Chris61

I work in New Haven but found a place in East Haven. Chris

The only problem I had when I was banded was the gas pain. The meds did not help with that. Otherwise things went well and very please. Almost 18 months out. Chris

Had a good time at the meeting on Wednesday night at Yale. It was a small group 3 post-op and one pre. It was nice to chat and put a face with people from the board. We should try and have a get together on the weekend or something like that and is not as formal. Any suggestions? Chris Chris

Sounds like everyone is having a great holiday. Next week will all be back to trying to meet the goals. Looks like everyone meet 1-2 goals last year. To ride bikes and loose weight. I will be going back and forth between New Haven (Yale) and St. Louis after the first of the year. Going to be working on a new power plant. Will be taking the bike and ride along the water in the spring. Not sure I will have time to work on my MBA but might try. I hope to join the Skulls/Crossbone club. Happy New Year to all Chris

I hope that everyone had a Great Christmas and Happy New Year. My wife and I can say that we did meet on of the goals for 2008 it was to loose weight. Welcome to the Imsuzen and good luck with things. I have replyed to your e-mail. If you have any questions just ask. There is a lot of information on this board and we will help you out. Chris

I have been banded for 16 months and moving into the area for a while and would love to get up and meet with others banded. I will be back on the 7th. Chris

Have you gone to all your doctors and gotton all the weights and dates. This would be OBGYN, and others as well. Also do you have any medical records at home at would have stuff like that on it. I had found some files that were medical related because of work and I also used those as well. I just made sure that it was in my medical file in case they requested it. I hope that this will also help you out. Chris

I would talk to the insurance company and see what they are wanting to have. I also would appeal it based on new information. I would also check with the doctor and see what he wrote and ask him for his help also. Might also talk to the band doctor and see what he can do for you. Chris

Why do you think that you would not be covered with the medical conditions and history that you have? I also have UHC and I had five years of stuff and was approved. THere was a couple of years I only had one date. I can forward you a copy of the letter that I used to get approved. I also went to all my old doctors and tried to get the weights/dates etc. and some did not have it. SO I just put that in my letter and had no problems. Good Luck any questions just ask Chris

I would check with Human Resources and also make sure that your doctor is in network with them. If not you might want to try and work out a deal with him in regards to the additional costs. Chris

I have heard from people here that have said there numbers are well below and able to get insurance at a better rate. Just make sure to keep your insurance in place until you have the new coverage in place. Chris

ALso if you have medical flex spending you could do the max and pay for it there. Also if your husband has flex you could both take it out that way. Also keep in mind you can take it off your taxes after you meet the adjusted gross income of 7.5% need to go to the IRS web site and get that information. Just a few ideas to help you along. The company I work for just increase the flex medical to over 7,000.00 a year this is in accordance to IRS Guidelines. Good Luck with it. If you have any questions just ask away. Also check your medical plans most current edition. You might be surpised of the changes. When I first started the band was not covered and then 2 years ago I checked it again and found it was covered and the rest is history. Chris

I also have UHC and was approved quickley. If you have everything in place you should do fine. I have an example of a letter that I used to get approved. DO you have any back and knee problems? You can use this. Also any family problems and issues you can aslo use this as well. If you e-mail I will forward you the letter. Good Luck andy questions just ask. Chris

Good luck with your new plan soon2be. I hope that she is able to work out a plan for you. I think you could do it and also have the band at the same time. I would not wait if you can get approved right-a-way. I agree work on it while getting approved but not to wait. I am so glad that I did it when I did and pleased with the results. Chris

I had UHC and and was missing some things but just put in the letter that we could not obtain the stuff from the doctors because they no longer had my files since it was more than 7 years since I had seen them. We did not have any problems with gettting approved. Everyone is differant. I would just explain it. Chris

I went to my doctor and asked to review my file and wrote down all the information in regards to weight, bp, and dates. I thin gave them the information a long with the letter they needed to send to the doctor. I also sent letters to the other doctors requesting the back dates on stuff but they no longer had my file since it was more than 7 years since I saw them. I put that in my letter and had no problems. My wife had problems with here pcp with hippa even though he was in charge so we just went to here OBGYN and got the same stuff with the letterfrom him and see was approved asap. If you would like I can forward you a copy of the letter that we used. Chris

Welcome to the group. My wife and I have been banded for over 15 months now and it's the best thing we have done. First thing is to get all your medical files into one spot. This will take some time. Make sure that your primary care physican is on board and willing to help you. Take a look at your insurance and see what they require. Everyone's insurance is differant and have all types of requirements. If you like I can forward you a letter we used to help get us approved. We were very lucky with our insurance and was approved within less than 30 days. It took us about 60 days from the time we meet the doctor the first time to when we were banded. Some people have reported it has taken anywhere from 1-12 months with an average of 6-8 months if your insurance requires 6 month diet. If you go tot the Missouri section and then St. Louis there is a group there that can also help you. Take it one step at a time and work through all the hoops. Time will go faster than you think. Any questions just ask. We are all here to help. Like I and others have said it it the best thing we have done in are lives. Chris

I know of a couple of people who have gone through WASH U program and have these doctors and have done well so far. My wife and I are also from St. Louis and was banded at Des Pres Hosp. By Dr. Minkin. Best thing we both have done.

It will take a few adjustments before you notice that you have restirction. Everyone is differant on how they feel and look. Keep in mind you only want to loose about 1-3 lbs a week, It took a while before I noticed anything big in regards to changes. GO to tickerfactory.com and pick out a desgin that you wish to have. Keep in mind this is not going to happen over night. I have been banded almost 15 months. Chris

I went to the lapband doctor with a BMI of 40 and he felt that I was a good for it. Its the best thing I have done for myself. Here is a question do you have knee problems, back problems, or other things? You might be surprised at what you might have. Plus they will take into consideration the family issues. What does your insurance company require? If you would like e-mail me and I will forward you a letter that my wife and I used to get approved. I was surprised at a few of to the co-items we used. Chris Chris

I had a sleep study done back in June 0f 07 and then in Aug. of 07 was put on the CPAP machine. It was an autoadjust system. I had the half mask and noise system. I did allright with it but had problems with keeping the mask on overnight. So the doctor suggested that I get a dental device. I went and got that and it help. During this time. I fought with the insurance company to pay in full for the device which they did after a year of working with them. I also had lapabnd surgery in Sept. of 07. My high was 250 at the first sleep study. I went back in Sept. of 08 for another sleep study and the numbers were way down. The doctor said that if I wanted I could use the machine but did not needed it. The dental device was working real well and doing it's job. He said that I did not really need to use it but that it would help. He said that even I lost a few more pounds the numbers would go down. The doctor said I did not need to come back and see him unless I was having problems. He did say that most sleep apena but not all is do to weight loss. I still have it but it is well below and doing well. You can see some of my other posts that has the information you are looking for as well. There is a couple of websites they are Cpaptalk.com this is a real good website. Talkbaoutsleep.com it think. You can google them. The main thing I can tell you is to keep working on it, review your information on the sleep machine and talk with you doctor about your progress etc. If you have any questions please ask or e-mail. Chris

It sure has been quite on here for a while. I guess everyone must be loosing and doing well. Iam down to 177 from my high of 250. Was a the doctor a week a ago and he says that I did not need a fill since Iam well and need not to come back for another 4-6 months. The wife is doing ok but is having some problems. She goes in this week to have her gall bladder checked. Dr. Minkin says that about 35-45% of his people that have not had there gall bladder out before surgery will have it taken out sometime after having the band due to the weight loss. So will know more in the next couple of weeks. Well it's about that time of the year again to start thinking about what you want to do for next year. I can say that out of the list we had made we did keep up with one item and that was to loose weight all year long. SO us us that is a great NSV and enjoying it. Well I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving and Christams. Chris __________________

It sure has been quite on here for a while. I guess everyone must be loosing and doing well. Iam down to 177 from my high of 250. Was a the doctor a week a ago and he says that I did not need a fill since Iam well and need not to come back for another 4-6 months. The wife is doing ok but is having some problems. She goes in this week to have her gall bladder checked. Dr. Minkin says that about 35-45% of his people that have not had there gall bladder out before surgery will have it taken out sometime after having the band due to the weight loss. So will know more in the next couple of weeks. Well it's about that time of the year again to start thinking about what you want to do for next year. I can say that out of the list we had made we did keep up with one item and that was to loose weight all year long. SO us us that is a great NSV and enjoying it. Well I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving and Christams. Chris

Sounds like everyone is doing well and getting ready for Thanksgiving. Eboney Rose hope that you are on the mind and doing well. I am still working out details for coming to New Haven, I hope to have that part done this week at work. Just so many details and having to make sure it is all right. Just like getting the band. I should be up in the area the first week of Dec. and will be looking for a place. Thanks to everyone that has given me information on who to call etc. Hope we can all meet up at sometime in the near future. Thanks again for all the help. Chris __________________

Sounds like everyone is doing well and getting ready for Thanksgiving. Eboney Rose hope that you are on the mind and doing well. I am still working out details for coming to New Haven, I hope to have that part done this week at work. Just so many details and having to make sure it is all right. Just like getting the band. I should be up in the area the first week of Dec. and will be looking for a place. Thanks to everyone that has given me information on who to call etc. Hope we can all meet up at sometime in the near future. Thanks again for all the help. Chris