futureformerfattie

Hey I'm also a newbie. I can't really give you a lot of long-term advice since I was just banded last Friday. I can tell you this: in the week since I've been banded I've lost nearly fifteen pounds. I'm fully aware that it's mostly Water weight, but there's something really nice about waking up in the morning knowing you'll never be as heavy as you were the day before. As far as recovery goes, it's not that bad. The worst for me have been the shoulder pains, so keep a heating pad handy and walk, even if you don't feel like it. Best of luck!

I was just banded on Friday. I'm a very private person. I considered not telling anyone, but ultimately decided to tell my immediate family and my boyfriend. I only told my immediate family because I needed help tacking down medical records for insurance approval. My boyfriend and I live together, so I really had no choice in telling him. I told him that if we didn't live together I probably would have hidden the surgery from him too. He ended up being very supportive. He drove me to the hospital at 5:30 am and was the first one to see me after surgery . He got me ice chips and karate chopped my shoulder for days when the gas pains were excruciating. I still have no intention of telling casual friends or coworkers, because ultimately it's my body, my decision and I just don't want their scrutiny or input. But I'm really glad my boyfriend is there for me. In retrospect, I would not have been able to hide the surgery from him without fabricating ban elaborate lie, because I've got four incision, lots of bruising and a radically modified diet now.

I should have mentioned if you have anthem google "Surg 00024" it will give you the link for the actual requirements. It's a BCBS Ga link but was identical to my own requirements. Here's the link, it doesn't load properly on mobile. I used it as a checklist for my own approval and it's what the preapproval dept read to me verbatim about requirements http://www.bcbsga.com/provider/noapplication/f5/s5/t1/pw_b138544.doc?refer=chpfooter

I had a similar situation. In fact the nurse taking my vitals misread my height and initially my bmi was too low. I had to get my doctor to change it so I would be at 40. I had Anthem BCBS and did not have to do a six month diet. I had to do nutritional consultation and psych evaluation in addition to recommendation by my doctor. My surgeons office dragged the process out for 2 months but my insurance company was great to work with. My advice, call you insurance company. Ask for the department that gives pre certification (sometimes called prior authorization) and ask them to tell you the criteria. They will even send you a checklist or some sort of document.

I'm three days post-op and today has been awful. I have a constant ache in my shoulder and get stabbing sharp pains that are painful enough to bring me to tears. I've tried walking, and taking gas-x and applying warmth and nothing helps. I'm absolutely miserable. What can I do? Aside from the shoulder pain I'm healing well and only have minor tenderness at my incision sites.

I'm on day 1 of my full liquid diet and I thought I would share a yummy recipe. My surgeon says I can have anything liquid based that is thinner than pancake batter with no lumps. This morning I made cream of wheat with milk but also added part of a protein berry smoothie. It was delicious! Fruity and sweet and very filling. I would have eaten it before being banded. I'm really struggling to get enough protein right now so every little bit helps.

I was banded yesterday morning as well! I'm so thirsty but I just can't drink enough. I've been munching on ice chips basically nonstop.

April 18... That's NEXT FRIDAY. It's been a long road but I'm so crazy excited!

Having lapband later this month, and I don't know anyone whose had the surgery. My surgeon is great, but is reluctant to give me any real indication of how quickly patients typically lose weight. He's given me a caloric "formula" for weight loss which makes sense, but I'd like to know from other people who have been banded: how much did you lose in the first month? How long before the weight loss slowed down, and how much, on average, are you losing per month now? For what it's worth, I'm female, late twenties. BMI of 41.

I just have to share my excitement, I finally got insurance approval for lapband surgery. I don't have a firm date yet, as the surgeons office is closed over the weekend, but I should be banded this month! I've only told my parents, boyfriend and best friend about the surgery and plan to keep it very hush-hush, so I just have to share my excitement here.

I'm impatiently awaiting my insurance approval, and in the meantime I've landed an interview for my dream job which means I may have a very small window of time to get the surgery with my current insurance. Is it unrealistic to expect to have the surgery on Thursday and return to my desk job on Monday? How many days did you take off work for the initial recovery?

I'm having Lapband. My surgeons office is aware of the situation but they refuse to schedule me before they get insurance approval. Fingers crossed I get approved in time!