aromanek

Thank you very much. I think IBX is different than Federal Blue Cross. I am hoping that the coverage is the same though.

Hello, my name is Tony. I come from a family of thin, active people and only my oldest sister and I are heavy. I have been heavy nearly all my life. The only time I wasn’t heavy was for my first few years of the Navy. My recruiter put me on a one can of soup per day diet. I literally only ate one whole can of soup a day for months because I wanted to join the military so bad, I didn’t really see how awful this method is, and all he cared about was making his quota. At my boot camp graduation I weighed 199lbs and I looked and felt great. Eight years later, I have gained back all of my weight and more. I have been losing weight extremely slow but I have managed to get back down to 295lbs with a BMI of 39. That is a small feat considering I was so unhealthy I developed Type 2 Diabetes. To think I have gained so much back and to develop diabetes at 28 is sickening. I heard stories of people getting LAP-BAND®® at my work so I started to look into it and as soon as I made up my mind to get it I was laid off. That was 8 months ago. The company I worked for reorganized and changed their insurance plans around so the company I had is no longer an option. I tried getting approval through the VA hospital, but obesity surgery isn't allowed in my region, unfortunately. They have awesome care here at the Albuquerque VA Hospital so I can't be too upset with them. J Well, today I was offered my old job back! I can't wait to get the ball rolling again. My new options are Independence Blue Cross PPO and Aetna. I haven't made too much headway into figuring out which one would be better (any advice would be awesome). If they both are a dead end I will just max out my flex spending account and do it that way. My sister's LAP-BAND®® surgery was a great success and she looks and feels great, much like I did once upon a time, so whatever the method I will do it!

I think I can understand what you mean about the family situation, Maria. My sister had lapband done in February and it caused a huge issue in my family for some dumb reason. My parents and my other sister and my brother (who all have never been heavy a day in their lives) were totally against it. My sister had to tell them flat out that she wasn't asking for their permission for her to be healthy and I have never respected my sister more. Now that I am at the beginning stages of my lapband journey, I think it is sad to see that it still upsets them a little. Like my sister said, I am not asking for anybodies permission (well except my insurance company lol).

I am having one heck of a time with the VA. In multiple regions lap band is an approved and is a readily offered surgery, but in New Mexico where I live it isn't preformed here at this location. Unfortunately, I was laid off and lost my civilian insurance so I thought I would try the VA. My doctor agreed that I am a good candidate for it since I am diabetic. My patient advocate stated that I couldn't go out of region to a VA medical center that does it, but I could be referred to a local surgeon. Although that doesn't make much sense, I have tried to get this process going, but no one here knows how to do this type of referral. Has anyone on here received lap band through the VA? It is super frustrating to be told that I am eligible, but no info exists on how to get it done.

Thank you very much, I appreciate your kind words.