RestlessMonkey

Not yet! But I asked my doc about it and he said that once I'd lost enough to need it he would be pleased and priviledged to give me a low profile port! Congrats to you! :tt1:

I think its good that you had questions and got them answered but don't assume that people who don't ask, don't care! Before I got to your point I'd read 2 books, read my surgeon's entire web site, reade the lap band web site from cover to cover, and gone over what was covered in my nursing journals. I probably could've answered some of your questions for the nurse! LOL I'm sure some people are just trusting or shy but not all. And since I was SO informed, I got quite antsy sitting while people asked questions that I felt had already been answered! :tt1: We're all just trying to do the right thing, I think!

I would agree to go with the higher numbers, but the cons are compelling. What were Dr Coon's statistics for bypass? AND... my doc spent a couple years studying banding under a renowned surgeon in San Diego. Where did Dr. Coon learn to do the band? I think you need to find out that info before you can make an informed decision.

I"d call back, find out exactly WHAT needs to be in the letter of medical necessity, and then find out what else they might need. I've read of people having problems with UHC (I have no personal experience with it...just from what I've read) so you want to be extra sure. If the next person blows you off, ask for a supervisor. Ask if they can email you the portion of your policy that covers in writing what they are tellling you. Be firm!

Good for you! I don't get my 1st fill until Oct 9. I can barely wait! :tt1:

What insurance do you have, and do you know what that company requires FOR YOUR POLICY? (they are all different!) some have more hoops than others. I had no hoops and only had to wait 48 hours for approval, but my BMI was in the upper 60's. You need to find out what your ins requires and then decide what will work for you! :tt1:

Lauralee...I am always so happy to see posts like yours! They remind me of what an awesome thing the band is! :tt1:

Good for you, Freedom0702!! I'm so glad! I hope ChristiOT is feeling better. Once she took her pain med she was gone! I hope (think) that's a good sign!

You need to call your insurance provider and ask exactly what it is they require. That is your safest bet. Different employers can tailor policies to suit, so another with BCBS CA may not have the same coverage you do. Find out, and you can advocate for yourself.

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f178/surgery-day-stories-64287/ You can follow the above link and get pages of surgery day stories! :tt1: We're all different, of course. Go nose around there....you'll be impressed! ANd, WELCOME!

For me it was easy. 1. I have heard of too many people (ie Carnie Wilson, personal aquaintances, and people on the WW chat boards) who had bypass and then gained most, all, or more weight back. 2. My husband is a nurse and worked in a GI lab where a LARGE percentage of their patients were post bypass patients with problems like ulcers etc 3. There is no way I wanted my guts cut up and rearranged 4. the thought of having a stomach stitched up and closed off but still just sitting there, making acid...ewww (and that's another reason GBS patients have trouble) What I liked about the band 1. It is reversible if necessary, and I can get "unfilled" if I have a medical necessity that requires eating normally 2. Down the road I can always get more restriction if necessary. (bypass patients can't get their stomachs tightened) 3. Three years post op, in the USA, lap band patients lose only 50% of their excess weight on average, while bypass pts lose 80%. BUT in Australia? Both groups lose about 80% average 3-years post op. That tells me we Americans are more overindulgent. i plan to work the band and be more like Australians! Because it can be done! 4. I'm 53 and older people have trouble absorbing and processing nutrition from their food anyway. I know B-12 supplements are supposed to take care of that problem for older bypass patients, but I don't trust it. Furthermore, bypass patients are more likely to develop anemia. I didn't want to trade one disease for another. and finally 5. WHile I'm not a big sweet eater, I don't want dumping syndrome. With the band I will be able to eat more normally than people with the bypass. If I want a little piece of birthday cake on my birthday, or a Christmas cookie, I can have it. By pass? probably not, at least not without risking palpitations, sweating, and symptoms like a panic attack that may land me in an emergency room. For me it was a no brainer.

I wish. I'm so sick to death of mushies already i could SCREAM. I want to go back to that atkins type preop diet but can't really have chicken or fish yet. And to be honest the thought of eating pureed baby-food consistency fish makes me want to PB or something. Ewww! lucky you!

I don't have a food addiction...but I did do 10 months of behavioral therapy to figure out why I overate and how to stop it. Something along those lines might help you.

Welcome mindwing! You are I are similar in our start weights and heights...I'm 5'5" and started at 405. I do not have your comorbidities and other issues, however. My PCM, on 7/3, told me "You've been lucky for a long time but looking at your blood work I can tell you it's all about to go to hell for you. Once you start that slide, I don't think I can stop it. You need to do something ASAP. I suggest the band". Because I'd wanted one since 2001 when it was first approved in the USA, I was on board immediately. My husband and I had decided to pay for it when literally 2 days before the seminar I found out my insurance DID cover it (I'd called twice this year and been told NO NO WAY do we cover the band) I got my band 8/29 and although I'm still in mushies I am excited and know it was the right decision for me. I'm down 41 pounds and feel like a different woman. I can barely wait until I get my fill and can eat lean meats (not pureed! LOL) again. I hope that something happens and you can have the surgery sooner if you want it. Good luck!

It's funny. I'm a nursing student and my doc told me "I've had quite a few nurses who go back after a week". Of course, being in school is grueling but NOT as grueling as "working the job"...so I had surgery on Friday and class on Tuesday. I felt marvelous, actually! But I badly bombed a simple math test. And I'm good at math. My problems were that I rounded every answer off incorrectly. I remembered what she told us to do. I understood exactly what she wanted. BUT I didn't do it. DUH? So it would've been better if I could've had more time. My caveat...even if early on you feel great, you may not be operating up to speed. Fortunately, since she IS a nurse, after quizzing me my teacher "passed me" anyway. So take as much time as you can. Even if post op you are quick to recover (like I was) it's hard to function well on only water and broth.

Minx...i'm to take 1 each time 3 times a day...and let it dissolve on my tongue. It's HUGE! It's chalky....and the big bugaboo is it took it FOREVER to dissolve! And I tried to make it go faster. I finally got sick of it and chewed the last little bit. I am pretty tough but this just tested my patience. I know even if I tell myself to "quit whining and just take the darn thing" down the road I'll revert to the wild and not take it. So I need to find an alternative. I think the chewable one will be my next experiment!

JWRN...thanks for that. I think I may try to find that chewable calcium citrate that mdhomeschool (thanks!) suggested. I know heavy women are rarely at a risk for osteoporosis but I hope to be out of the "heavy" category eventually; and while I'm losing I think I'll be high in protein but lighter in the calcium rich foods, so a supplement is a good idea for me. I'll try the chewable citrate and if it's vile, will use the carbonate. Any supplement that I actually USE is better than a perfect one I won't use. :tt1: Now at least I know why they prefer the citrate.

Yeah...that dietitian (the hairy eyeball woman, as I like to think of her LOL) kept getting us lap banders and the bypassers confused. She kept thinking I had GBS...I am pretty thick skinned but after the 5th time in 30 minutes I started to take offense LOL I'm going to buy viactiv. So there! :tt1:

MartiXlardy....THANK YOU! :tt1: I think a lot of us "baby boomers" are alike...do NOT try to hold us back. I get so much from the posters here, it's nice to know I can help, too! Your sweet words made my day!

I tried to call my doc's office and ask why...but they are closed for lunch or some such. The dietitian connected with my doc is really bad to say "Never ever do such and such" and it's a personal thing, not grounded in science. so I tend now to distrust everything she tells me! (not good, huh? but I love the surgeon) So now I DO question all her rules. This is just another, I think!

I have a Tanita HD 351 I love it. Tanita is a well known high quality scale...it's the brand my surgeon uses (although his costs around 5k!) and the brand WW often uses in their centers. It is digital but weighs consistently and correctly. Any scale by Tanita is a good well made reliable scale.

DaneQ8@hotmail.com.... I was SO obese that my Tricare standard insurance approved me in under 48 hours. I didn't need comorbidities etc. I was good to go! I'm not 100% up on fatty livers since I didn't realize I had one until my 1st surgery when the doc, on 8/11, couldn't place my band because of mine! I will tell you what I know...visceral fat (around organs, and mostly in our torsos of course) is really hard on us...super obese people store fat there and in the liver. If left unchecked it can lead to liver disease...cirrhosis It is in fact called NALD...or "Non-alcoholic liver disease" I think as the liver becomes more clogged with fat, its function diminishes. I wasn't at that stage (thank god) but did have a large thickened liver. I followed an Atkins type diet but very low cal, too...600 cal a day average, VERY low fat, high proten. I did that for 5 1/2 weeks and lost 32 pounds. Apparently I lost much of that as visceral fat .... that gut fat around my organs and in my liver. On 8/29 my liver had shrunk sufficiently for the doc to move it out of the way and place my band. They did blood work which, I'm sure (although I didn't discuss w/my surgeon) showed elevated liver enzymes, so he knew I had a fatty liver. I had an abdominal ultrasound but that didn't show him how THICK and immovable my liver was...so he didn't know that until he "went in". As motivation to stick to a diet, coming to in recovery and being told "You didn't get the band, dear, your liver was too fat" is right up there at the top of the heap! I cried about 2 seconds and then got determined. SO if you are VERY obese, like me, (more than double what you should weigh) then your approval will be fast. If your doc tells you to follow a preop diet, do it TO THE LETTER! Learn from me! LOL

Yesterday is water under the bridge. Change is hard...even if its happy changes, changes that we want.

Ahh...not everyone can just put them down and walk away. But, everyone can quit. There's no shame in using help (like the patch, commit lozenges, wellbutrin, whatever) just like there's no shame in using the band. The point is to quit, whatever it takes. I always envied those who "just put them down" but in the end, I am a non-smoker just like they are. So what if I would go to bed crying because I wanted to smoke but wouldn't? End result is the same! :embaressed_smile:

Linda it really does get easier. I was petrified because I knew people who smoked and then quit and 5 years later would say "I STILL want a cigarette"...Well, #1 even if they do, it's a passing thing. It isn't a HARD WANTING like when you 1st quit! and #2 by about 15 months out I was a thorough non-smoker. have never wanted on AT ALL. By about 3-4 months I'd have long periods of time where I didn't even want them. And when I did, usually telling myself NO really firmly took care of the craving. Unlike food, we don't have to smoke. People don't say "It's Linda's birthday...let's all smoke today at lunch" LOL If you are firm with yourself, it loosens its grip and then disappears. So you can be totally free of it... no more wondering "can I smoke here" or "when is my next break" etc. As a crutch, it's a bad one. Good luck! I KNOW you can do it if you decide YOU want to. No one will make you....it's your call.