cl_tx_42

Could everyone please post their favorite Protein shake recipe? I've searched Protein and recipe and found a couple but think it would be good for everyone to put theirs on one post were everyone could refer to it easily. Once, I find out how to make one that doesn't taste like blah -- I'll be happy to post recipes!!! :clap2:

Well...I got that bad news that my insurance denied me. They said morbid obesity is excluded from my plan. That it is a rider and my company elected not to opt for that option. Can you fight that? Another question? My husband's insurance (my secondary insurance) will cover it but there is a $10,000 lifetime maximum. Well...we all know that around $22,000 is billed to the insurance for the surgery. Someone mentioned a doctor in Colorado that does the surgery for $9950 - do anyone know how much he bills for the surgery? Any other suggestions? (Self Pay is not an option) Heck, I'll even change jobs just to get it to be covered by insurance. Willing to work in the Houston or Beaumont area :girl_hug:

Okay...I had my consult with AIGB on Friday...which went easier than I thought. And, my BMI was 39.7, which they graciously bumped up to 40!! I went in for my lab work today. They gave me the option to do a sleep study - at first I said okay but after thinking about it over the weekend, I don't want to incurr the cost unless necessary or if my insurance says I need it. So, how long after having your consult, do you find out if you qualify, if insurance approves, and when to expect to be laying on the operating table. I guess I'm just a bit antsy now!!! Thanks for all of your responses....you guys/gals have been a great source of info!!! :clap2:

Well...I got a call from Lap Band Solutions yesterday afternoon, they are faxing over the information to my insurance company (United Health Care) for approval. She said it can take anywhere from 2 to 45 days to get a response or see if they need any additional information, etc. Anyone recently have their information submitted to UHC? How long did it typically take? I'm sitting at the edge of my seat but yet trying to be so patient! My husband said he already has a room reserved for me at the neurological hospital ...just in case I don't get approved. :heh:

Wantlapband: What was the reason for the initial denial?

Well...I got that bad news that my insurance denied me. They said morbid obesity is excluded from my plan. That it is a rider and my company elected not to opt for that option. Can you fight that? Another question? My husband's insurance (my secondary insurance) will cover it but there is a $10,000 lifetime maximum. Well...we all know that around $22,000 is billed to the insurance for the surgery. Someone mentioned a doctor in Colorado that does the surgery for $9950 - do anyone know how much he bills for the surgery? Any other suggestions? (Self Pay is not an option) Heck, I'll even change jobs just to get it to be covered by insurance. Willing to work in the Houston or Beaumont area :girl_hug:

It applies to only what they pay out. I just talked to the doctor's office. They said we still need to wait and see what my husband's insurance says...I just got the denial from my insurance but I don't know if they have submitted anything to my husbands insurance. She said that even though his company typically covers the surgery, they may opt not to if my company denies it. I'm curious about buying an individual policy. I bet most individual policies exclude WLS.

It is a $10,000 maximum for the procedure or any expenses related to obesity (fills, etc.)

Sweetsue: Please help us all in elaborating on why this gentleman had this procedure? :omg: I think we are all sympathetic by your concern of wanting to hide your surgery - but you kinda threw us off with the penis statement. I think we all spend too much time worrying about what someone is thinking about us. I know I don't do things with my friends as often as I did when skinny because I feel I'm too fat to be friends with them. I have never shared that with anyone before now...but I always think they are looking at me thinking "My God, she's gained a lot of weight". I'm even putting off going to visit a very good friend who lives out of town until after I had my surgery and can lose some weight. After reading your post...I guess I've realized that my friends love me for me and whats inside and not what the scale says about me.

Dr. Spiegel's seminar is not free. They required me to bring my co-pay. I wasn't happy about him wanting $25 to decide if I want to use his service. I went to Dr. St. Laurent's seminar instead and am waiting on insurance approval to be banded by Dr. St. Laurent.

Oh the questions I have. I am just deciding to have lap band surgery. I was always thin until about 8 years ago and now I HATE being fat. I hate shopping because nothing fits, etc., etc. Here are some questions for those of you who have had the surgery or anyone who can help. Doctors - I was initially going to go with Dr. Spiegel because I live in Beaumont...but I've heard so much about the cattle call, I'm not too impressed with that. Then, I saw where Dr. Spivak no longer accepts United Healthcare. Insurance - I have United Healthcare Choice Plus. Can anyone give me the names of doctors that they have used that have this plan? of course, only if it is a doctor you liked :~) And, if you could throw in the total cost...that would be great also!! Secondary Insurance- I am also on my husband's plan. He has PHCS. How does that work with insurance. This is the first time I have been on two insurance plans. With UHC, my deductible is $1000 then they cover 80%. My husband's insurance is the same. Qualifying - I am afraid I will not qualify...which would be really sad for me :cry . I'm 5'5" and weigh 218 lbs. My BMI is 36. But here are my exclusions, I have hypothyroidism, acid reflux. I did have my gallbladder removed (does that count for gallbladder problems?). I had gestation diabetes with 2 pregancies. Last couple of times I have had blood work done because of my thryoid, my TSH was a 38 and my cholosterol was high. Blood pressure is borderline 130ish/80. Thanks for all of your help.

I'm going through a similar situation with my husband. However, we just had a long conversation about this. I was 110 lbs when we got married and just gained a bunch of weight in the past 7 years. I assured him that my only reason for having this surgery is (1) for health reasons, I have lots of health problems on my mothers side and I had gestational diabetes during my pregnancies which pretty much guarantees I will have full blown diabetes in the future; (2) I told him that I want to feel good about myself, like the way I look in my clothes, not get depressed when I'm getting dress, etc. AND most importantly to feel better about myself when intimiate with him and for a better sex life with him and only him! I think that helped him some. He does tell me that he is jealous that I am able to have the surgery. His insurance covers the surgery but has a lifetime maximum of $10,000 so it doesn't help him much. Just give positive reinforcement to your husband (and his ego).

I created a survey of questions related to lap band surgery. I would like for those of you who have had lap band surgery and are at least 3 to 6 months post surgery to take this survey. The survey is completely anonomous. It is limited to 100 entries, so I will share the results after 100 people have taken the survey or a week from now, whichever is sooner. This is just a survey to help me better understand how people feel about their decision to be banded. There are only 9 questions and they are: 1. How tall are you? 2. What was your weight pre-banding? 3. What is your current weight? 4. Select which type of diet you follow: <O:p></O:p> 5. Exercise <O:p></O:p> 6. How much total weight did you lose from the day of banding until (sorry these may not appear in order): <O:p></O:p> 7. If you could do it all over again, would you get banded? <O:p></O:p> 8. Please select which best suits you: <O:p></O:p> 9. Do you wish you had selected a different weight loss surgery? Please answer these questions via the survey. Please only take the survey only once. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=678442574739 P.S. I'm a newbie to this survey thing so I'm praying this works :nervous (but actually its a pretty cool website to create your own surveys (surveymonkey.com)

If someone takes this survey, please PM me or post here and let me know if the link works!! Thanks!

Thanks! I just called Dr. St. Laurent's office. They are going to call Lap Band Solutions and call me back.

I am so ticked...I called my insurance again today to see the status of the approval of my surgery. They still say the never received it (I've called every day since Lap Band Solutions said they faxed it). So I called Lap Band Solutions. NOPE....she didn't send it over. She said when she called that my insurance excludes Morbid Obesity. I had already called my insurance a couple of times to make sure they cover it. I would have never gone this far if they do! She said she called my secondary insurance and they cover it but there is a $10,000 lifetime maximum for the surgery. So...I called again to my primary insurance company and got the nicest person...she said morbid obesity is excluded unless it is medically necessary and they have to review the doctors notes, etc. to determine that. So she started researching call history and saw where I called everyday but never show my doctors office calling. I am fuming . I called the girl back at Lap Band Solutions and told her she must immediately fax the information and predetermination over to my insurance. I want to have this surgery before October 1st because that is when my husband's insurance rolls over for the new year. Should I call Dr. St. Laurent and tell them the run around I'm getting? I went to AIGB 2-1/2 weeks ago...I feel everything should have already been sent to my insurance. Also, on the secondary insurance...have any of you delt with that where the maximum is so low? I'm wondering if that is just for the surgeons portion and not for the anesthesiologist and surgery center.

Okay...this is probably totally off subject but I need some help remembering how to do this for a shower. Has anyone ever made a sandwich ring using a bundt pan. You have wheat and white bread and you layer the bread, mayo, deli meat, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, etc. Please PM me or leave a message here if you know how to do it. Thanks!

I have one similar to that recipe. (I sold Pampered Chef too!) But, the recipe I'm looking for you don't use the dough. You use slices of bread and layer the bread...so its actually like four layers of bread with the meat, cheese, lettuce alternated in between them. You then leave it over night in the fridge and it all molds together. I think the person who gave me the recipe must have made it up...I'll just have to play around with it tonight. Then, if all else fails...I have that wonderful ring that was posted to make :biggrin1:

These all sound yummy. Keep them coming. I'm going to have a protein shake tasting party this weekend!

That sounds yummy! A good alternative to a frappacino (sp?)

Just an FYI - I went to Vitamin World yesterday just to look at the Protein powders. They have their Designer whey - Buy One, Get One Free. Actually, they have lots of things in their store Buy One, Get One Free. Their website is Water today...blah!!! :faint: So, would it be bad with skim milk? Or, what do you normally mix with it? I want to get prepared for having to drink these things before my surgery. Oh...one thing that was not good about the buy one, get one...it has to be the same flavor. (but the girl whispered to me just bring one back when the sale is over and exchange it for another flavor)

Did you receive my PM?

I have taken the B12/hcg shot while going to weight loss doctors. They are suppose to help you lose inches as well as give you energy. I was wondering about doing the shots after surgery to help keep from being saggy from losing weight.

I've been trying to read post about after surgery, etc. My question is...I know you are not eating as much but do you feel hungry? I know sometimes if I don't eat I get really shaky - I guess may be a little hypoglycemic or something. Do you feel that with the band since you are not eating as much?

I found this message board a great place to hear what everyone has to say about their doctors. You may want to search "doctor houston" or go to this link http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=13246&highlight=houston+doctor Everyone has their own personal preference so read up there are lots of choices. I picked Dr. St. Laurent - who so far I've been happy with and after attending his seminar I like the way he follows up with his patients and its not after you have the surgery you never see him again...he requires that you go to see him once a month, you also see a nutrionist and they have a personal trainer as well. But, like I said do your research or maybe go to a couple of different seminars. I was going to go to Dr. Spiegel's seminar but they wanted my insurance co-pay just to attend the seminar.