I know how your feel. my L4-L5 L5-S1 is herniated and i am unable to walk/stand for any length of time. I am constantly in pain. i see a pain mgmt Dr. Who originally was the one who brought this banding to my attention. Otherwise, I never thought to be a candidate for it. I saw several surgeons, who said I would have a hard time to be approved. Which was fine, because I did not care for any of them any way. When I found a Dr. That I like, and he happened to be in my UHC Network, I was happy. His insurance administrator told me to complete all of his pre- op testing to see if I am a candidate, then we will worry about ins. I went through intense counseling, nutritional, cardiovascular, sleep studies, pulmonary, gastro. Everything came up perfectly fine except, they found that I had Gall Stones, which my Gall Bladder was removed on 10/4/06, Then I was told that I had Mild obstructive Sleep Apnea, who would have known? With the sleep apnea, proof of dieting on my own and w/ my Primary Dr. as well as letters of medical necessity, I was approved. If you want private message and we can see if any of the things I did can help you. My approval took 1 week. Good luck Christina