lucybugsmama

Well so far so good. I was banded Monday the 2nd and haven't had any complications. I had gas, which I was expecting, but nothing unbearable. I have noticed that if I try to drink too fast I burp a lot and it can hurt. I haven't felt hubgry yet, but I am making myself eat something so I don't get weak. An advantage of that peo=op diet is it forced me to stop thinking about food all the time. Sure, I want something solid occasionally but I can push it to the back of my mind now, where before it would have consumed me until I gave in. Good luck to all the new and soon to be bandsters! Oh-I'm allowed blended cottage cheese and jello, so I blended then together yesterday and it was kind of like cherry cheesecake filling. Might be something for some of you to try if you get sick of soup, shakes and regular jello after you're on full liquids.

I was banded on the 8/1, which was just this past Monday and haven't had any complications. The only "proof" of the surgery is a sore tummy and the insicions. I am mostly very thankful that there have been no complications and certainly don't want to jinx it, but occasionally I do wonder if nothing being wrong means something is wrong. LOL Now that I see that in black and white it makes no sense. I am babying the band, still blenderizing everything so I haven't chunks yet. I am very much looking forward to mushy foods because Jello, belderized soup and shakes are getting a little old.

I was banded Monday August 2nd and yes I'm afraid to eat. I'm allowed to move on to the protein shakes today and had 3/4 of one before I stopped. I'm drinking everything slow and just not pushing myself too much.

As of yesterday I am officially a bandster. The surgery went really well I I've only had a little pain, thanks to liquid hydrocone. Thankfully I don't have the gas pain that will not go away, and have only felt naseous once but the fenigirn took care of that. My nurses were awesome and only took one try to get the IV in and gave a numbing shot so it didn't even hurt. Today I'm already weaning off the paid meds and walking around as much as I can. For those of you on the liquid phase, I recommend the Bariatic Advantage shake. My surgeon sold them and they taste good. I mixed stuff up to change it up a bit (OK'd by my surgeon). That helped a lot. The liqid diet was a lot easier after the third day. I have another week of liquids to let my stonach heal and then mushies! I never thought I would want scrambled eggs so bad! Good luck to you all and I'll keep posting my progress. Please feel free to PM me with any questions or just to talk. Leigh

I just went in for my pre-op appointment and I'm scheduled for August 2!!!! My liquid diet starts tomorrow and I'm so excited. I can't believe i only have 2 weeks left before I'm officially a Bandster. Is anyone else more worried about the pre-op diet than the actual sugery? 2 weeks of protein shakes and soup sounds HARD but I know I can do it. I'm just going to need ot get really creative with the drinks. My doctor gave us a bunch of recipes that sound yummy that I can't wait to try. Good luck to you all. I'll post how surgery goes as soonj as I'm up to it since it looks like I'm the first for August.

I am so aggravated with my surgeon's office that I'm thinking of changing surgeons. I've done my initial consult, dietician and psych eval but I'm getting the run-around with insurance verification even though I wa approved 6 weeks ago! I'm at my wit's end trying to figure out how to prove to the surgeon's office that I am approved because I've done everything I can think of and am getting no suggestions from the. I can sign on to Tricare and see the approval, I've done so several times in the last 6 weeks. But they say they don't have it (which I just found out this week after having called 4 times to find out what the delay in scheduling was and was never told about the insurance thing). I had Tricare refax the approval and they still didn't get it. Tricare suggested the office log in and then can see it online but they won't do that. I'm just fed up and feel like I'm doing all the legwork. Aren't they supposed to be there to help with this? Has anyone here switched surgeons? Is it allowed or will insurance make me stick to the surgeon I'm already approved with?

Does anyone has feedback on either of these Drs? I'm thinking about changing surgeons and of the very limited choices I have for Tricare in DFW, their office seems to be the most recommended. How is Presby Plano, and is an overnight stay typical with them? All the posts I've read from people banded there stayed overnight, which I'm actually in favor of. Thanks for any info!

I just got approved and don't have a date yet but things are shaping up to be scheduled in July. I have my psych and then the nutrionist next week and then I'll have my date. I can't wait!

I got approved for the band and the doc said the next step is a psych evaluation. They have a pysch that works in their office, but she does not accept insurance. They said I can used my own pysch if I'd rather have insurance pay, but I'm lost. I know how to find a psych on my insurance, I just don't know what to tell them I need to meet the requirements of the surgery. What kind of evaluation do I need? Has anyone found a pych on their own, and if you did how? I'm in DFW (Arlington) so if anyone has recommendations in this area, please share. But really, just any advice on how to find the psych would be much appreciated.

Wow, Mscafe32, thank you! My insurance does have out-of-network services, I hadn't even though about that. I ad gone online and printed the listed of providers, I just had no clue what to say when I called to see if they could do this. You are a wealth of knowledge!

I went to the lap band surgeon Friday 5/1/10 and they said everything looked good for surgery and they would submit the letter. So, of course every day since then I've been checking the website to see if the letter had been submitted. Yesterday, still nothing showing in my authorizations. So I checked today and there's my authorization request with an "A" by the status. So I click to look and at the top it has a case/order number and under that case category APPROVED!!!! Is this for real? Has anyone had this happen before? Your authorization goes from not even showing to approved in 1 day, skipping right over pending? Or does the approved mean something else, like the procedure is approved but not necessarily my case? I'm just freaking out because that was so FAST and I'm afraid to get my hopes up. Am I really approved? REALLY?!

Uh, yeah your PCM refers younot your PMS.:embarrassed: Just thought I should clear that up.

Cakes, I'm 5'4 246 and classified as a small frame. I haven't been diagnosed with any comorbs, but I did tell my surgeon about shortness of breath, pain in my joints and I had gestational diabetes. There's also family history of diabetes, high blood pressure, arthrtis,apnea and everything else under the sun. I'm not sure if any of that helped with the approval (I'm assuming at this point that I am). I have reserve select, which is like Standard, so I don't have a PCM. But from what I understand from reading the boards, the PMS refers you to the lap band surgeon and the surgeon submits the letter.

Either the doubts are normal or I'm a weirdo righ along with you. One day I'm sure this is the right decision, the next I'm wondering how this is going to workwhen all the diets have not. The thing that everybody keeps telling me is that you're full on much less full, so as long as you let the lapband do it's job and don't keep stuffing yourself, it will work. I have a SIL who had the surgery and she has done wondeful. When we go out I notice she east about half her plate and is full. Before, she would have right there with me eating the whole plate and dessert. Seeing how it works for somebody can really help with the doubts. I went to the surgeon Friday and am waiting to see if my insurance is approved. After that, there's no turning back.

I'm in the same boat. I went for my consult with the lap-band surgeon today and they said I'm in the range and are submitting to Tricare. I'm really worried that I won't be approved because the only comorb I have is reflux and that's not listed as a qualifier with Tricare. I had bloodwork done a week ago and haven't heard back from that. It sounds relly messed up, but I'm hoping for high cholesterol or thyroid problems to up my chances of approval.

Hi. My name is Leigh, I live in the Dallas, TX area with my husbans, 20 month old and 3 furbabies. I'm not banded yet but have decided I want to be in the near future. At this point, I'm still just finding out everything I can about insurance, cost, pros and cons, pretty much everything. I have a SIL who already had the procedure and is doing really great.

Has anyone been banded in the DFW area with Tricare Reserve? I'm jsut starting to learn everything I can about being banded and there is so much information just about insurance. Has anyone gotten approved by Tricare and found a Dr. in Dallas/Ft Worth that accepts it? What were your out of pocket expenses? How long did approval take? Anything else I should be concerned about?