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I'm new to the board, so sorry if this question sounds funny, but what is PVSA?? When I first started this process 4 months ago, they told me to choose from a specific list of hospitals, so I did. Mine's going to be at Brigham & Women's Hospital, on May 14th!

That is very encouraging news!! Thank you so much for sharing. I'm sorry to hear about your co-pay going up. Mine are currently $5 an office visit. I hope they don't go up! lol. I'm very lucky to have such a good plan. I've been reading posts about people and the money they spend is so much!! Yikes!! Good luck!!

Hi everyone! I've lurked on here for a couple of months and have sat idlely just reading. And learning a wealth of information!!! My name is Ginny, and I'm 27 years old. I'm 5'3", and 279.5 lbs. (wow, talk about brave, admitting that to everyone!). I have no children, YET, and live in Holliston, MA. I have sleep apnea, and have had difficulty getting pregnant/carrying to term. Luckily, I do not have anything else, yet. However, I have the family history of all sorts of things and do not want to get them!! I went to a seminar at Brigham & Women's hospital in Boston in September of 2008. The next day I called Tufts, my insurance, and asked them what was required of me. They said according to my particular plan there would be no co-pay for the hospital itself, just for each individual doctor's visit (which thankfully is only $5/a time), and that I had to go through their 6 month "I can change" program. Well, here I am. Month 4. Down 5 lbs so far. Seeing a personal trainer 3 days a week, working out on my own 1 day a week, and doing cardio for 20 minutes the other 3 days. I'm maintaining a healthy diet of 1300-1500 calories a day and truly am trying very hard to loose another 10 lbs before my surgery. I just got a call from my surgeons office today (2/13/09). My surgery date is May 14th!!! OMG!! That's only 13 weeks away?!?! I can't believe it!! My 6 month program with Tufts will be up on April 22nd. I hope I'll have my approval from them by my surgery date! Anyways, I'll keep this it for now. No need to bore everyone with more details! LOL. I'm looking for support, friends, and supportive friends lol. Feel free to drop me a line sometime. BTW, my surgeon is Dr. Ali Tavakkoli-zadeh. He seems SO nice so far! I'm very impressed. I just hope he's there through the rest of this and keeps me just as impressed! Thanks for reading, Ginny :ohmy:

Thank you, nice to meet you as well. I'm not sure why you're "hated throughout the land", but I'm not keeping score on who says hi first. I just appreciate the welcome! :thumbup: I know no one therefore I can't hate anyone yet lol.

OMG. I'm so sorry. I misread the date!! LOL I feel foolish! I'm glad it ended up working out for you, and I'm glad to hear they approve quickly! Good luck in your continued journey!

I have Tufts EPO. They have been fantastic. I'm in the middle of the six month program now. It's called the "I can Change" program. It's a series of phone calls with a health coach. I'm in month 4. There's really been no weight loss requirements from them, only from my surgeon, and it was of 15 lbs total. I already have my surgery scheduled for May 14th, which will be after my 6 month program. I just hope I don't have problems with getting approved. Good Luck!!