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Hi VSG folks, My name is Bren and I'm 30 years old and from the blue grass state of Kentucky. I have three daughters and have been married to my amazing husband for nearly 11 years now. I have never been "skinny" though throughout my childhood I was athletic playing softball, basketball, gymnastics, and dancing... I loved being active. As I got older however I noticed that I wasn't as excepted as I was as a kid being the big girl who was funny and athletic. So I gave up on sports figuring it would just be easier to not be a part of it than to have to hear comments from other teams/players, etc. As an adult I found myself becoming very lazy. I have three daughters all of whom are very active and fit and healthy (I didn't want them to experience what I did..) and they would beg for me to come play with them or to go to the park, etc.. but I always found a reason why I couldn't. It broke my heart that I was such a young mom but acted as though physically I was 80 years old and disabled. I participated in program after program, diet after diet, and pill after pill but never achieved a weight loss that was significant enough to feel it. The straw that broke the camels back for me in desiding to get surgery was the day that I had an emergency appointment with my doctor.. I was having shortness of breath, my head was spinning like I was on some crazy drug, and my heart was pounding out of my chest. After some tests and such my PCP told me that I was at high risk for diabetes and that if I didn't do something soon I could be on medicines the rest of my life. This was a major problem for me because my dad who has diabetes (my hero.. not at all overweight) has been through so much with his fight, loosing his legs, slowly going blind, etc. and it breaks my heart to see him have to struggle with this. I would not let my children see me have to go through this same thing. So I made the choice that day to go see the WL specialist. I made an appointment in December went through all the battery of tests, meetings, and appointments needed to get approved by my insurance, and then was the big day.. March 30, 2012. (only 6 short months ago) I went into the hospital for surgery weighing in at a staggering 297 pounds but knew in my heart that as of that day I would never be there again! Fast forward to today.. 6 months later, I am so happy. I am so healthy! I stil have a ways to go to get to goal.. which is 150 pounds. Thus far I have lost an astonishing 106 pounds. I never imagined that I would loose that fast but am glad that by time my 1 year rolls around I will be in maintenance and hopefully setting proud at that 150 mark! I have changed everything about the way I eat, mainly because I look at food as fuel and not a drug. My appreciation for life is totally different and I am always on the move. Zumba and Aerobics 3X's a week.. and 2 days of biking/running keeps me busy.. along with being a mom and doing cross country, JV cheerleading, and basketball with my girls several times a week! I have never been happier and it's all thanks to my amazing surgeon for his great work, my husband for being so supportive of my decision to have surgery even when he loved me at my heaviest and never pushed the subject, and to myself..for having the guts to say enough was enough and getting off of my ass to get it done! It has been a great journey, some days are sweet and some are bitter.. but a lesson is learned in either, and it's in the lessons that we learn that we grown and change into the people we want to become! <3 Thanks for reading, and enjoy your journey! Many blessings and Love! Bren

I was approved for the Vertical Gastric Sleeve surgery this past summer, but suddenly I had to have emergency surgery to remove my gallbladder in June. I have BCBS IL and my copay for weight loss surgery is $1500. I am now fully healed and ready to get a surgery date. I really want to proceed with having the surgery before the year ends because my maximum out of pocket and deductible have been met due to the gallbladder issue. I usually have relatively few health issues and have never met this much before in a calender year, so I want to use that to my advantage and have the surgery before 2013. So my question is, did anyone have option for their copay? I will not be able to come up with the entire $1500 in the next month (I'm a college student and have already had to pay so many medical bills since June), yet I know co pays are due at the time of service. I plan on speaking with my surgeon's office tomorrow to ask them, but wanted to see if anyone else had any ideas or advice for my copay? I am so grateful for my approval and need to find a way to make this happen. My only 2 ideas are: 1. ask them if I can do a payment plan 2. ask them to charge the full amount on January 1, 2013 because I will have enough then on my FSA card. Not sure if I have the surgery late December if they would hold off for a few days. Thanks for any thoughts!

I am in a position where I am ready to try to revise my lap band to a sleeve surgery. My current insurance will not cover a revision or removal unless "medically necessary", and apparently extreme side and shoulder pain along with damage to the nerves that control the diaphragm is not a "medically necessary" reason for removal I am looking for an insurance company in Oregon that will cover a revision surgery, or a sleeve surgery if I can pay to have the band removed myself. I've gotten to the point of desperation, even calling various surgery centers in Oregon and asking about which insurance companies they work with has gotten me nowhere (doctor/patient confidentiality I suppose). Soooo... with that said, what companies in Oregon did you use that approved your sleeve, and what is the plan name or coverage level? Any answers would be so greatly appreciated (: