kelking

I too hope to be banded in August!! Just got my insurance approval letter the other day and am awaiting a call back from the surgeons office with a date. I hope it can be the first week in August....

Providers (doctors offices, hospitals....) become part of a (many times several) networks. Within these networks there are negotiated prices which they agree to accept for these services. Anything else above and beyond that negotiated price they agree to write off. I believe the reason their 'off the shelf' price is so high is to help accommodate for the number of people that do not have insurance and do not fully pay their bills. (IMHO, one of the major problems with health insurance today.) One thing that many people do not know is that there are companies out there that will help you negotiate a lower bill with or without insurance. In most cases, if they are able to negotiate you a lower bill, they will take a percentage of the savings. Here is one of those companies....INSNET (no I am not affiliated with this company...I work for a company that sells insurance and I used to have an insurance license.)

Spartan, I think the biggest thing to worry about is scaring. Sun or faux sun can cause issues with your scar tissue not healing as well. After both my gallbladder surgery and getting my appendix out, I covered my scars with the towel in order to avoid exposing them to sun.

I can't wait to feel good/better about being in a swimsuit...and then I would really love to scuba. The hard thing about being heavy is that fat floats....makes scuba a little hard.

HAL, I'm not nervous at all....just really really excited. Of course I don't have my date yet so things still have a chance to change... Keep us posted on how things go!!

I am so excited that I just can't quit grinning:biggrin:...although when the Case Manager called from the insurance company I broke down crying.... now I have to wait for the approval letter to come in the mail before the surgeons office will get me on the schedule...best case it can be 2.5 weeks/ worst case it will be a month. I'm sure this time will seem to go by sooo slow. Thank goodness things at work are crazy busy right now so that should make the time fly by. Just wanted to share my joy :biggrin: thanks for listening!!!

tigermom, can I ask when you got approval from your insurance company? I too am going to Dr. Malley and just got insurance approval today....was wondering how far out they are booking surgeries at this point. I'm hoping I won't be that far behind you, but was thinking it might be closer to the end of July...hope I'm wrong. Thanks,

Do you have your gallbladder? That was the same type of pain that I had when I ended up getting my gallbladder out. Just like a hot poker was being stuck in the middle of my back. Nothing made it go away...

I wanna be a July Bandster too!! My insurance was submitted just a week after yours so hopefully I will know something soon. Best of luck to you on your journey!!

One trick for whenever you have to cough is to hold a pillow to your stomach. This helps greatly...not sure why...but I was glad a nurse from a previous surgery had told me this. Hope you feel better soon!!

You really might want to ask this of your insurance company as each one handles this a little bit different. When I had an expense that was out of network, I ended up meeting both my in and out of network deductibles within the same year. Now I am much more careful in ensuring that all of my expenses are in network. As an aside, I too and waiting to have surgery with Dr. Malley and hope to get my BCBS approval soon. Best of luck to you!!

I agree with previous respondents that the psych visit is no big deal. The only words of caution I would throw out there is that if you are going through insurance make sure you know exactly which tests are required by your insurance company. I went in for for first visit, we chatted, I took the test she normally gives and everything was submitted to insurance. Only to then find out that my insurance had very specific tests they want me to have gone through, so I had to go back and sit through more tests...still awaiting those results to be written up and sent through insurance with a month wasted in between.

Hello All, Newbie to the boards here. I am super excited to be moving forward with these changes in my life. After my last round of losing weight a couple of years ago, my weight has done nothing but continue to rise at a steady rate. Haven't been more miserable with myself in a very long time. So, after much research I determined that the LAP-BAND® was the right path for me. I attended a information seminar on January 16th and from that point on...I knew this would be for me. I'm not looking for a miracle here, all I want is a little help in the right direction. I have since completed: gathering my weight history from various Doctors, meeting with the Psychologist (and then going back to take the proper tests) and undergoing a sleep apnea test (wow, that was eye opening. So now, I am just waiting for the insurance company to make their ruling. I hope, I hope, I hope that I will get the final ruling in time for my 40th Birthday. What a great birthday present that would be to know that I would soon be able to make a change that will allow me to begin my life again. I'll probably just continue to lurk until I have something interesting to say...like surgery being scheduled perhaps... Thanks all for being such an inspiration and for all the little nuggets of wisdom that you share.