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Pipedoc - that is awesome!!!!

I got my first fill since the port reposition and it was the easiest and most pain free needle poke I ever had with a fill. This is how a fill should feel - just like the poke from my insulin needle! Now time to say good bye to all this fat!

I have Tricare Prime with Triwest and they cover the lap band with prior authorization. I went to my PCM and got the referral. Had the consult with the surgeon and within a few weeks was banded. Be sure to also have your office visits and fills authorized for coverage, otherwise you are responsible for a co-payment. You will need to have a co-morbidity to qualify quickly. Also if you have diabetes, after you have lost the weight, your PCM can refer you to a plastic surgeon for a tummy tuck - so long as the excess skin sometimes gets "rashes" from heat and sweat.

I would go through the appeals process with your insurance company and get appointed a case manager to help you through the process. I don't believe that a doctor is going to commit fraud to get you banded, but another surgeon might be albe to work with your insurance company to prove that the band is necessary in your case. Who is your insurance company? Definately make sure you go the route of the appeals process, it could be that your surgeon didn't cross all the t's and dot all the i's in your referral paperwork.

Holly, Dr simpson is great! I think you will really like him and you will have the result you desire by sticking to all his guidelines! Adagray, I wish I could give you more info, but I think every patient is different. I have had only two fills since the baby was born and both were lying down and quite painful for me as the baby moved my port. I had it repair just last week and am looking forward to getting back on track. My fills have been manually at first then with ultrasound to find where my port moved to. He has removed the needle and had me drink Water after the fills. My first fill after the baby I wasn't hungry at all and he didn't want to give me a fill, but I asked him to at least check the Fluid and we found very little fluid so he did give me a fill since we really didn't know if I was loosing weight or just loosing baby weight.

I think once the baby sleeps through the night, my days will be more productive. Right now I am up every 2-3 hours at night, so I am taking advantage of nap times during the day. I am super sore today, I guess as this heals the soreness will linger for a few weeks just like last time. On the upside, since the baby weight came off, I have as of my surgery lost 8 lbs. Not bad considering the insulin - I have my follow up on Thrusday and am hoping that I will have lost another 4-5 lbs. I do hope that he gives me a fill on Thrusday - I have a feeling he took some Fluid out during the surgery - as I have been hungry every other hour! When I wake up in the morning, I am starving. But I remain good and have an egg or a low carb slim fast shake. When will you be back down to phoenix?

Lisa, How are things going? I got my port repositioned yesterday. The surgery went well once I got back there. I was scheduled for 9:30 but didn't get into the OR until just after noon. But after that it was all very quick, I was waking up 10 after 1 and on my way home by 1:45. No pain meds prescribed either :scared2: I am a bit sore, but nothing I can't handle. Though picking up my 18 month old is a little rough. The 10 weeker is easier, he weigh just over 10 pounds. Now, I have to get things on the ball here and let this weight drop off! I'd really like to see 10 pounds by the end of the month. On a good note I did loose 4.5 pounds in the last 2 1/2 weeks. So at least it is in the right direction. Now if I can get rid of this insulin I am sure I would have better results!

Lisa, From what I understand it is a quick fix and they promised me that they would not keep me over night like they did after my band surgery. I think that this occured because as the band and port were in the healing process the uterus was expanding and pushing my organs and stomach around to make room for the baby. My first fill during the second trimester was not painful and he was able to go right through the port it was a little pushing, but straight through. These last two fills were pushing around and pulling the needle here and there and having the table moved so my feet were elevated....so I would prefer it get fixed and I am not in pain everytime I get a fill. On another note - my endocronologist has added metformin back in a hopes to decrease my insulin and when I am able to decrease my need for insulin to less than 20 units a day, I can get rid of the insulin pump! How are you doing with the band?

Dr Simpson and the staff are great! some of the staff have also been banded, so they know what we are going through. I finally got a fill after having the baby in January and boy oh boy - my boy moved my port during the healing process. I got a second fill yesterday and decided that the port needed to be repositioned, so I go in on the 16th to have it fixed. My endocronologist has added metformin back so that I can slowly come off my insulin pump - this is really exciting! Exciting times!

Lisa, I didn't really watch everything I was eating when I was pregnant. I was more concerned with keeping my blood sugar under perfect control. I actually only had the one fill in the second trimester and just had the second fill in January. Yes, my insurance will cover the fix - they cover all my visits and fills also. I think you will do just fine with the band have having another baby. It is funny, the bigger the baby got, the tighter the band was with no fills :cursing:

Dr simpson actually put a small fill in during the second trimester. during the thrid, I went in once a month for a check up and to make sure I was able to eat. I gained a total of 10 lbs until week 30 and then i gain 18 more lbs by the time I delivered at week 37. 10 days after delivery I had lost the 28 lbs I gain - mostly baby and Water retention. There were no complications during the pregnancy because of the band. However, I think that the baby moved the band as the port is no long a stright in shot, it is a little tilted. We hoping that with more weight loss this will self correct, but if it doesn't he'll need to go back in and do another stitch to fix it. I went in once month during the pregnancy but was told that if I couldn't eat or I started having any issues to come in so he could unfill a little Fluid. My big issue now is that he did a fill on 1/28 and I have been on a 1000 calorie diet a day since then and I have only lost 3 lbs. I think that being on insulin is causing this to not work very well. It is wonderful to have our little miracle baby!

I am back ladies! We had a beautiful boy on Dec 31, 2009. Ian Jude, he was 6 lbs and 10 oz. I got a fill on the 28th of Jan and found that there wasn't much Fluid in the band and that the baby has shifted the port. The fill was a little painful and we might have to do surgery to fix it. I sure hope that I don't have to go under again. So I have lost all the pregnancy weight and am hoping that to kick start to weight loss! How is everyone doing?