Bleste

Hello all, my name is Bleste and I am about to have my lap band surgery next month after much waiting. I have really one more test to pass and that would be my Endoscopy. After that it is my Health & Physical the very next day on the 22nd. They are going to send everything in for approval before the month is out so my surgery will be in Febuary sometime. This year is a very special yr for my hubby and I because we will be having our silver wedding anniversary and we are renewing our vows. :laugh: I am so very happy !!!! :ohmy: any ways, you can look at my signature to find out where I will be banded and who my Dr is etc....

I have just two more things to do before approval will be sent in. On the 21st I have my Endoscopy and on the 22nd I have my health & Physical appointment with Dr Bell. After these two are done then they will send everything out to medicaid for approval. They said that I am looking at having my surgery next month but we do not have a date nailed down as of just yet. Bleste

I have just two more things to do before approval will be sent in. On the 21st I have my Endoscopy and on the 22nd I have my health & Physical appointment with Dr Bell. After these two are done then they will send everything out to medicaid for approval. They said that I am looking at having my surgery next month but we do not have a date nailed down as of just yet. Bleste

I have my very first Dr.'s appointment coming up on July 10th at 10:30 Am for a consultation with Dr. Bell. They told me that I had to carry a record of what my weight has been like for the past five years. They tell me that Medicaid is now paying for this surgery. I'm wondering if they pay for all of it and if they also pay for all the visits where I will be having to have the fills done. I am sure that we will go over all of that when I go for my very first appointment in July. Right now, because I am both over joyed that medicaid is now paying for it, along with being nervous because I know it is a reality now... Do any of you know of any questions I should be asking my Dr. when I go to see him for the first time ? Before Medicaid started paying for it I could think of tons of things to ask a Dr. But now its like my brain is on overload from all the happiness and excitment that I have about this. thanks for reading & I really hope to hear from someone. BlueRose

My 6 month diet is just about up. It ends in December and that is the month they are aiming for me to have my surgery in. Because I am on this 6 month diet that means that I will not have a 2 weel diet to go on before surgery. The 6 months that I am on right now, will get my liver down to the size they need it to be. I cannot wait!!!!!! :confused: Bleste

My 6 month diet is just about up. It ends in December and that is the month they are aiming for me to have my surgery in. Because I am on this 6 month diet that means that I will not have a 2 weel diet to go on before surgery. The 6 months that I am on right now, will get my liver down to the size they need it to be. I cannot wait!!!!!! Bleste

Hello. I am not new here. I want to start by asking you all to please forgive me for signing up for a new account. I have been sick a lot here lately and cannot for the life of me rememeber what my user name was before, but I have this one down and saved so I will not forget it. I'd like to ask a question if I may. I am going through the six month diet right now and am having my surgery in December from what I have been told. In the pre-op diet, it has a list of things that it says I am not allowed to have, such as bread etc.. It also says that I have to keep it under 40 grams of carbs for each day. So, seeing how I will not be on the two week pre-op and this is it, as the six months will end in December which is when I will be having the surgery, my question is ... could I not still have the breads etc... as long as I am really keeping up with how many carbs I have in a day and make sure that I keep it under 40? Thanks, Bleste

Hi, Have you received a reply as of yet? If not I can tell you that Dr. Bell is doing mine in December. Him and Dr. Johnson at Carteret Surgical both take Medicaid. :tongue2: Medicaid does require you to have a six month diet with visits to a Dr. Just wanted to let you know that.

I am going through my six month diet right now. I will be having my surgery in December. I do not have a date as of yet, but that is fine. At least I have a month to look forward to. The pre-Op diet says to stay away from breads etc.. but it has been stressed that I am to stay under 40 grams of carbs a day. So, I think I will call the Dr. today and ask them if I can continue to have the bread etc.... as long as I keep track of the carbs and make sure that are always under 40 grams a day. In the mean time, I am guessing at some point while on the diet, I will have my upper Endoscopy done and my blood work done. I am glad those are the only two things left for me to do, besides see my Dr. one last final time for the surgery date etc.. God Bless, Bleste

I am going through my six month diet right now. I will be having my surgery in December. I do not have a date as of yet, but that is fine. At least I have a month to look forward to. The pre-Op diet says to stay away from breads etc.. but it has been stressed that I am to stay under 40 grams of carbs a day. So, I think I will call the Dr. today and ask them if I can continue to have the bread etc.... as long as I keep track of the carbs and make sure that are always under 40 grams a day. In the mean time, I am guessing at some point while on the diet, I will have my upper Endoscopy done and my blood work done. I am glad those are the only two things left for me to do, besides see my Dr. one last final time for the surgery date etc.. God Bless, Bleste

Hello, I saw that this was about Doctors and Hospitals so I thought that I would see if you all could help me. I am more than interested in having the Lap Band surgery done. Woould any of you know if there are any really good Dr's in Greenville NC that has done this a bit ? Thanks Bleste

no, not as of yet. sorry :whatchutalkingabout right now I am kind of down in the dumps

I do however understand the teaching hospital, but when you are not doing so well health wise and cannot afford to pay the outrages gas prices to make sure there is always plenty of gas, then one closer to you should be considered for that person with these problems. When I spoke about not doing so well health wise, what I meant was that I have back and knee problems and trying to get comfortable for that long of a trip is something that I would have troouble with. As for the money. I talked with an old friend of ours today and he told me that if they will not allow me to have it done then he would help us out with the gas to get back and forth on the long trips.

Yesterday 7/10/08 I had my consultation with Dr. Bell. Everything went really good and he took the time to not only answer all of my questions (which were 3 pages long), he also explained more about the surgery. My next step now is to have my Psych Evaluation done. They have it set for the 24th, but I will have to reschedule that. While I was there I found out that Medicaid does cover it, but they may not allow me to have the surgery done here at the hospital near by because it is not a teaching hospital. I really do pray that they will allow it, because we cannot travel to and from Greenville all the time for everything. That would be like a 2 hour trip, whereas the hospital that is close to us is only like 10 or 15 minutes away. My husband said that if they do not allow me to have it done to the one closest to me, that we would appeal it. I personally do not know if that will even help or not, because I am only one person. I do however understand the teaching hospital, but when you are not doing so well health wise and cannot afford to pay the outrages gas prices to make sure there is always plenty of gas, then one closer to you should be considered for that person with these problems. The Dr's office is suppose to call me today and let me know if they will allow it or not, so I will let you all know.

Good Morning, My name is BlueRose and I am new at all of this. I have been morbidily obese though for a long time now. I have just recently found out that Medicaid will pay for this surgery now, where as before they did not. It may be changed, but as it stands right now my husband and son and I have an appointment with Dr. Bell who is in Morehead City NC, for July 10th at 10:30 Am for a consultation. This is my very first appointment and they said that I need to take with me a record of what my weight has been like for the past five years. Any ways, I was wondering if anyone had anything to tell me about this surgery that I should know or maybe ask Dr. Bell about. I am very happy that medicaid is now paying for this, but at the same time I am now also very nervous.

Hi, I have recently found out from my Dr. that Medicaid now pays for the Lap-Band surgery. Does anyone know if they will also cover all of the fills and all that goes with it as well ? I am new to this and I am very excited about having this done, because I want to not only have better health, but I want to live again ! Also, is there any thing that I need to ask my Dr. when I go for my up-coming appointment ? It is a consultation and I have to take records of my weight for the past five years so they can see what it has been like.

How do you shrink the liver . . . and does it grow back to its normal size? I cannot watch youtube, so I am in the dark on this one.

I have not been banded as of yet. My first appointment for a consultation with my Dr. is coming up soon though. JoJoBanana is right about the back and the knees 100%. I have back problems and knee problems. Right now in my condition I cannot even walk far before I start hurting so bad in my back that I am in tears and cannot even stand up straight any longer. When this happens to me I have to either sit down where I am or fall down. My knees specially my right one is at the point where it hurts so bad that I cannot even walk up the steps using my right foot first any more. The way I am right now I am too afraid to even walk a little away from our home, for fear that I will not be able to make it back to the house. Right now I am in the process of getting a Bariatric Rollator just so I can walk and then sit down right where I am if I need to. Here at home I cannot even stand long enough to cook a meal! I can use the oven or microwave or deep fryer, but not the stove. I cannot change the garbage can trash because of my back problems that I have. If I bend over just for a few minutes and then go to stand back up, I am in a lot of pain and just about cannot even stand back up at all. Most of the time, or I should really say all the time. I am either at the computer in the desk chair, in my recliner laying back or in the bed because I am in so much pain. This is not what I call a life. This is what I call miserable. This is what I call having no life at all. I have to have other people do things for me all the time. And, I feel like I am not a good mom or wife anymore at all. Personally I cannot wait to go through all the steps that I have to go through in order to get banded. If I do not, I will not live long enough to see our 15 yr old son finish growing up, or even get married one day. I am not saying any of this to throw a guilt trip on anyone. I just wanted to let people know what my life is like right now (if you want to call it a life) I know that after I get this band that things are going to be very different. But personally, that is what I NEED. I love my family and friends dearly, even if I do have low self esteem about myself, and I do not want my weight to end up being what kills me. I know I do not know any of you, but I do want you to know that I love all of you and I thank you with all of my heart for being here and supporting one another !!!

Hi Amanda, I have not yet gone through the surgery. I am in the beginning stages right now with my first visit coming up for consultation. While my husband is all for me having this done, he was not for me having the Gastric Bypass done. So in that aspect I know a little about what you are going through. Now that my husband has said that he was good to go with me having the Lap-Band done, our son on the other hand is totally against it because he is afraid that something will go wrong and he will lose his mom. Our son also does not fully understand what my body is going through every single day. He doesn't understand the pain that I have all the time now, and there is no way that I can explain to him that I can feel my body getting worse. Other than his reaction to your surgery coming up . . . does he support you in other things that you do ? You mentioned that there was some stress. It may be possible that he really does not know how to handle this type of situation at all. I agree with what the others have said though. Give him some breathing space and then calmly sit down with him and tell him how much you love him and how much you really do need his support. In the mean time, you are in my prayers!

I do not understand . Why does my liver need to be shrunk ?:embaressed_smile:

I have just joined this forum. So here is a little about me. I am 40 years old. Married now for almost 25 years now. I am a mom of a teen son. Due to my weight I now have health problems, such as knee problems .. back problems and many more. I have recently found out that Medicaid is finally paying for this surgery. I am very happy, yet very nervous at the same time. Because it has now become a reality. Any input from anyone on what all I should ask would really be helpful. Thanks

Thank you so much. I will be sure to put these down on my list, which I am in the process of making right now.

This is not a reply to nyones message. I did not see where I could post a new message here, so I had to do it this way. What I would like to know is this. When someone has the lap-band done and you go home and start eating, if you eat to much do you get sick ? I mean I guess what I am saying is that it will take you at least a ay or so in order to figure out how much you can really eat, right ?

Hi, I am looking into having the LapBand Surgery done, and I wanted to ask you all a question if I could. Once you have the surgery, does your out look toward food change? If not, what do you do to get the outlook about food to change ? Also, how do you stop craving it and feeling like you need it? Thanks Bleste

Hi , I am sorry that I haven't been around lately. I have not been here because I found out that medicaid will not pay for me to have the surgery. I thought they did, but they do not. If anyone want's to write me, please leave me a message and I will give you my email so we can chat. Bleste