Time to love me

Tricia, Your home is absolutely beautiful! It's very unique and it has a great color scheme and design. I love houses from the South. (I'm from New England) l wish you and your family many years of love, joy and happiness in your new home. I don't know how big your last house was, but cleaning a home that is almost 4,000 sqft. SUCKS!! I have 4500 Sqft. and I keep begging for a maid to come in. LOL A quick hint.. what works for me is I start at one end of the house and I move along to the other side. What doesn't get done the first day, gets done the next. :eek:

Wantlapband, I'd call the insurance company and ask all your questions. I went to Lahey Clinic in Burlington and my PA told me I was lucky because things have changed at BCBS of MA. My BMI is 39.8, I've had several back surgeries,HBP, joint problems in the knees and I have a intrathecal pump implanted. Anyway, I guess all the same rules apply, but the severity of the co-morbid dieseases have to be more severe, life threatening IF your BMI is under 40. Honestly, you have a lot going on.. but your BMI is at the cut off for coverage. I'm no Dr. nor am I an insurance rep. I'm just telling you what I have experienced. Doesn't mean that I am right and it doesn't mean my info. is any better than yours. I wish you the best of luck and please come back to let us know how it all works out. I think your good to go! I'll let you all know if and/or when I get approved. :eek:

For me, I just called my insurance company to see if they covered the surgery and if they did, what requirements did they have in order for me to qualify. Then I researched clinics in my area, picked one and got a date for a consult.

Wow!!! You are all talking about the "LAST SUPPER" and making me very jealous. My Dr. is very strict. I can not gain any weight up to my surgery date or it is a deal breaker. I'd call his bluff, but 2 people in my support group got the axe on the day of surgery because of weight gain. Someone please, eat a BIG MAC for me... LOL KIMBER I'll be praying for good news to come your way, from the insurance comp. :confused:

Diva, If your husband is looking for another hospital closer to you, have him try Lahey (as we talked about). They don't require a 6 week program. You go one day for your Psch. testing, your physical,meet the nutritionist and meeting about the band. It's a one day program. From 9 - 4. Then you have to go to two support groups.. Then you'll be on your way to be banded, with approval of course. I'm trying to talk my husband into this as well. I think he gained my pregnancy weight and then some. He's gained 60 pounds in two years. I've gained 50 with my pregnancy and bed rest, and I have taking a little off but not enough. It's so funny to read that those with the band eat less, so their hubby's do too. It just goes to show that we act on others inpulses to eat. If he eats ice cream, you've never thought about it.. but he's eating it.. then I will too. I DO THAT! TOOO FUNNY:heh:

YEAHHHH!! you did it! Best of luck to you.. and many wishes of a speedy recovery.

WOW.. I hope it doesn't take me 6- 8 weeks. I'll miss my surgery. I'm still liking the approval before they give you a date for surgery. Less stress! Let us know how it goes!!

Poodles... I'm hoping you have a speedy recovery, sorry you're in so much pain. Just think to yourself that every day that you wake up, is better than your last. Robyn.... Good luck with your surgery. I had my gall bladder out, but mine was done the long way, not laproscopically. It didn't matter to me, just having all that pain go away was worth it all. Any how.. many wishes to a speedy recovery, please let us know when you come home.

I'm very lucky, I'm not required a pre-op diet Although, I can not eat 12 hours before surgery. I do have one requirement.. I can not gain any weight before the surgery or it will be off. I'm not sure how strict the Dr. is about this.. but it seemed to be a deal breaker for a few people who go to the same support group as I do. One person did gain 10 pounds, while the other only gained 3. So I'm watching what I eat... It's nice to meet you!!

Congrats Heather. It's so nice to hear from a preg. bandster. I'm happy to hear that you are not having any issues. There have been a few threads lately asking about pregnancy and the band. I really feel that there should be a sticky on that topic. It comes up so often. Any how. good luck, I hope this summer hasn't been too uncomfortable for you.

Congrats. WHEETSIN:clap2: best of luck to you!!! You know we all could use a little :help: now and then. Kelly, Thanks for all your support, and good luck to you. :eek:

Jen, that is how I think every Dr. should do the process. That way it saves us the heartbreak of doing all the leg work, only to be denied for whatever reason. I would take a denial so much easier if I knew right away, rather than putting six months to a year into it, only to be denied later on. Best of luck to everyone, I really hope the insurance people would treat this like any other disease.

Diva, I sent you a PM. :eek:

Thanks for all your input, I'll let you know how it goes for me. I just got off the phone with the Physicians Assistant and she says the clinic uses the same contact person at each insurance company, so it's usually pretty quick. Like some of you have said, if you have a date.. it's usually quicker. Let's hope! I changed my surgery date for the 27th of July. I'll have more help with the kids. Good luck to everyone, I'll check in with you all soon to let you know what happened.

Keep positive, you CAN do this. Just think of what the out come is going to be and I hope that motivates you. I can't imagine what you're going through right now. I just got my date of July 27th and I'm so happy that I don't have to do a pre-op diet longer than 12 hours. Keep your chin up... I know it's easier said than done, but you will get through this. Just think of all the support you can get on LBT.

I started this thread a long time ago (are you a closet bandster?) There were so many great posts on this thread. http://lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=10035 I would like to follow up with a few questions. I wanted to say Hi to everyone, I'm finally back. I was due to have the band in Nov. '05 but my grandfather got cancer:cry , I chose to put it off to take care of him in his finaly months. He has since passed & I'm getting back on track. I met with the Dr. on Monday and now I'm awaiting the date. I'm just thinking it's been awhile and I'm sure many who responded to the post before have now been banded. Did you end up telling anyone? I'm still sticking to just telling my husband. My friends and family are so against WLS. If I go ahead and tell them it will be one of the biggest mistakes of my life. I'd be under a microscope 24/7. To those of you who chose not to tell anyone or just one person. What did you give your friends and family the reason to why you were in the hospital? I know some may have not had to do this, But I have 2 children that will see that I have had surgery and they will tell the world (lol). I'm trying to think of something that will cover me. It may just be too obvious to some people that all the sudden I'm not eating as much or going out for drinks on Thursdays, like I used to. What type of surgery could I tell them I've had? Gosh.. I'm not a good liar... :help: It makes it even harder because I'm very secretive about WLS for a few reasons. My husband it a politician, I don't want the neg. thoughts that some people may have against WLS affect him and my family is so critical of ME and my weight problem. Any suggestions would be great!. I welcome any comments, but please don't bash me and tell me I'm shallow. I am anything but that, really. I need to start thinking about me and forget about everyone else. It's just harder than I thought it would be.. *Don't get me wrong, I'm not a shallow person nor am I ashamed of getting the band. I just don't want to be judged or treated differently because I made a decision that will help my health. I don't want to be in a wheel chair so young in life. I'm 34 years old and my doctor told me I have a skeleton of a 60 year old.<!-- / message --><!-- sig --> Thank you, in advance.

Thank you so much for your input. It's such a hard decision for me. I was thinking if I waited that It would be much harder for me. I just didn't know how many months people, who have been banded, waited until they became pregnant. I'm sure that is a battle in it's self.

Thanks so much.. I keep coming back here to read all the replys and I feel so much stronger about what I am. Good luck to everyone else who is going through the "closet' with me. In the end, we may not tell many people but we all have each other for support.

Hi Kristin, I agree with all that has been said. It's such a hard decision because we don't want to wait to be banded. If you're like me.. you wanted it done as soon as you decided that you wanted the surgery. Me personally, I wouldn't want to be the first patient for the Dr. to band. That's just me. Maybe there is another Dr. in the practice/clinic that has more experience that you can switch over too? That shouldn't change your referrals from the insurance company. Best of luck!!!

Wow, thanks for all the great responses. You all have made me feel so much better. I know I will get through this, people get banded everyday and some do just fine with keeping the secret. I know I can do this. Like a few have said.. I'll always have you guys to talk too.I'll have to send my very nosey 12 year old to cheerleading camp for the week I get banded and then that will take care of her. She's a great girl, but boy does she like to know everything and then tell everyone. LOL My two year old, of course, I have no worries.. until she's 12 LOLThank God for this message board, I'd have severe anxiety trying to figure out how to deal with this. My husband is telling me to do what I want and he'll support me. He's such a great guy. He said he'd deal with politics later, family first. As it should be.Once again.. thank you very much.

Thanks Jen, Wow you are so lucky to be able to share your story with your friends and others. Sorry to here that your Dad isn't responding to the WLS. Doesn't he notice you've lost weight? Well you have a great attitude towards him, good for you. Good luck with your GB surgery. I hope it goes well for you. It will feel great when it's out.. no more pain. OUCH, I remember how painful that was . I appreciate your input.. but... I had my gall bladdar removed after I had my kids. Go figure!!! It couldn't wait.. could it!! LOL

Hi Kristin, I also have BCBS of MA. I don't know what hospital or clinic you are going too but I go to Lahey clinic in Burlington. This is how it worked for me. I had 39.8 BMI and weighed in at 236. What happened to me was the clinic uses my first weigh in as my weight that the insurance company gets. Then I was giving a number of pounds that I needed to lose to get the WLS, so the liver would shrink and what not. So you should be okay. It would not reflect your starting numbers. Not all, but most Dr.'s ask you to lose a few pounds before the surgery. Mostly to help shrink the liver, some do it to see that you have made the commitment. That is just my experience. I'm sure others may have other thoughts on this. Good luck, if you're looking for a buddy to chat with, I'm here for you.

Congrats Flower! :clap2: It will only get better from here. Keep up the great work!

Hello, I'm getting a surgery date on Nov. 2nd & I've decided not to tell anyone, except my husband, that I am getting the band. I came to this decision because of the negative people I have in my life. I needed a babysitter when I went for my psych. eval & then again when I met with the nutritionist. I told my friends/family that I was seeing a nutritionist to help me with weight loss. Had I known that this would cause negative responses I would have just shut my mouth. I heard things like "You were thin when you were younger, you already know how to lose weight"., "All you need to do is eat less & exercise"., "How many times are you going to try losing weight? You're hurting yourself by yo-yo dieting". and so on and so on. (You have to exercise and eat less to lose weight? I had no idea! ) On top of this.. My husband & I had a bon fire at our house with a few close friends & family. Someone brought up the issue of weight loss & how a girl at work had the bypass done. They were saying how she took the easy way out & that it isn't fair to the people who need to lose 20 pounds and have to work it off.... How someone can just say cut me open and make me skinny. And our insurance goes up because these people want to be skinny.. and so on. Well.. I couldn't believe what these sweet, kind hearted & caring people said about this poor lady. I was shocked that they could be so ignorant. That this lady wants to be healthy and the insurance could be paying for a hell of a lot more if she didn't have the surgery done. Thank GOD I didn't tell them that I was thinking of getting the lapband. I am 5'5 and weight about 235. I have had surgery on my back 3 times with a spinal fusion, a bone graft on my hip and a intrathecal pump implanted in my tummy that goes to my back. It's very hard for me to exercise, so I have a harder time losing weight. This is one of my main reasons for wanting the lapband. I want to use the tool to help me, since I can't exercise that much. In the end of this long winded message (I'm sorry).. My questions to you are: Do you regret keeping yourself in the closet? How did you explain yourself when you couldn't eat a lot or certain foods? What about BP'ing in public? The liquid phase? or any other related issues. What type of questions or remarks did people make about your new eating habits? Last but not least, is there some people who told others and wish they did not. Thanks you, in advance, for any replies. I'm very curious to see if there are others who feel the way I do about keeping this secret. *Don't get me wrong, I'm not a shallow person nor am I ashamed of getting the band. I just don't want to be judged or treated differently because I made a decision that will help my health. I don't want to be in a wheel chair so young in life. I'm 34 years old and my doctor told me I have a skeleton of a 60 year old.