hanes66

Wow Pink, you've got a great attitude. I needed that right now. I'm riding an emotional rollercoaster, but reading your post made me feel much better and I can do this. Look to the future. THANKS, Pink

Hi All, I'm Patti from TX. I've just set my surgery date for November 5th. I have to admit though I'm having a few second thoughts. I've been heavy all of my life. I know that I need to loose the weight for health reasons, but I've been hearing some stories from others on what they can and can't do. Am I ready for this drastic of a life change? I don't know. I know I want to loose weight, and I know it will get easier, but hmmmmmmm. Any thoughts?:biggrin:

If I were you, I would call BCBS back and ask them what coverage do you have for the Lapband procedure. Then if they tell you that they don't pay, it may be your Firstcare. I don't know anything about Firstcare. What I do know is that there are MANY teachers in my district that have had the band, and they paid for it.... LapBand Solutions # is 972-716-9991. Call them and talk to them. They may have a more insight as to why you were turned down. They may know what Firstcare is. They know ALOT! Keep me posted.

Did BCBS of TX myself. Make sure that when you go to the weigh in at the doctor, it is the ONLY thing that they mark down on your chart. If while your in you have to get an antibiotic or anything else, and they mark it down on your chart that goes into BCBS then that appt doesn't count. I finished my dr's appts at the end of August, and submitted everything at the beginning of Sept. I do have to say that they were pretty go to me. I was really terrified that they would not approve me the first time. I had to have a sleep study done for my dr. I went to who they sent me to, spent the night, did everything that I was suppose to do, and the next month when I went to see my dr., he still did not have the results of my test. I tried to call the company that I went and they had permanently gone out of business. I tried to contact the director, and even the owner. My doc's office also tried to get my results, but had no luck. The only proof that i had was my benefits sheet showing that BCBS had paid for the sleep study. I had to submit a letter with the benefits info with all of my paper work. Apparently, that worked. Any tests that you have outside of your dr.'s office, get the results yourself so that if something happens to them, you have your results to submit. I went through LapBand Solutions, and they took care of ALL of the paper work in submitting to my insurance company. I never had to talk to them, or anything. I got my answer within about two weeks. Keep posting to let us know how it goes. Good Luck!!!

I'm scheduled for November 5th. My emotions are all over the place. I'm definitely going throught the "Last Supper" syndrome. I'm eating everthing I can get my hands on. I go to my pre-op on Oct 27th. BANDING IN NOVEMBER!!!!!!!

I contacted LBS, and I had to go through all of the preliminaries before they sent any of the information to my insurance company. I never contacted the insurance company myself at all. Once I had done everything, they sent all of my information into BCBS and I got an answer from LBS once they had an approval. From that time, all I had to do was to wait for them to get my benefits to see what had to pay upfront and what my full deductible was. I'm going to be $900 out of pocket right up front, and then total is $2000 out of pocket. To be perfectly honest with you, I liked the fact that i didn't have to talk to the insurance company. If you don't mind my asking, why did they tell you that they would pay for it? Did they give you any reason what so ever? The only other thing that I had to do was to write two letters to cover some of the gaps in my information. One was to explain why I didn't have any of my Weight Watchers information, and to explain what happened to my sleep apnea results. LapBand Solutions is wonderful, and I would recommend them to anyone.

I've had both negative and positive support. My fiance's family is more against it than my own family. My parents have been awesome about it and know that this is my decision. His family is constantly on diets and having contests to see who can loose the most weight, but I've been through all of that and it didn't work. I just tell them that this is what I've decided to do, and leave it at that. I've been telling my brother all the way along what was going on, but it wasn't until just the other day that he wanted to know more about the procedure and what I have had to do to get here, and what I have to do post-surgery. Your doing what is best for you and your health, and the more you get into the procedure, the more they will too. I look at this way, one of these day's I'm going to be alot thinner than most of the people that are questioning my decision, and when they see that I made the right decision for me, they won't have anything else that they can say. Remember: NO ONE CAN MAKE YOU FEEL INFERIOR WITHOUT YOUR CONSENT. Eleanor Roosevelt You do what's best for you, and eventually people will get behind you. Good Luck

Rick, Just a suggestion, but instead of going through the insurance company, go through a company such as LapBand Solutions. That is who I am going through, and they take care of ALL the insurance stuff. They can tell you things about the insurance that they won't tell. Good Luck and keep me posted

Hi all, I'm also from around the Dallas area. I was approved and my surgery is on Nov. 5th. I went through Lapband Solutions also, and I have to say that they have awesome. They took care of ALL of the paper work. All I had to do was show up for the appt. I go for my pre-op appt on the 27th. If your still in the first stages, I highly recommend LBS.

I'm BCBS of TX. I had some real ups and downs trying to get the insurance to pay. I went through my 6 months of dr.'s visits, the stress test, and sleep apnea overnight test. I've been overweight me entire life, and this is the biggest i"ve ever been. The sleep study place that I had my test done at went out of business before they sent my results to my doctor. I have a month before my surgery. I want this, but like I said, my emotions are all over the place. I went to the store today to try to find some things that i could eat, what did I do but buy a bunch of junk. I know I want this, I've worked too hard not to have it, but I'm scared. I know that the procedure is reversable, but then that would mean I had failed, and I don't think I could handle that either. Right now, I think, oh I have two weeks before I really have to do anything, before i go to my pre-op appt. Keep posting for me. Every day I look forward to coming home to see what everyone says. It helps so much to know that what i'm feeling is normal.

Hey Linda, That is exactly what I am doing. It seems like I am constantly eating right now. I know that I want this but i keep going back and forth. Is it getting any better for you the closer your surgery date comes?