hollygurl

did anyone's insurance pay for the band? If so... How much did they pay for and what was your total cost out of pocket? For self pay.... After all the appointments (right before scheduling surgery) how much did u have to pay?? Thanks guys!!!

I got a letter in the mail today from United Health Care (which is a Cox insurance) saying that I was approved for surgery through Dr. Edwards as In network. YAY!!! So i am going to call Mary tomorrow and schedule my last appointment with Dr. Edwards!!!!! I am SOOOOOOO excited!!!

thanks for the info. I will definetely check all this stuff out!! I hope I hear soon also! ~Holly~

Well i am still waiting to find out if the insurance approves... Mary said she sent all my stuff to the insurance company on Wednesday or Thursday. Hopefully they won't take too long to let the doctor know. I am READY!!! and EXCITED!!! I can't wait. I haven't checked out the Healthy Supermarket yet but i did try a sample of unjury. It was good. Kindof pricey, but most of those drinks are.... Mazzie - if you have any liquid tips for me for the liquid diet, i would appreciate it. Does hurt to get prepared! See yah ladies!:confused:

Thanks !! It shouldn't be that bad with my insurance company. I work for Chase Bank and my insurance is through United Heath Care and I am through Cox. Even though I'm through Cox United Health Care will pay it In Network for me to have the surgery through St. Johns since Cox doesn't do bariatric surgery. They have approved alot of stuff allready. They paid for my first Dr. appointment with Dr. Edwards that was $300 and I only had to pay a co-pay of $30. So far it's been pretty good and there are quite a few people here at Chase that have had Gastric Bypass / or the Lap Band. They will most likely be paying 90% of the cost of the surgery! Anyways I will see you on Monday and hopefully it will be fun ~ Have a good night everyone! See yah.:thumbup:

We will be in the class together. I am hoping I can get the final appointment scheduled with dr. Edwards soon. Mary is waiting for my Psych Eval to get to her and then she has to get it approved by my insurance and then she said we could schedule the appointment with Dr. Edwards. I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited. I want to get the surgery NOW! I can't wait to see how my life changes and how much better I feel. Anyways have a good weekend girls. :smile2:~

Hi, I know it's been a while since I have written on here. Life is a little crazy Working fulltime, Going to school, Getting all my appointments done for the surgery, and Spending time with my fiance. I am on a break at work and thought I would chat you all up. I have finished everything for the surgery except the Behavioral class which I am taking on 02/25/2008. After that I will make an appointment with Dr. Edwards and schedule my surgery!!! YAY :wink_smile:~ Anyways I am going to also be going to Houston with my sisters to be with my mom and dad at MD Anderson, while he has a major surgery. He has had Non-hodgkins lymphoma since I was 5 and I am now 26 yrs old. His body is so worn out from all the years of chemo and radiation (especially on his head) that his head is starting to form these HUGE sores that open up into a big hole in the top of his head. He let it go and the holes kept getting bigger and more of them and I got really mad at him and honest and he finally made a bunch of appointments and found out that the only place that can treat him is MD Anderson (the cancer hospital in Houston). So they are sawing off the back of his skull and using skin from his back to put a flap over the brain while they put antibiotics in his head to get hid of the virus that is cause the holes. He has to have only a flap of skin covering his head for 3 months and then they will surgically put a plastic sheild over his skull to cover it... SO it's a big long drawn out process and me and my two sisters will be there from the 11th of march to the 14th of march for the surgery where they take a part of his skull off. So life is a little stressful right now. I don't consider myself christian but if you guys want just send some good thoughts and love his way. I would appreciate it. I will keep you all updated!! BYE :wink2:~

Haven't written in a while. This week On Thursday I had the Excercise Consult and the Nutrition Consult. It went well. Very informative!! I was shocked how out of breathe I got just walking at a normal pace for 6 minutes. GEEZ!!! I hope that we can have sushi after getting the band, cause i love sushi! Does anyone know? Anyways I am having the Psych Eval on the 13th of this month. I am kindof nervous about it. Im afraid they are going to try and use my depression, bad eating habits / sortof food addiction... against me or something so I can't have the surgery. I'm sure I'm just being crazy and everything will be fine. Anyways I will keep in touch!! Laterzz.

Thanks for the reply. I knew that I would probably have some trouble getting used to being thinner. I night try going to the support group if I feel I need to. I need to loose at least 150 to 200 pounds. I been overweight since I was 5 years old and it will be a MAJOR change in my life to be a normal weight and could definetely be hard to deal with. I am really excited!!! I will have ALL my appointments done by February 25th and then all I have to do is plan my final appointment with Dr. Edwards and schedule my surgery date.

Oh i see. When u said seminar, I thought you meant the seminar you go to at the beginning. I was going to go to the behavioral class coming up but Mary at Dr. Edwards office said that the January one is full and I would have to wait till the February class :hurray: Oh well, I am going to call her on Monday just to make sure I can't slip in this one coming up.

I have allready gone to the seminar. That was the first thing I did. This next week I am doing the excercise consult and nutrition consult. I am also scheduling my psych eval in the next couple days also. So I am getting close to being ready!!!! I am ready now! I was a little nervous that I would have a hard time loosing weight because i'm at 356 pounds. I read on other forums that some people said that you only loose around 100 pounds. Is that True?? I hope not. I know that when I start taking weight off, that I will have a desire to excercise but right now I have no desire whatsoever. So I hope that I don't have to work my butt off to loose weight cause I have never stuck to anything like that. Mazzie - Have u had a pretty easy time loosing the weight? I guess i am nervous and being skeptical. Help me out! please. I guess I wanted to ask you cause you were close to what I am weighing when u started.

i actually have checked into all the insurance stuff. My insurance through United Health Care is paying 90% of the surgery through St. Johns!!!! Isn't that awesome? The first visit I had with Dr. Edwards was going to be $301 dollars and they paid all but $30 for that visit I just had and they are paying for the surgery!!!

I just had my first visit with Dr. Edwards on Tuesday the 22nd. I have scheduled the Nutrition thing and the Excercise thing next week. I am excited!!!! Where is the healthy supermarket place u guys were talking about?? Also I was going to ask u (Mazzie) if u excercise alot. Has that helps u loose the weight? I am weighing in at 355 right now so i am close to what u were when u started. I guess i am just a little nervous that I won't loose weight or that I will still pig out on chocolate or fast food. Is it impossible to do that?? Cause in a way I need it to be impossible. I can be disciplined but it would be ALOT easier if it was impossible for me to eat the way I do now!!! Just drop me a line whenever! Thanks :smile:~

WOW... that is amazing. I bet you feel different after loosing almost 100 pounds. Do u ever still eat sweets?... chocolate? I have a hard time with chocolate. Did u have to completely change what type of food u eat. (healthy vs. non-healthy) I just had some questions. So if u try to overeat when u have the band, will u be able to or will u throw up? Sorry for asking all these questions. ~Holly~

I need to make my appointment with Dr. Edwards... I think I'm going to do that very soon. i keep seeing everyone's weight loss tracker on here and OH God is it encouraging. Some of you have lost at least $100 in a year! Thats amazing. I can't wait to be one of those people. I want this sooo bad!!! Good night everyone ...

Hello my name is Holly. I went to the seminar monday with dr. edwards. I am trying to get the lap band asap. My insurance in United Health Care... there are quite a few people who have got the surgery from my work. I mailed in my packet and now I am waiting. I am using student loans for the 10% i will probably have to cover... i think my insurance will cover 90%. better than nothing... Just thought Id drop in and say "Hi"!!