A few questions

[tfgafg1 0]

Hello, so last month (Dec 2010) I decided it was time to do something.

I am a 33 year old single mom who is 5'9 and weighs 284 lbs. I have always been heavy but I have now realized that it is out of control. I keep thinking about all of the things that I can't do being overweight: skiing (something that I used to love), horseback riding, going to Nordstrom's and shopping NOT in the plus size section and the many activities I can not do with my daughter. My biggest fear is having to ask the airline stewardess for an seatbelt expander on a flight.

So I have made an appointment with an insurance approved surgeon in my state...I have United Heath Care and they pay 90% of all costs after my deductible. The earliest I can get in is Feb 9th because I will be away on business during the January session.

My BMI is just over 40 so I am pretty sure insurance will approve the surgery. But can someone give me a timeline.... like from when they attended the seminar to when the met with the surgeon to what tests were required and when surgery was actually scheduled.

Thanks for your responses!

[cheryl2586 3,053]

I went to my seminar in May of 09 six months to your primary, six months of a nutritionist and then after that its submitted to your insurance after approval it is usually schedule the next month so from May til December 14 09 was my surgery. My preops included stress test, sleep study, a ton of labs, chest xray, upper GI yes it is a long wait but unless your paying cash pretty much all insurances make you wait six months.

[MMBHealthyMe 0]

I went to my seminar in May of 09 six months to your primary, six months of a nutritionist and then after that its submitted to your insurance after approval it is usually schedule the next month so from May til December 14 09 was my surgery. My preops included stress test, sleep study, a ton of labs, chest xray, upper GI yes it is a long wait but unless your paying cash pretty much all insurances make you wait six months.

6

I too have UHC, I went to my first seminar in April 2010 and my surgery was 12/31/10. Same as the last post, six months diet and nutrition appointments, six months support group, labs, chest xray, EGD, cardiac clearance, but the six months helps you wrap your mind around the changes you need to make for this journey to be successful. Stick with it. I am 47 5'7" 279 lbs and I'm already down 11 lbs from my 2 week pre-op appointment. My BMI is 41, and I have no co-morbidities so I couldn't afford to loose much weight before hand. I too am tired of shopping plus size and having to work so hard to find cute clothes.

Good luck on your journey!

[JerseyGirl80 12]

Hello, so last month (Dec 2010) I decided it was time to do something.

I am a 33 year old single mom who is 5'9 and weighs 284 lbs. I have always been heavy but I have now realized that it is out of control. I keep thinking about all of the things that I can't do being overweight: skiing (something that I used to love), horseback riding, going to Nordstrom's and shopping NOT in the plus size section and the many activities I can not do with my daughter. My biggest fear is having to ask the airline stewardess for an seatbelt expander on a flight.

So I have made an appointment with an insurance approved surgeon in my state...I have United Heath Care and they pay 90% of all costs after my deductible. The earliest I can get in is Feb 9th because I will be away on business during the January session.

My BMI is just over 40 so I am pretty sure insurance will approve the surgery. But can someone give me a timeline.... like from when they attended the seminar to when the met with the surgeon to what tests were required and when surgery was actually scheduled.

Thanks for your responses!

I went to a seminar in July 2010, I made an appointment with the surgeon at the seminar for August 2010. At my first appointment with my doctor I was given a perscription for blood work, a chest x-ray, an EKG, a pysch evaluation, and a sleep apnea test. Every insurance is different in their requirements, I have Aetna which from what I've been told is one of the easiest insurances, they don't require a 6 month diet like some do. They just required proof of me being overweight for 2 years, my current weight to be on record for 3 visits at the surgeons office and they wanted co-morbidities. During September and October I got all my tests done. By Novemeber we were just waiting for all my test results to come in. My next visit with my Doctor (early Decemeber) I was asked when I'd like to have surgery, I decided after the holidays would be the best, so I was scheuled for early January. But due to a change of my insurance at work, I had to rush it all and wound up only having 9 days to prepare for surgery. But luckily all went well and I was banded on December 13th 2010. So in total my process was 5 months.

[Jlbrenn 1]

I have UHC too and they also paid 90% after we met the deductible. I initially saw the surgeon on 9/10 (seminar but ended up only being me so it was a consult), had an appt with dietician and psychologist ( insurance required) in October. Then had another appt with the nurse and dietician and surgeon one week prior to surgery on 12/30/10. My UHC required 5 years worth of documented weights to show I has been obese for at least 5 years... And bMI of over 40 or over 35 with other co-morbidities such as diabetes, hypertenstion,ect. That's all they required... No 6 months of diet. The surgeon ordered pre op EKG, chest X-ray, h pylori test, pregnancy test ( I'm 33), and CBC and cmp. I rarely go the the dr but I had documented weights from the chiropractor which counted

[tfgafg1 0]

So my BMI over the last 5 years has not been 40 but I have def been at least 50 lbs (thinking back 5 years ago) and it gradually got to the point where it is now (42 BMI).... do you have to have a BMI of 40 for the 5 years?

I have UHC too and they also paid 90% after we met the deductible. I initially saw the surgeon on 9/10 (seminar but ended up only being me so it was a consult), had an appt with dietician and psychologist ( insurance required) in October. Then had another appt with the nurse and dietician and surgeon one week prior to surgery on 12/30/10. My UHC required 5 years worth of documented weights to show I has been obese for at least 5 years... And bMI of over 40 or over 35 with other co-morbidities such as diabetes, hypertenstion,ect. That's all they required... No 6 months of diet. The surgeon ordered pre op EKG, chest X-ray, h pylori test, pregnancy test ( I'm 33), and CBC and cmp. I rarely go the the dr but I had documented weights from the chiropractor which counted

[Shelley64 26]

I went to the bariatric class in Sept. My BMI was just under 40 but I have high blood pressure, cholesterol and pre-diabetes. I made an appointment with the doctor on Oct 27 and discussed the procedure with him and the nurses. I filled out all the questions on the psych evaluation and completed a medical history form. They set up an appt with the psyciatric counselor for Nov 18 but also set up my tentative surgery date for Jan 11th. I went back to the doctor on Dec 22nd and they took blood, did an EKG, showed me the day surgery place, updated all my info in the computer so I'm ready to go. I go in at 6am on Jan 11th for the surgery. I'm on day 2 of my pre-op diet which can't go fast enough. Tonight is going to be hard because I'm hungry and a Protein shake just doesn't sound that good. Oh well, it must be done and I CAN DO IT!

good luck to you in the future

[crossroads 0]

Hello, so last month (Dec 2010) I decided it was time to do something.

I am a 33 year old single mom who is 5'9 and weighs 284 lbs. I have always been heavy but I have now realized that it is out of control. I keep thinking about all of the things that I can't do being overweight: skiing (something that I used to love), horseback riding, going to Nordstrom's and shopping NOT in the plus size section and the many activities I can not do with my daughter. My biggest fear is having to ask the airline stewardess for an seatbelt expander on a flight.

So I have made an appointment with an insurance approved surgeon in my state...I have United Heath Care and they pay 90% of all costs after my deductible. The earliest I can get in is Feb 9th because I will be away on business during the January session.

My BMI is just over 40 so I am pretty sure insurance will approve the surgery. But can someone give me a timeline.... like from when they attended the seminar to when the met with the surgeon to what tests were required and when surgery was actually scheduled.

Thanks for your responses!

I was just banded on 12/28/10 so I am relatively new at all of this. I also have United Healthcare and am in GA. Their guidelines may vary by state. In order for them to pay for my surgery I had to go through 6 mos. of seeing a Dr. once a month and discussing weight loss and diet, 6 mos. of seeing a therapist once a month, a psych evaluation and a few other minor things they required. I went to see the surgeon that I had chosen at the beginning of my journey and actually ended up having to have an esophagus surgery done to build a value prior to my Lapband surgery.

Once I fulfilled all of the ins. companies requirements they paid for my surgery with not problems.

The other thing they required was that I have my surgery at one of their approved Centers of Excellence.

I think I have been very lucky since I have not experienced any of the gas pains that others do and I have really had a very easy time since surgery. I go back for my post-op tomorrow and will see what he tells me is the next step.

Good luck with your journey and hope this has been some help.

[Dream on child 1]

I was just banded on 12/28/10 so I am relatively new at all of this. I also have United Healthcare and am in GA. Their guidelines may vary by state. In order for them to pay for my surgery I had to go through 6 mos. of seeing a Dr. once a month and discussing weight loss and diet, 6 mos. of seeing a therapist once a month, a psych evaluation and a few other minor things they required. I went to see the surgeon that I had chosen at the beginning of my journey and actually ended up having to have an esophagus surgery done to build a value prior to my Lapband surgery.

Once I fulfilled all of the ins. companies requirements they paid for my surgery with not problems.

The other thing they required was that I have my surgery at one of their approved Centers of Excellence.

I think I have been very lucky since I have not experienced any of the gas pains that others do and I have really had a very easy time since surgery. I go back for my post-op tomorrow and will see what he tells me is the next step.

Good luck with your journey and hope this has been some help.

[Dream on child 1]

I would like to expand on that question and ask if six months felt like too long a time, too short a time, or a perfect amount of time to prepare for the surgery. It sounds like a long time to me, but I'm curious to know what those of you who have gone through it think.

[crossroads 0]

I would like to expand on that question and ask if six months felt like too long a time, too short a time, or a perfect amount of time to prepare for the surgery. It sounds like a long time to me, but I'm curious to know what those of you who have gone through it think.

At the beginning I thought it was FOREVER! However, in retrospect, I think it was a good thing for me. It gave me time to really get my head around everything that was going to happen and understand how my life would change. Even tho I was upset that I had to wait so long, I am glad now that I did not jump into this on a whim. It is a significant life change and you need to really research it well and understand all you can ahead of time.

This is just my 2 cents. :-)

[Jlbrenn 1]

My UHC did not require the BMI to be over 40 fir the past 5 years ( because mine had not) but they were looking fir obesity for past 5 years... At least that was my plan. There are different UHc policies apparently