coltonwade

what is recovery time like w/ revisions ? Im getting the impression from my doc that it might be a bit harder than it was w/ just the band ? Anyone have any thoughts on if it was harder, the same , easier etc than your original band surgery ? Mindy

Thanks y'all . I wont know if i will have it in one surgery or not until surgery day , He will try to do it in one but if my stomach is too inflamed he will do it in 2 . The NUT kind of made it sound like my recovery might be "harder' tahn someone who was just getting the sleeve but the doc at my pre op appt yesterday did not think so . So i am not as worried !

thanks for the response. That's the thing I feel worse now than before the band because of all the issues its caused for me . The 3rd day was the worst for me w/ the band at day 5 I was pretty good. Hoping its like that this go around. I tend to not lay around in bed anyway , So that will help . I just feel so bad in general now I am hoping maybe i'll just feel better sooner after the band is out.

Thanks ya'll. Im nervous , is all beginning to sink in and its all moving very fast now . But im ready to feel normal again !

I never thought this day would come, I was approved yesterday through my insurance, had my EKG and Blood work today see the NUT on Thursday and hopefully by this time next week I'll have a surgery date !! I cant believe how fast this is moving now. I have waited 3 yrs to get this dang band out of me !!

I AM APPROVED I AM APPROVED !! Just got the word !!! OMG I am really going to have this damn thing out of me !

Hi All i am currently waiting on insurance to make a desicsion on my surgery . i am having major issues right now with eating, I can barely eat mushies most days , so i am hoping they hurry up . Most of my friends and family dont understand my anxiety when it comes to getting approval for the revsion as well. I had the band in 2007 lost 125 pounds got down to 125 pounds , slipped it 2 times and now im back up to 225 pounds , i started at 250 . With all my issues my family and friends just think " Oh the insurance HAS to pay to get it removed at least" that's half my worries. With PCOS I have to get a revision as well. Anyway , Just worried, anxious , nervous etc. waiting ! Thanks for listening. Mindy Follow my Story Here http://tryingtostayskinnyintexas.blogspot.com/2012/10/a-little-update.html

Thanks yall .. my band is not currently slipped .. I have been u.filled for nearly 3 yrs . I have scar tissue built up around mmy band that is causing pain when I eat .. slowly over the last couple years its gotten worse I now am only on pretty much liquids , my doc is aware of this but the only fix is to get.the band out .

I am revising to a sleeve. Since I could not afford self pay and cant get insurance I managed to scrape up enough money to get the PCIP insurance ... They will cover revisions.. They did an upper gi and the lady asked me how in the world I was eating ? I told her not very well .My band has so much damage, scar tissue that liquids barely go through my band .. Doc told me there are ppl with band issues and then there is me ! Mine are bad basically . He told me to come back next week for and egd, they stick a tube down my throat to see if my ban d has erroded through my stomach , he suspected it has . Sounds all bad huh ? It is problem no one is in a hurry to get it fixed ! The insurance corrdinator is an idiot ! She was basically telling me my insurance most likely won't pay for anything when I know they very well will .. she really made me mad . She had never dealt with my insurance yet was telling me she didnt even know that PCIP was not through an employer I guess cause its not what I wanted to hear .. anyway I had a sleep study done to see if I have sleep apnea . So hopefully will know more in the next dayor so ?? he also told me if i dont revise to a sleeve because of my PCOS that with in 2 months of band removal i will gain back the rest of my weight and will contiune to regain about 30% more weight . HE also said due to the PCOS with out a sleeve i will get diebetes with in 5 yrs ! LOVELY ! All in all i was discouraged, Mainly because the insurance lady didntknow what she was talking about and it pissed me off. Im just not sure if this is par for the course or not ? Im not sure why i feel the way i do ?

PCIP http://www.pciplan.com/ Costs differ by state and Age. Hope that helps . feel free to ask any questions.

Melanie, i am waiting for approval for insruance , saw Dr Fass as well. I sent you a request on FB if that's ok. Im in Austin as well .

Thanks y'all. I am really ready for this roller coaster rid eto be over !!! SOON !! The new doc is awesome ! I love him . Lakobe... the insurance i got is PCIP insuarance through the govt.. It is covering my revision, or it should i should say . Message me if you want more info , there are certain criteria you have to meet in order to get the PCIP . one of them being with out insurnace for 6 months. MIndy

I currently have PCIP and I am waiting on approval for my revision . Message me if you would like some more detailed info on it, Mindy

So here is an update w/ my situation I decided to go to a doctor here in Austin , the doc in Dallas I just could not do . I could not handle the coordinator.. Forgive me i'll post updates from my facebook page .. but this is what has happened over the last couple weeks... Just got home from my doctors appt. Really loved the doc, he was very nice and very caring . He sat down and went over everything with me . Told me that he would submit the removal AND Revision for approval for insurance ASAP that the revision is just as important as the removal to him .. He told me to Be prepared I MAY wake up with out a sleeve( the weight loss surgery part ) IF My stomach is in too bad of shape or is not healthy enough to tolerate both procedures .. He said do not worry if that happens in 3-6 months he WILL do the revision ! He said he was very sorry no one found this important enough to them to fight for it and he would fight " tooth and nail" to get this approved no matter what ! Once approved i have to see a nutritionist he told me to prepare to take Vitamins for the rest of my life .. mainly because i have been mal nourished ( Yes its possible to be malnurished and fat LOL ) for the past several years because of not being able to eat anything . I also have to do an EKG and Blood work , but that's it. He was going to request a rush approval .. SO HOPEFULLY I can get this done before the end of the year still ! So here is my update on my band/ revision surgery . earlier this week I got an email from my doctor saying they had all they needed to submit for insurance EXCEPT my latest Upper GI .. I asked them if this was from the band doc in Dallas ( the doc I saw once Or my original band doc ) Before I got an answer from her I called my original band doc and asked her If my records were ever sent to the new doc . Her response ( the receptionists i should say ) was " I requested them from storage yes " I said " that was nearly 3 WEEKS AGO have you gotten them to the new doc yet " her response " I Have requested them from storage that is all i can do " I then said " why dont you go a step further and CALL STORAGE and ask them where the hell my records are after 3 weeks of not getting them . " She obv iously had no intnetion of going the extra mile, I told her " I spent nearly $20,000 there PLUS refered over a dozen patients who actually HAD Surgery you and this is how you treat me " She said ' what do you want me to do " I was FURIOUS . SO then i find out they just needed the Upper GI report from the last doc visit in Dallas, I call them and ask them if they can send it over .. The office manager said , well i think it was sent over let me look , it was sent over and it says your band was NORMAL " WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT its NORMAL she said ' they band placement is normal " I told her " there is NO WAY you can put the band is " normal " On that report I cant freaking eat ... " So i call the new doc she said " We cant submit this report to insurance , they will deny it " So they decided to submit it with out the Upper GI and IF they ask for one I'll go in and do one in their office and he will state band placement is normal but function is NOT . I have NEVER been so angry in my life So FYI Make SURE your upper GI's do NOT say normal ..... the paper work was submitted Thursday I believe I should hear something , most likely , we need an upper GI next week . and OH BTW I can no longer eat solids or mushy foods in any form .. Only liquids, my meds wont go down either. GRRR I should hear something from the insurance this week .... I fully expect them to tell me I need an Upper GI which I am ok with but I secretly hope they just approve me ! Thanks for listening !

thanks sunflower ! I am glad you understand. I lost 125 pounds with my band ,went from 250 to 125 . So i know how to work the WLS I have gained as much as 15 pounds in one month . the doc told me ( I am up to 218 again ) with in 2 months of band removal with out a sleeve the rest of my weight will be back on ! My mom was with me at my appt and i was glad she heard that. I was glad she heard that its not me eating. I can barely get liquids down my throat most days but can gain 15-20 pounds in a month ! WTH ?? Good luck with your surgery !

oh ok I think the biggest issue was the coordinator was not listening to me for some reason and thought she knew what she was talking about and she didnt ! I just emailed them and told them i wanted to know what was happening and when they were going to find out what my insurance would pay for ? Basically what the steps are. For some reason PCOS does not respond well with regular diet and exersise and he evern said that. I just hope i can get my band out and sleeved SOON !

This explains my situation a little better. http://tryingtostayskinnyintexas.blogspot.com/2012/07/day-in-my-life-how-lap-band-affects-me.html

Its not an appeal . i got the insurance i have because they cover the revision . The insurance coordinator did not knwo what she's talking about which is what pissed me off. PCOS is a nasty thing. i WILL gain back the weight with out another surgery . since i cant eat anything right now its difficult to main tain any calorie count.

I wanted to get some of y'alls opinions.. I need a revsion due to complications. I saw Dr Kim on Friday and I am honestly not sure what to think ? I liked him . however was not fond of the insurance coordinator . I live in Austin and went with Dr Kim because I heard he's one of the better revision surgeons around. However I left there feeling like my head was spinning and no answers. . They did an upper gi and the lady asked me how in the world I was eating ? I told her not very well .My band has so much damage, scar tissue that liquids barely go through my band .. Doc told me there are ppl with band issues and then there is me ! Mine are bad basically . He told me to come back next week for and egd, they stick a tube down my throat to see if my band d has erroded through my stomach , he suspected it has . Sounds all bad huh ? the problem i had is no one is in a hurry to get it fixed ! The insurance lady is an idiot ! She was basically telling me my insurance most likely won't pay for anything when I know they very well may .. she really made me mad . She had never dealt with my insurance yet was telling me like she knew she didnt even know that PCIP was not through an employer I guess cause its not what I wanted to hear .. anyway I had a sleep study done Friday night to see if I have sleep apnea . So hopefully will know more in the next dayor so ?? he also told me if i dont revise to a sleeve because of my PCOS that with in 2 months of band removal i will gain back the rest of my weight and will contiune to regain about 30% more weight . HE also said due to the PCOS with out a sleeve i will get diebetes with in 5 yrs ! LOVELY ! All in all i was discouraged, Mainly because the insurance lady didntknow what she was talking about and it pissed me off. I just am not sure what to think ??was this y'alls experience ? thanks Mindy

Hi All, I started this process a while ago so i will try to update. I need a revision to get my crap band out . Its making me physicaly sick and i cant eat anything . With no insurance and no way to get insurance I started checking into the PCIP insurance plan , Pre Exisiting Condition inusurance plan. I applied in Aug for the insurance was accepted a couple weeks later, Sent in my payment and as of Sept 1 2012 I have coverage. I will be going to see my revision doc on the 14th of this month to hopefully start the process of the revision . I know that with PCIP they can waive the 6 month supervised diet , etc for revisoins if they are medically necessary . Lets just hope the revision doc can get this pushed through quickly . As it is now I have enough money for the dedicutble. BUT not to carry the premiums for much longer and the dedicutble. So I cant wait long.. Lets hope things go well on the 14th ! Mindy

Has anyone had any experience w/ the pre existing condition insurance through the govt paying for revision ( band to sleeve ) ? I Have heard some rumblings of it ? Anyone have this insurance and had the revision ? If so what was the process ? Thanks

Pre existing condition insurance plan is pcip

I am going to most likely going to apply next month . I am waiting.to see if I can get Medicaid . I am curious how long approval for a revision takes

Tonibugg I sent you a message .

I applied for medcaid today . It seems like i should be approved based on what I have read ? BUT who knows. Does anyone know what the medicaid guildlines are in Texas for revisions ? thanks Mindy