Mrs. Plumpy

I'm having my surgery thirty minutes after yours at 9, I will be thinking of you. Don't be scared, I've been put to sleep before and been put under the laughing gas several times at the dentist, there is nothing to it, there is no need to worry. I didn't even think to be scared of being put to sleep, I'm scared of the pain I may feel when I wake up and perhaps not being able to eat bread normally after my tummy heals. Just try not to think about it, that's what I'm doing. I'm going to have my pain meds and my family with me and everything will be fine. I'm thinking about how good the mash potatoes will taste on Tuesday, just try and think about that. *big hug*

Don't get scared guys, I think this pre-op diet just makes us more emotional because we have been deprived of real food. I mean, Thursday night I started crying while watching Survivor because I thought Rupert was about to get voted off the island. So just hold yourselves together for a little longer, your surgery will be here sooner than you think.

I started my pre-op diet on Monday the 3rd and will have my surgery on Monday the 17th. I really can't believe how easy this pre-op diet is so far, I was dreading it so bad. Yeah, I want some pizza but I'm not going crazy with cravings. I've lost five pounds since Monday and am feeling great. :thumbup: Good luck to everyone on their surgeries! :thumbup:

On 6/18/2009 I called my insurance and was told that the lap band was covered, she even walked me through finding the papers to print out about it. I went through all the hoops of a six month diet and everything, had all my papers filled out and was ready for my surgery. The lap band doctor turned in all my papers to the insurance for approval and it came back denied and said that they didn't cover it. I called up my insurance again today and the lady looked back through my files and said that it was never covered and she could see when I made the phone call on 6/18/2009 and she could see that the lady told me that I was covered. But all she said that I could do was make an appeal and she didn't sound like my chances were good. This is so unfair, I was so close, should I get a lawyer to write the appeal or what else can I do? Please help.

Hang in there and keep trying. It makes me so angry that these big companies can get away with stuff like this. Even if they offered to pay some of it would be a gesture they were sorry but they don't even want to do that.:thumbup: Don't give up! :thumbup:

Wow, I read the update and I really hope the insurance gets their act together for you and quickly, surely they see how urgent this is and they won't make you wait that long for approval. I have been told before to just keep calling and asking about it so just keep trying and I hope everything turns out ok for you. *hug*

Yeah, the lawyer said that this happens alot and they have only paid for a mistake like this 3 times in the past ten or so years. :blushing: I don't remember if I mentioned this but the insurance is bc/bs of Illinois because the corporate office of the company of where my husband works is in Chicago even though we're in Ohio. So if anyone has this insurance be careful when you call up and ask if you are covered. Thanks Priscilla, good luck to you as well. :thumbdown:

I'm glad your insurance is going to do the right thing and pay for your surgery because they told you wrong. Mine isn't though, they are not budging and do not care that they told me wrong and I jumped through all these hoops. I could have already had the surgery last year and my back would not have started hurting a few weeks ago, I would have been healthy by now. But when I told my mom what happened, my grandmother was listening in as well (speakerphone) and she is going to pay for half of the surgery cost, so it will not be too bad on the finances. :thumbup: My surgery date is May 17th and I start my pre-op diet tomorrow! :thumbup: I am so excited about my surgery that I have tried to forget how the insurance company treated me, I'm looking ahead. I hope everything goes smoothly for you, I'm sure they will approve you and everything will be fine. :smile:

Thank you both for your help. It turns out that my surgeon's office has their own lawyer that will help me out with this at no extra cost. That made me feel a little better. I really hope they don't get away with this, I'd be happy if they'd at least agree to pay half because of this mess up. Thanks again. :biggrin:

Hello all, Today I went to my doctor to talk about getting the lap band and she advised against it. She says that the patients she has that did the lap band haven't lost more than 40 lbs over two years on average, and the patients that did gastric bypass have lost over 100 lbs easily. She said it's my choice but she suggests I get the bypass. I've done my research on the lap band, I've been reading this site for a few weeks and I've seen your before and after pics after I registered. You guys are amazing! I know it won't be a walk in the park, I know I'll have to diet and exercise. I also know that the bypass is a lot more dangerous and not reversible. I'd rather stay overweight than die by doing the bypass. She also said that once you do the band and it don't work, you can't change your mind later and get the bypass, but I read people online said you can. She is a really nice doctor and it's hard to find a female doctor around here, but it's alarming that she has been misinformed. I told her that I would do research about the bypass but from what I've read already I'm sure I want the band instead. Also, my mom said that she'd worry too much if I were to go for the bypass. Well, my doctor said to go ahead and start Weight Watchers for the six months for insurance and I guess when I go back to see her in a month I'll tell her that I respect her advice but I'm just too scared to do the bypass. I'm determined to work hard to make the band work. I'm about to sign up for Weight Watchers online and I hope they give me some sort of shopping list. The journey begins!:rolleyes2: Nice to meet you all!:crying:

Thank you for the helpful advice everyone. I remember my doctor said that we don't need to contact the surgeon until we get closer to the end of the six months. She's going to be keeping records of my monthly visits to her and I'm going to be printing out my progress each week so we should have plenty of documentation.:thumbup: Six months seems so far off, I'm so tempted to start buying new clothes already but I should wait, not sure how small I can get down to. I dream of the day when I can walk into a regular store and buy whatever I want to wear.:cursing:

From what I have read Kamie, the major thing that the band helps with is feeling full after eating a small amount of food. This will help me out a lot because after I feel full it's easy to stop eating. The only time I overeat is when it's something I really like, like chocolate. I've read that if you eat right with the band, without drinking while eating, then you will feel full and stay full for hours. Whereas, right now, I just ate a bowl of oatmeal, which should be enough, but I still feel like I want to eat because I don't feel full. But I am dealing with it because I want to do good these six months before surgery. If something were to happen to make me feel sad, it would be harder to keep from eating more, if that makes sense. So the lap band helps you stay on the wagon so to speak. You feel full after only eating a cup of food instead of a plate or two full.:thumbup:

Thank you guys, that makes me feel a lot better.:tongue2: That is amazing Cathy, grats on your weight loss! Were you able to eat bread or did it always have to be toasted? The bread and soda things are the only things I don't like about the band but I'll get used to it.:cursing:

Congrats campingqueen!:rolleyes2:

Thank you campingqueen, this was my regular doctor that said all this, not the surgeon. I haven't contacted the surgeon yet, I read to wait until my six months of dieting were almost done first. Good to know that your lap band friends are doing great.:rolleyes2: