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Mine were both a snap. The Psychologist mainly talked about how you got where you are. What triggers your eating. Family relationships. Why are you wanting this? Very non threatening and easy. makes you think about why you eat the way you eat. The nutritionist was great. She went over food history asked about weak spots. previous diets. Set up some short term goals. Very easy stuff for the most part. good. luck. Greg

I will get my new life on September 23rd. I start my Preop diet on the 9th of September but I will cut back starting after my trip to the beach tomorrow. I have been on a bit of a no food left behind tour as of late. I thought I was going to get carted out of PF Changs last night when I took the last bite of the great wall of cake. Greg

Tory, I am in Richmond Virginia as well. I have BCBS PPO of CA. I spoke to my Dr and he thought I had BCBS PPO of VA as well. They key with mine was BMI of 40. If you are under 40(bmi) it is more of a fight. I cruised in at 40.9. if you are under 40 you need co-morbidities and it is just more work but they are pretty easy to work with. Greg

From What the surgeon I am dealing with says, most people that fail, do so because they fail to do so because they fail to follow up. Let there band get out of adjustment, don't make the right choices. Don't exercise. You can beat the bypass as well. they are tools. Granted it sounds like it is a heck of a lot easier than trying to keep off 100 pounds with weight watchers but it sounds like it still takes work. My general feeling is that those who exercise regularly have much greater success. just my 2 cents Greg

I have to do this next. What do they ask in the evaluation? I am guessing they talk about your emotional well being and such and figure out if you are stable. Any ideas what kind of stuff they go over? Greg

I had my consultation this morning and it went well. My BMI is 41 so I am not expecting major ins complications. The only issue was that my DR. practiced in California 4 years ago and said at that time they required 6 month supervised diet. I know of 3 in our company that had the surgery and this was not required. I spoke to BCBS last week and they just told me as long as you have a 40 bmi and psych eval then I should have no problems. Anyone have recent experience with BCBS CA? Greg

Hijack away. :bored: We always like input from the success stories. I spoke to my insurance and essentially BMI of 40 and a Psyche consult it all that is required. She basically said as soon as we get that you can schedule. If everything looks good I could probably be a go at the begining of September. We shall see.

Thanks, Your results are awesome. Safe to assume you have an exercise regimen. I am finding people that do have been much more succesful based on what I have read.

Probably not caffeine then. I will hopefully be at the pre-op in a few months. I did a similar thing when I went into the Air Force. With a drastic change in calories your body will do all kinds of things. Headaches are common and they will pass. The first days Are very tuff but you will get to the point you aren't feeling that bad. Greg

I would think your insurance would be thrilled for 2 reasons. 1 they didn't have to pay it, and 2 when you lose the weight you will be at much lower risk than before. I wouldn't worry about them finding out. I can think of no reasons why they would drop you Greg

Do you normally drink alot of Coffee or beverages with caffeine? Often headaches happen if you stop caffeine cold turkey. Just a thought?

I have fully prepared myself for months of waiting in order to get the lap band procedure. If it takes that I am ok. I have been big for 20 years. whats a few more months? The thing is things are moving faster than I thought. I went to seminar, consult next tuesday Psych and nutritionist the week after and Insurance said as long as I am classified as morbidly obese (gotta love the term) I would be approved. I am at 41 which she said qualifies. My question is what is after that? Is it a matter of waiting until the doctor has an opening for surgery. Most people say it is months of back and forth but I am not sure if it is because of waiting for all of the appointments. Any input would be appreciated. Greg

Things appear to be moving pretty quickly since the seminar last night. I have already set up the consulation with the surgeon for next tuesday and have the Psych consult scheduled for the next Tuesday. I feel much better speaking to them today regarding the insurance. 41 bmi with 2 co-morbidities Anthem of California. Should be pretty easy according to them. Most people that have had WLS in my company were approved in about 3 days. Then it is to the nutritionist and schedule it out. I am very determined to do this and have researched it for months. I wonder how many that attend actually get it done. Some asked about paying a little each month like $50 which was met with this is about 15,000 so I don't think we can do that? One said if she didn't like the way the port felt when being touched by her husband could she get it taken out. Just some very odd questions. Anyway very excited though I am sure that even if I am in the approval stage in a matter of weeks I would guess it would still be several months? before the would do it. all of the research I have been able to do has been very helpful.

So the official Journey starts tonight with Dr David Elliot with the Richmond Surgical group. Anyone know what they seminars entail. I am sure that they are all somewhat different, but if you want to proceed forward how does that typically work. I have a BMI of 40.4 with HBP and High Cholestrerol. I have BCBS of California which has been very good about WLS in with our company. I understand even if it is approved quickly I am sure is a number of months before the surgery takes place. Just trying to figure out what to expect tonight? Greg

I was very pleased with the surgeon but not so much with the insurance person. Most of the information was printed in the hand out but everything she said seemed contradictory. I have BCBS anthem of California. She seemed to think It could be a toss up because I have a BMI of 41 and 2 co-morbidities. HBP and High Cholseterol. Said they usually want to see more. I asked if I should get some blood work done since it has been 2 to 3 years and she said no. We will do that after you are approved. Seems to me it would bolster my case as I think my cholesterol is still high and I suspect my blood sugar is as well. Based on others in my company I think I will be approved but I had concerns about how she will fight for me if she can't seem to keep it straight. I guess I need to assume she can't know it all off of the top of her head and she must do a good job helping people with their insurance company. I am going to move forward and I am excited. Kind of Crazy but the guest speaker was one of my wifes co-workers who lost about 140 + pounds. Small world.

I have had hernia surgery so I have a piece of mesh that extends from just above my belly button to just below. Where do they make the incisions? my guess is that if they could go in above the mesh it would be fine but I dont think they can just poke through it. Any idea how high above the navel the incisions are? Greg