holiday0522

I had lap-band surgery in October 2005. Starting weight 230, now 127 and have maintained for 3+ years. I have Anthem BSBS POS Plan. Has anyone had tummy tuck surgery covered by this insurance? Did you have the surgery and pay out of pocket? Where did you go in Maine to have the proceedure done and what were your costs? Any information in greatly appreciated.

My Dr. schedules fill for 6 weeks. He does say that if no weight loss is occuring and/or no restriction after a couple of weeks, then call for a 4 week appointment. The problem is that you have to beg and plead with the nurse and end up not being able to get in before the originally scheduled 6 week appt. This is a veerrrry slow process for me and I am finding it frusterating with VG band and still no restriction 3 months and, as of yesterday, 2 fills later.

I had my surgery on October 11, 2005. My 1st fill is scheduled for 11/30. I have sent emails and made calls to my surgeons office attempting to get an earlier fill date but no such luck. I was told that 4cc were put into the band at the time of my sugery so that it would stay in place. I do not feel any restriction w/the band and to be honest, I wouldn't even know it was there except that I have the scars to prove it. I am and have been exercising daily and making wise food choices but the weight is coming off very slowly. As of today, my grand total loss is 12 pounds. I'm feeling discouraged and sorry for myself because I had anticipated things would be so different. From what I understand it will probably be some time before restriction is felt with this band due to the number of fills needed to get to that point. Sometimes I wish I had a smaller band but did not have a choice in the matter - the VG is all my surgeon uses now.

I had my surgery on October 11, 2005. My 1st fill is scheduled for 11/30. I have sent emails and made calls to my surgeons office attempting to get an earlier fill date but no such luck. I was told that 4cc were put into the band at the time of my sugery so that it would stay in place. I do not feel any restriction w/the band and to be honest, I wouldn't even know it was there except that I have the scars to prove it. I am and have been exercising daily and making wise food choices but the weight is coming off very slowly. As of today, my grand total loss is 12 pounds. I'm feeling discouraged and sorry for myself because I had anticipated things would be so different. From what I understand it will probably be some time before restriction is felt with this band due to the number of fills needed to get to that point. Sometimes I wish I had a smaller band but did not have a choice in the matter - the VG is all my surgeon uses now.

This is all so very confusing to me. I am 5'3 and weighed 230 last May at my initial appointment. At my last pre-op I weighed in at 213. I've already been cutting back on my food intake to the point were I am still hungry all the time but telling myself I can do it until I get the band. My surgery date is October 11. From what I understand, my Doctor is only using the large size band. I work in a building w/5 other lap-banders and they all had the size 4 and have had very good results. I go to a support group meeting at the hospital and have been going weekly for months. From what I have hearing, the restriction is much better in the size 4. Some have had much success w/no fills at all. The newer, larger band patients are experiencing little restriction even after 2 or 3 fills. I emailed the support group leader who is also my surgeon's wife, by the way. Here is part of the response I received: "Dr. M will be the one deciding which size band you will have. It will most likely be the larger band. I know it must sound out of control to hear Linda being hungry. You will be ok and if you are hungry, you do have options to help you feel betrter without the weight gain. You can have thicker Soups. You may not be hungry, you just don't know. The advantage with the bigger band is that you have less of a chance of the band coming up through the stomach if you have too much fill. You will have more flexibility with the fill. We have had less complications an good weight loss esults so far." (By the way, Linda is good buddy of mine and has been very, very hungry since her surgery on the 22nd of September) I've been waiting for so long to finally get here - probably shouldn't worry about band size but can't help thinking that the smaller band is more effective.

I found out about the band from someone who had already had the proceedure and was happy to share. I can't tell you how glad I am that she did share or I may not have found ever known about the lap-band. I work in a building w/approx. 200 people. I personally know of 5 people who work here who have had the surgery and 3 additional in various pre-op stages. We all share with eachother and have found a genuine fellowship with eachother. I do know what you mean about being scrutinized though. There is one young lady downstairs who has done fabulous and I have heard a few negative comments made about her and her what she eats. It is my theory these comments are made by people who are envious of her weight loss. I guess the bottom line of what I'm trying to get at is if we are willing to share our story it may help someone else along the way to discover this even exists - but I understand reasons why someone may not wish to share and the possible repercussions involved in "letting the cat out of the bag" .

I am scheduled to have surgery on October 11. Presently the surgeon is using an 11cm band. Prior to this, the band size used was a 4cm I believe. Does anyone have any information on the band sizes and benefits vs drawbacks of both the small and large size bands? Or does it even make any difference at all?

I'll finally be banded on October 11th. Very excited right now and can't believe how fast this last week has gone. At first my date was 7 weeks out and I thought it would never get here - now the closer it gets, the faster time seems to be going. The only thing I can compare it to is maybe being 5 years old and waiting for Santa! Love this site and am so glad that we are all here together....

Have you tried Mr. Morand and McKee in Augusta?