karibensea

Yes tomorrow is the big day. I am still waiting on the hospital to call me to set up the time. Honestly I feel I have the food intake down but the way it goes down might be the hard part. Tiny sips and chew chew chew this is harder then most think. lol I am ready and we will get through this it has been a long time coming and it is a grand day at last! 24hrs and counting WOW amazing huh? Good luck you you and all of those who are coming up soon. Michele

Hey there I am going to have my surgery on Thurs the 9th and I had to do a 6mo diet as well and I have BCBS of Illinois. Here is how this came together for me. I did see a doctor who specializes in weight loss NOT my pcp who has no clue about programs and the issues that come with being obease. If you have your lap band doc already picked out let them guide you through this process not your pcp. So I did the 6mo and I never missed a month with this doctor. We kind of went over the south beach diet and we discussed all kinds of things. They should be concerned about your mental state as well and your total understanding of what this whole process is going to be about in the end. So the 6mo was done and my lap band doc told me that BCBS also wanted another FAILED attempt at weight loss like Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers etc. if you have done this at all look for any proof you have laying about the house. My info was from 2000 and 2003 took me less than a week to get approval. You must see the doctor EVERY month do not skip a month or BCBS will give you a really hard time. Remember you need to work with the doctor you have chosen to do the lap band proceedure the ladies who actually run his office will know exactly what you need and dont need. I do not mean to sound like the pcp is not good but perhaps they just do not know about the insurance system for this proceedure which is WAY different then any other proceedure you may every have done. Do your research it is most important, call BCBS and point blank ask them what you need to do, ask them to send you a list of the whole process they will and if they dont want to get a supervisor on the phone ASAP. I do hope this is helpful Michele

Hey everyone I wanted to let you all know that I have tried the 100% Whey Protein powder from GNC in the chocolate and Banana Cream and they are totally tasty.. I used 8 oz of skim milk and just one scoop as it says to do and it was good. They say use Water but I did find it mixes best with the milk. Anyway I wanted to let everyone know this is what works for me and I hope it helps you! I do know that GNC right now is having a sale on the bags of this stuff for $10.99 a bag instead of like $16.00 so stock up.. Have and awesome day and I am still very excited surgery day is 9th July! Michele

Hey everyone I wanted to let you all know that I have tried the 100% whey Protein powder from GNC in the chocolate and banana Cream and they are totally tasty.. I used 8 oz of skim milk and just one scoop as it says to do and it was good. They say use Water but I did find it mixes best with the milk. Anyway I wanted to let everyone know this is what works for me and I hope it helps you! I do know that GNC right now is having a sale on the bags of this stuff for $10.99 a bag instead of like $16.00 so stock up.. Have and awesome day and I am still very excited surgery day is 9th July! Michele

Thank you all so much for your support. This has been a long journey so far and I do know it is only the beginning of an even longer trip to better health. I will keep all posted and for all of you best of luck as well..

I am just wondering how many of us are from ST louis MO..How about a head count M

I am just now waiting my approval the paperwork was sent in on Friday! I am so going crazy with the waiting.. Good luck to you and keep up the forward process

It has finely happened the paperwork has been turned in to the insurance company and now the waiting begins. OH gosh the waiting is going to kill me! lol Wish me luck M

Hello all Well yesterday was the last of my 6 mo weight management Dr visits and the excitement builds. The paper work for approval will be submitted I am going to guess this next week as soon as the Lap Band doctor gets all the paper work from the other doc. So here I am all excited and when I get back to work I am told that they are terminating my position! WTH now what am I going to do, well it would seem I can do Cobra and it is not so crazy to pay for since the new act of law has been inforced. What I want to know is this has anyone ever had this happen and doing Cobra will this effect my coverage and OH MY GOD please tell me I am not going to have to go through all the hoops again to get re-qualified. This has already been a 9 mo process and I am just about there. Does anyone have insite here? PLease help as there has to be a light at the end of this horid day I had yesterday after losing my job. Thanks

Hello everyone, I really had not give this much thought but it was brought up yesterday amist some friends while we were talking support once I get my banding. It seems to be all about the Protein after the surgery. How much of what we are going to be ingesting in the weeks to follow will have Carbohydrates in it? It will be enough to substain us right? There has never been any mention of this topic that I could see on the form. I just never thought about how much Carbs are in so many of the other things we eat. For the most part it has been about breads, pastas, etc. Can someone give me a bit of info on this topic? Thanks

Thank you all for your input. I have one more Dr visit and that will finish up the 6mo worth of dietary Dr and then my lap band doc will submit all paperwork to the insurance company. I was never referred to the doctor I did all my research on my own and the Dr I have who will do the surgery is one of the top ranked doctors in this proceedure so I feel really blessed to have him. I just hope that between the two doctors that I have right now somehow the insurance approves it all. I should know by mid June. Thanks again every one you are all awesome!

You needed to do something to help keep you alive? I found my doctor, and decided to do this surgery. No doctor recommeded that I do it. What about you?

I have not been banded as of yet but I would HIGHLY recommed Dr. Darin Minkin. He is a leader in this surgery and has an awesome staff as well. His bedside manor is awesome too. He is here at Des Peres hospital right off of 270 and Daughtery Ferry Rd (spell ck on that). Do your research and you will find the right doc for you. I am hoping for my banding sometime in July, I have one more weight management visit and then we submit to the insurance all the paperwork. Heres hoping it all goes well. Good luck Michele

So has anyone had the band on over 5 yrs? How long is to long? How long before you HAVE to have it removed? Do they last forever? Just wondering and appreciate all honest answers. Thanks

So pre banders have any of you prepaired your eating habits for this huge transition that is going to take place for you soon? Meaning have any of you before the surgery started eating the way you will be eating after the fact? I really would like some input on this please. I love food and this is something I have thought about doing it just to get my mind and body ready for the huge change in eating habits. Get back to me when you all can and please be honest it will be a big help. Miichele

Thank you all so much for your input. I wanted to ask this as by BFF is kind of freaking out for me. She just wanted some answers to her questions that she had about the proceedure. She actually went with me for my 1st free meeting when we were introduced to the doctor who will do the proceedure. I have done my research believe me this has been almost a yr process for me and I am in NO way shape or form taking it lightly. I am very excited and I have done everthing that my insurance company has ask me to do so now I have one more visit to my weight managment doc and then the paperwork will be turned in. I hope the insurance company don't give me a hard time about anything. I know this proceedure is the right one for me and I can not wait to let the new me out. Gotta love friends who are concerned about things that are such life changing. Thanks again! :-)

Hey everyone I hope your all doing well. I am getting so nervous as I have one more of my 6month diet doctor visits left an then the paperwork will be submitted for approval. Here are some things I am nervous about. 1) I am healthy other than being obease I have taken all the test and they were all good. 2) this is the big one I have 10 yrs of documented obease weight (they only ask for ) so these are who gave me the info 1) my GP doctor and 2) from my cardioligist. There are heart issues in my family so I have the heart doc right at my fingertips just in case. Now one thing all of the documentation is there except there is nothing from 2007 not one doctor visit for anything at least if I went to either one of them there is no weight documentation. My gosh could they deny over 1 flippin year not being there when they have 9 other yrs in a row that show the weight? Does anyone have any insite on this matter, I just dont want to have gone through all the hoops with all the money I have to pay out for things my insurance did NOT cover and then be rejected. I dont do rejection well. Thanks Michele

Hello again Do any of you have any input on Dr Minkin? Thanks

Hello All I am working on getting ready to have my surgery and I need to get things ready, like paperwork from my general doctor. BCBS needs to have a 5 yr medical history from my doctor however how detailed does this have to be? I have not ever gone to this doctor for weight issues just if I have been sick and of course my weight and such have been documented. Does anyone know how this should play out with the 5 yr medical history? Please advise. I mean I have already gone through all my pre sugery testing and everything we are just waiting on getting this info back from the doctor so it can all be submitted to BCBS. Thanks Michele

I just want to say Thank YOU for all of you who added some input about the BC/BS issue. I am now on a Quest to find a PCF is not returning my calls. I am going to move forward with this one way or the other. Michele

I have to have a 5yr medical history! Well that is not a problem however my doctor never did monitor my dieting. I have never gone to anyone other than say Jenny Craig, Weight Watcher, or diet pills I may have purchased from the drug store. Seems that they also want to know if I have any health risk, dibetic, heart problems, hypertension or sleep apthia. Help me out here please, if anyone has BC/BS I would like to know really how hard this is going to be to get approved for this banding surgery! Thanks Michele:cry_smile:

Yep I have BC/BS of IL and I just found all this out today, talk about getting kicked in the pants! So needless to say I am pretty discouraged. If you do this diet thing and you lose weight then you also lose BMI which is a huge requirement to have if you are a healthy obease person, know what I mean? I am so discouraged right now I could just cry! I can not even afford to buy food to feed my children much less pay for a weight loss program. Michele

I totally understand where you are coming from. I have been heavy all my life and more recently after the birth of my twins 17 yrs ago. I will tell my parents what I am thinking about and my boys are scared to death. I happen to be a pretty healthy heavy women so far but I am getting older with birthday 49 just around the bend!. I found out today with my BC/BS insurance that they have all kinds of requirments, the 5 yr medical history well my doctor never followed my weight other than to weigh me in when i use to drag myself to see him. Then I hear they may require a 6mo diet plan monitored by a professional, OMG I can not believe it, I have been on every diet in the world and non of them worked because here I still heavy and still depressed. I was so excited and now I am scratching my head. I just dont know what to do at this point, I am currently awaiting the paperwork from the insurance company to see what they require to "maybe" get approved. GEZZZZZZZZZ:cry_smile:

Hello all, Is there anyone out there that is from St Louis? I am seriously thinking about this surgery however I need some advice on picking the correct doctor. Can anyone help? Thanks

Thanks so much for getting back to me. You know I have heard a lot of good things about the location where you had your operation. Would you happen to have a link to the program that they offer there so I can see about the meetings to learn more about the program. I am in the begiinning stages of this process so options are always good. Keep up the good work with your progress it looks as if you are well on your way. Michele