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i remember when I went to the first seminar and met my soon to be doc! I was so excited after that and couldnt wait for surgery! Now it has been almost a year and I can't believe how quickly time has flown by! I hope this new year finds starts a new chapter for you! you will find so much help here and on bandster blogs! I have met some really great people bc of this band! Holler if you have any questions! Amy

@@bigbit Congrats. Can you tell me the process? Did you have to have to follow a doctor supervised weight loss plan for a specific amount of time, or did you have to involve a primary care physician? My daughter has an appointment today with a surgeon, but this is her first step since leaving Kaiser and her new insurance being Anthem BC.

Tell them UHC is NOT youR insurer, they are only the paid administrator for your company's plan. The rules of your health plan are made by your company, NOT by UHC. And your company's own plan does NOT have a specified wait. So they need to call your company's plan administrator (UHC), and give your very specific policy number to get the right info, BC UHC rules are NOT your rules, BC UHC IS NOT YOUR TRUE INSURER. UHC works for your company. It's a whole different world. And THAT'S why some people who carry a UHC card have no wait, and others with UHC have a 3-month wait, and still others have a 6-month wait. The many flavors of UHC. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Pammie Sue, How hard was it to get your surgery approved by BCBS Fed? Do you have the standard option? My BMI is around 38 but I have co-morbidities. I am nervous. I have jumped thru the hoops as far as I know. Just need to lose about five more pounds that the surgeon requires. Thank you. Melinda

I was wondering if any sleevers in the Raleigh Nc Area, had any luck with Insurance coverage and any doctors that will fight for you. I have currently finished all my testing, and had scheduled surgery for Nov. 3. Well, yesterday I was hit with a low blow. My Doc originally said he had no probplem getting the sleeve covered and it should be ok, yesterday I was told the he was told on Friday, that my insurance Empire BC/BS of Ny, said that it was considered investigational, and will not cover the sleeve. He said he asked what would be the reasons for them to cover it, he was told if I had a condition that will not allow me to get any of the other surgeries, not just because I do not like them. The bottom line is, he said he would suggest the Gastric Bypass. My heart is broken, I was so close to the sleeve I could taste it. To top it all off, he said that alot of Blue Cross plans are starting to follow the path of medicaid and stop covering any WLS. So, I feel I need to do something quick. I need to know if anyone know another Doctor in my area that will fight for me with my insurance to be sleeved? Has anyone has the experience and actually was able to do it?

Does anyone have the surgery codes for bc/bs? I have a friend who really needs them. Thanks! * I have UHC and have my codes... but I still need to lose about 75 more pounds before I consider those surgerys.

Hello, saw your above note. BC/BS that covers the Auto plant here in Kansas City HAS started covering lapband here. Unless your particular policy has an exclusion I would start the fight.

I was just denied by bcbs fed even though over bmi of 35 but was below in 2013. Any tips?

you nurses need to relax lolol... in reality.. sure you have a lot if extra info in your head that maybe u shouldn't but also that knowledge can be power...you can take better care of yourself too..but right now it's time to let go and be the patient...let them take care of you... don't give then a hard time bc you know better... and everyones trajectory is different and even unique so you can't predict what's going to happen and obsessing about all that can go wrong due to ur knowledge base isn't going to help you cope ir heal physically or emotionally....so try to let it go and get off the hamster wheel

Hi there. I am wriring on behalf of my wife.She just got banded on Friday,Nov.19.We are from Vancouver,BC,Canada. My wife is experiencing some gas pains.She was wondering how long that would last,also she is taking a week of from work,is that going to be long enough? Thank you very much for your support Concerned Husband

That is good news. When it said 55, does not mean 55 kg and what is that in lbs. Sounds good though. I sometimes have reflux, but mostly have learned it is certain foods that trigger it (chocolate comes to mind) so I tend to not eat a lot of chocolate. It sort of doesn't appeal to me anymore bc I hate that feeling of reflux and it makes it not worth it. Things that sweet are not so appealing anyway. Sometimes if I eat really sweet things I just feel kinda gross inside. I prefer sweets that are bland now. Also I know to take Prilosec if I'm eating spaghetti sauce from a jar instead of homemade, which I do rarely. I had reflux occasionally before, so I don't think it is a lot different. I also don't eat at all or drink very much before I go to bed bc if I lay down sometimes the food will want to come up which I guess is kind of a reflux. So I don't do that either bc that is an awful feeling and ruins my sleep. Like anything else you learn to adjust. Yesterday I had to eat a Whataburger chicken sandwich, just a lil of it. I just felt like my body hated it, kind of a reflux feeling for a while I guess you'd say. I ate it out of necessity bc I couldn't get a good meal and I didn't have much with me to eat. YUCK. You just learn not to eat those things often. It is more of a feeling like crap, I have to eat fast food. Nothing appealing about it to me. Low nutrition in it, chance of getting reflux, etc. I'd rather eat good food than that. I have heard of doctors using a 40 boughie to give more room to help prevent reflux symptoms, but my doctor would not give me any bigger than a 34 and I would say I have mild reflux. It is not a huge problem and I wind up taking a PPI rarely, like twice a month. I probably took it that often before surgery too, but I ate much worse and much more then.

My doc said that bc ca wouldn't cover lapband for bmi over 50 - my bmi is 43 and he said no problem being banded -he didn't try and talk me into bypass (he does both) he was also very impressed that i had done my research...

I was banded in October, and post op weight loss has been verrry slow... and 100% MY FAULT, not my bands. I did the exact opposite of what I was supposed i.e. ate plenty of ice cream amongst other things. I was very frustrated with myself, but came to realize that I love having my band. Absolutely love it. It motivated me to get back on track quicker, and drag my ass to the gym. I like having it there as a (sometimes annoying) reminder that I chose this to help me. So now I am doing everything right, and have been for a few weeks and haven't lost any weight, but that's ok, I will. How can I not? I'll just keep at it, and I know it will come off. This is just for people so fed up with their band they regret, hopefully a little inspiration to keep going, because I know I will. :thumbup:

Hey Danny! From what I have "gleaned" from other posts, United Health Care is paying for more Bands than BC/BS...just an intuition...not based on fact at all. If you know the plan numbers, you can usually go online for coverage information. The CDT code for Lap Band is 43843. Good Luck!

Hi Sunny, Nice to see someone else from Nebraska. I am still in the insurance phase. I plan on having my done either at Creighton or at UNMC here in Omaha. I talked to my insurace company and they still have not recieved my pre-auth paperwork yet. UNMC tells me check by in two weeks and if BC/BS still doesn't have it, then they will resend it. Why can't they just do it now? I guess after thinking about doing WLS for about 8 months, including the hours spent researching, I can wait a few more weeks. I just want to get things started. Hope to "hear" from ya soon,

After the trauma to the muscle in my belly, I having a hard time bending over bc gravity pulls on it. Is anyone else having trouble? I can't lay down in bed, it's too much for that one muscle.

Ummm... You're maybe not losing Bc you're "eating whatever you want". Anyway, try less than 50 carbs a day. You'll start losing again.

I burp much more than I ever did and my stomach growls when I haven't fed it in about 4-5 hours. I am a little over 2 weeks post band and eat very little and what I do eat is all protein. The doctor says I am doing great but when I eat too fast I do get the chest tightness especially if I am full (5 bites).

After me doing research on the glucose meds its ironic they have starch fillers an sugars. Which affect glucose numbers. I was wondering if you eat red meat an watch the lunchmeats. I also use a organic liguid cinammon suppliment instead of capsules bc of the filler issue. Just sharing. I still add a squirt of the liquid suppliment to my coffee every morning. It doesnt have strong fcinammon flavor its just the supplement. Keps glucose in chk..thought i would share..

Hi there. Seems like you are doing brilliantly on your post op diet. It seems to me we Have less post opening input in the UK than in the USA. Any who, got sleeved on 29th May and fed up with fluids! Can't wait to get to puree - don't say that often. Keep up the good work and enjoy your new life.

Hi Jacksbanster, I was banded back in 2004 and weight loss was great. I went from 322 pounds to 140 pounds. In 2010 my band seem to stop working and i started to gain weight (plus I stopped following the bandster rules) but that is because again I didn't feel I had the control the band gave me originally. Anyway, after gaining 60 pounds I was fed up and decided to investigate if others where experiencing the same thing with the band and if there were other options out there for me to look into. So I did a lot of reading and research and found out about the plication surgery. So I met with my Lap Band doctor and he told me more about this new investigational surgery called Plication. Fast forward, I had the surgery Dec 8th 2011. The surgery was a success, recovery was a breeze, the liquid diet was hard, but I got through it. My first post op visit I had lost 8 pounds. Then I got walking pneumonia and had to go on prednisone - this made me ravenously hungry and of course I regained all the weight I had lost back. I was so disappointed and frustrated that I wanted to die. But my doctor told me that prednisone is know for weight gain and I'll get back on track soon. So fast forward, my next appointment with him I had only lost 4 pounds which did not make me happy because before I had lost 8 and now I was starting all over and at a slower pace. It is now Feb 16th 2012 and I've not gotten on the scale because I don't feel like I've lost any weight. All my clothing fits the same and I just don't see any change and I've not weighed myself since my last fill. I've had two fills since my plication surgery and I'm still hungry (more than) I thought I would be with the band and the plication. This is a different experience than when I had the lap band surgery, the lap band surgery had the weight come off very quickly. I didn't even have to think about dieting I just wasn't hungry. With this surgery (albeit it is a revision of the previous band, new band with more capacity, and the plication) I'm not as pleased as I had expected. With all that said I think my expectations need to be adjusted. I wonder if people who have had the band and have had some type of complication with it (slippage, erosion, etc) it the pouch that is above the stomach is premanently stretched out of shape. I don't have the answer I just know that the experience is not the same. I'm having to really monitor what I eat and exercise everyday. So I eat around 900 to 1000 calories a day, and I exercise on the stairmaster for an hour/ or I go for a jog. I know that I need to incorporate some weight training but I'll just have to get to it when I can. As for your questions above: How was your recovery? Recovery was great. The first couple of days there was a little pain but after that it was a breeze. How soon did you go back to work? Surgery was on a Thursday I went back to work on the following Wednesday. Do you follow a low carb diet? I followed the liquid diet they put me on for about 4 weeks. Since then I've tried everything - right now I'm basically eatting lean cuisines or smart ones. But I think I'm going to try a one week Medi fast - we will see. Right now I'm so hungry between meals I doubt if I can pull that one off. Have you had to have any fills in your band? Yes I've had 2 fills since my surgery and they don't seem to have made that much of a difference. The doctors, are being cautious because they don't want me to get too tight and have another band slippage.. I understand that but in the meantime I wish I had more restriction. How is your hunger level? Higher than I thought it would be. But if I try to stay on an eat every 4 to 5 hour schedule I do okay. How much can you eat before you feel "full" If I allowed myself I could eat a lot. The think is I count every calorie that goes into my mouth. I use www.fatsecret.com they have an incredible food database - almost everything you can put into your mouth in in their database, So that helps. I hope that my story has helped you and I will keep you informed on my progress - I hope that you will do the same. Regards, Willowsdoweep

Hi there, I'm not in NYC but am a native NY'er now living in LA. I was banded at NYU in 2008 -- my revision surgery is scheduled for March 6th -- I'm also in month 3 of the 6 month diet. (Also, a fellow BC/BS). Where are you having your surgery done?

You're right about the Simply Chips. They had the worst reviews, and that was one of them. I'm interested in the Quest chips bc they are comparable to their bars, which were hard for me to get past a few bites, and a quick way to get some protein. I also agree with focusing on more natural protein sources, but I'm looking for some variety and "treats" that will fulfill some head cravings while still providing nutritional value. Do you happen to have any good recipes for puréed foods? I saw the ricotta bake and refried Beans, but looking for more. Thanks :-)

Banana. You did not deserve the unprofessional scolding. Could your hormonal issue be treated by a family practitioner? All of us have experience people that value appearance. It's fed to us daily. We are bombarded with the message we are not good enough just to sell us a products. The only validation you need comes from you. The rest of the world can bite it.

It's funny how each dr is different. I was sleeved on the 3rd and have been on liquids. I am allowed to start soft solids on Sat (which cannot come fast enough bc hunger pangs are killing me).