What To Expect From the Start of Your Band Journey to Being Banded(;

[HollywoodPearl19 3]

Hey yall! Im Holly. I am writing this post because I can remeber being pre-band, looking for a post like this and couldnt find one anywhere. So i thought id make one for all you pre-bandsters(; It may be a little long, but I hope you get something out of it!

I decided that I wanted to have lap band surgery January 1st, 2010. I had done an extensive amount of research, online and finally decided that lap band was the best decision for me.

I immediatley made an appointment for a consultation with Dr.Paul Macik in Atlanta, Ga. I chose Dr. Macik because of the amazing reviews I read, his credentials, success ratesand his ability to perform the sinlge incision procedure.

While waiting for my consult date to arrive, I began doing research on insurance approval. I decided to call my insurance to see if they would cover the cost of surgery, I spoke with a male rep who quickly told me 'NO" that my insurance plan wouldnt cover the surgery. I was heartbroken and immediatley began researching surgery loans. A few days after the first call , something told me to try calling again, so I did. This time I had a female rep who was very patient and kind, she answered each of my questions and looked into my plan to find that I did qualify(; I think one of the mainr easons why she was so patient is because she had bypass herself and felt my pain!

Consultation date 1/1710: Somewhat simple. I met with the Dr. for about all of 10 minutes, he told me Lap Band would be perfect for me, I asked a few questions about surgery, preop, etc , he answered them all and I was on my way(;

I met with his wonderful office manager, Tiffany who gave me my preop packet and checklist, which had to be completed before they would try for insurance approval.

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AND HERES WHERE THE BREAK COMES..I am busy college student, involved in many different activites, organizations on campus and I also have a part time job so It took me roughly 5 months to start my preop checklist. I encourage you to make your appts ahead of time for preop stuff because sometimes there can be up to a month of wait time for them.

I will sum up each of the appointments.

Nutrition: I had an amazing nutritionist, Megan Moyer, in ATL, I only met with her once for 30 min, but learned so much from her. She asked about my eating habits, my excercise habits, my relationship with food and she gave me multiple tips(; She wrote a letter for my insurance company saying she believed I would benefit and I was on my way

Psychological: Dr.Stephen Walfish, very nice, an honest man, he did not run around the bush, he gives it to you straight, but in a very kind way lol. I spent roughly 45 min taking a VERY long multiple choice test which asks you questions such as "Have you ever contemplated suicide? Are you typically happy? Do you have anger issues? Have you been abused? Do you have bouts of deppression" After taking the test, I went into his office and spoke with him for about 45 min. He went over the test answers, graded it, and then asked me questions about why i wanted surgery, what did I expect from surgery, what are my plans after surgery. he also asked things about sex and how I thought myh boyfriend would react to increased male attention..I thought he was great and after our last 45 min session he also wrote a letter to my insurance company.

Upper GI: I had the test done at Emory Jonhs Creek Hospital in Atlanta. If I remember correctly, you arent allowed to eat prior to the procedure. They take you back, you have to strip down to nothing and put a hospital gown, they take you into the xray room and give you a nice big cup of barium. They instruct you to sip the mixture and then they take pics of it as it goes down. They also have you lie on the xray table and flip from side to side as they take pictures. And before you know it-->its over! PLEASE drink lots of Water after this test, because the chalky mixture can harden in your tummy and cause sever Constipation if you dont drink alot of water.

PCP referral: I used my OBGYN. This was the easiest of my preapproval test because relaly no test was neeeded, I tols my doctor that I wanted to have surgery and why, I found out that she too had the lap band procedure (; Something that I did to make it easier for her was to type up a list prior to my appt, the list included.

My name, my dr.s name, my heightm weight birthdate, my medical history (sicknesses, previous physicians and their addresses and phone numbers), family medical history, my weight history :including weight loss attempts, diets attempted, gym memberships(dates joined), and weight lost with all attempts.I also included reasons why the surgery would help me .

Turns out all she had to do was take the note Id composed for her, write a small note on the bottom and sign it!

By this time, It was near the end of October when all those test were completed, I had all the results faxed to my surgeons office and I paid a $250.00 fee to my surgeon to cover them submitting packet for approval, the fee also covered an appeal (if they didnt approve me initially).

So then I wait, and wait, and wait and after only FOUR days--> I was approved(;

I had surgery 12/10/2010 and can honestly say it was the best decision Ive ever made(;

[JaimeMarie 0]

Thanks! This was very informative!

[Whey ready 1]

I too brought a letter to my pcp with all my reasons why I wanted/needed the band, all the diets I had tried, my emotional battle with food, and a summary of all I had done to get ready for the band and then only needed the pcp letter of recomendation...he said it was the best thing ever as it made his job so much easier. The upper gi before surgery is a little weird...drinking thin,thick,lots of barrium, being turned, twisted, and flipped but its not that bad and I was even able to raise both arms and use one hand to drink n one to pinch my nose, but now after the stuff you have to drink post op, it was nothing! Hope this helps, I looked for this info on here pre op and couldn't find it :/