pcp in the last 2 years, my mom's policy requires 1 year of attempts weightloss with a nutritionist in the last 3 years. Both of our policys are through the same union but we have different carriers, I have bcbs she has uhc. ~Mandy

They have arrested the father...http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/girls_dead Hope the link works~Mandy

I live just under an hour's drive from Zion and this is a terrible loss for the whole town. There are no words to express the loss of a child. Yes, Illinois has the death penalty, John Wayne Gasie (sp?) was put to death 10 years ago here. I hope the person responsible for this is next in line~Mandy I had this from a friends childs funeral... When God calls little children to dwell with Him above, We mortals sometimes question the wisdom of His love. For no heartache compares with the death of one small child Who does so much to make our world seem wonderful and mild. Perhaps God tires of calling the aged to His fold So He picks a little rosebud before it can grow old. God knows how much we need them, so He takes but a few To make the land of heaven more beautiful to view. Believing this is difficult, still, somehow we must try, The saddest word mankind knows will always be "goodbye." So when a little child departs, we who are left behind Must realize God loves children... Angels are hard to find.

I called yesterday and confirmed that my paperwork is in the right place. Our BCBS is through the railroad and it is a bit different than most preapproval processes. It goes through 2 departments, the first make sure that all of the required information is there and then they submit it for review. I submitted everything friday and it has already been passed to the review department, woohoo!!! I guess I had everything I needed to submit together the first time. When do you all think I should start calling to check on the status??? I have heard that the squeeky wheel gets the oil, do you all agree with that? Is calling frequently going to make my chances any better or this process any faster? I dont want to make my review person mad and have them set my case aside for the full 4-6 weeks... what did you do???~Mandy

I had a similar experience with 1800flowers. One of the artist at the tattoo shop I manage is diabetic and he bacame very ill right in feb. I sent flowers and they were never delivered to the hospital. I called about 14 times and they were going to send them to the house, as he had been released by this point. They never arrived at the house, the driver claimed he could not find his home. (I faxed them a perfect map) Then the final straw, they called him at home, still ill, and said we have flowers for you, come and get them if you want to. They suck~Mandy