Why All The Waiting?!?

[audreycat123 59]

I met for my first consultation last Friday and was told I was a perfect candidate for Lapland. I had already researched and thought about the surgery extensively. I was then told that my insurance covered the surgery. Great! Let's do this! Then they gave me a schedule of about six different appointments with different people and told I could be scheduled for surgey after the very last appointment...in late November! If my insurance does not require a waiting period, then why would the surgeon? I am wanting to get pregnant six months after being banded, but i am already almost 36. I feel like I am racing against my biological clock and now I have to push pause for five months. Any ideas or suggestions?

[jen_1381 446]

The whole process takes time. I think it's their sneaky way of making sure you don't rush into it When I went to the WLS Seminar, they gave me a timeline and the average process took 6 months through their program. I got it all done in 2 months but didn't need the sleep study and some other tests. I also was VERY prompt in getting everything back to them and took the first available appointments that everyone had and rearranged my schedule.

[2muchfun 8,927]

I would imagine that patients who rush into banding have a higher rate of fallout and failure than those who move into this slower. And if you plan on getting pregnant 6 months after banding it seems like you should wait till after the birth to be banded. You won't lose much weight before getting pregnant and that 6 months is an important period where you learn so much about how to eat with you band. Won't you have to put your band journey on hold while you are pregnant? It's difficult to eat for two when you can barely eat for one?

Book learning and reading is important but the experience is a whole different ballgame.

tmf

[Phranp 46]

Audrey, I don't want to be the bearer of bad news but ... unless you are one of the truly lucky ones, you won't have had enough fills to even know you have the band in 6 months. You can probably get the surgery sooner if you change doctors (provided your insurance doesn't make you wait and you can get all the tests done in a few weeks). But once you have the band it is a process to get to the "green zone" or "sweet spot". Took me 8 or 9 months to get there.

I would suggest that you read on this site about pregnancy and the band. I believe there's a forum for it.

I saw 4 docs before I found one that would take my insurance. The first doc said I could have the surgery in a couple of weeks ... but ... he wasn't on my insurance so I had to keep looking. You may have heard over and over again that "the lapband is not a magic bullet" ugggghhh ... many get tired of reading/hearing that. Bottom line, it's true, trust me.

I honestly wish you the very best. I hope things work out to your satisfaction. I also hope that you will read everything you can get your hands on about the band - knowlege IS power - that is never more true than when it comes to the band.

~Fran

[smalltown 15]

I agree with 2muchfun u should wait and get band after baby I'm all most 6months out and have not yet hit my sweet spot yet and am only 20lbs down so far it's not a fast process for most but wish u all the luck in whatever u decide

[melissamiranda 8]

I met for my first consultation last Friday and was told I was a perfect candidate for Lapland. I had already researched and thought about the surgery extensively. I was then told that my insurance covered the surgery. Great! Let's do this! Then they gave me a schedule of about six different appointments with different people and told I could be scheduled for surgey after the very last appointment...in late November! If my insurance does not require a waiting period' date=' then why would the surgeon? I am wanting to get pregnant six months after being banded, but i am already almost 36. I feel like I am racing against my biological clock and now I have to push pause for five months. Any ideas or suggestions?[/quote']

I understand your frustration but like everyone else is saying, the more time it takes, the more time you have to prep yourself for the surgery...also, you really shouldnt try to get pregnant for at least a year after being banded. The first year is the most crucial year with the band. I personally believe you will set yourself up for failure if you rush into getting pregnant right away. I've seen so many women do it before and they regret ever rushing into it. Im sure you've read that in your research, because I'm at a child bearing age and the doctor told me its very much contraindicated for me to get pregnant in the first year of being banded. I wish you well on your weight loss journey. Best of luck.

-Melissa M.

[245hot 7]

I understand your frustration but like everyone else is saying' date=' the more time it takes, the more time you have to prep yourself for the surgery...also, you really shouldnt try to get pregnant for at least a year after being banded. The first year is the most crucial year with the band. I personally believe you will set yourself up for failure if you rush into getting pregnant right away. I've seen so many women do it before and they regret ever rushing into it. Im sure you've read that in your research, because I'm at a child bearing age and the doctor told me its very much contraindicated for me to get pregnant in the first year of being banded. I wish you well on your weight loss journey. Best of luck.

-Melissa M.[/quote']

I thank your getting banded 4the wrong reason please do your research!!!!

[audreycat123 59]

Thanks to all of you for your responses and concern. One of my main questions to the doc during consult was how long should I wait before trying to conceive after surgery and he said that around six months should be enough. That's how I came up with that time frame. I was an overweight overeater for my last pregnancy and I really don't want to feel that way again. My knees are in terrible shape, they hurt all the time, and I know that I will feel better and be healthier after this surgery. I will try to wait patiently I guess, but I don't understand why I must wait so long for a procedure that is to improve my health. No one would advocate a patient waiting for heart surgery just to prove that they are serious about changing their lifestyle. I want to get my new life started now. It seems frivolous to make me wait for no medical reason.

[Jean McMillan 2,973]

Most surgeons require a lot of pre-op tests and evaluations to make sure you're healthy enough to survive the surgery. In my opinion, that is not at all a waste of time.

[steph1967 13]

Your dr may have gave you that time frame. But by making you have the waiting period my guess is he is trying to make sure you have time to think about the decisions you are making.everyone is different some people lose quickly and some don't and you have no way of knowing. If you have the sugery and only lose 10-20 lbs in the 6 months then you really defeated the purpose of getting the band cause with pregnancy you will gain that plus some and then will you still have the mind set of going back to the lap band lifestyle after the baby? The band is a tool it is still a mindset of habits having a band doesn't mean instant weight loss. It just assists in the process of weightloss. You have to make the right choice for you maybe having a baby first then doing the lap band might be a better option then you may decide that having a healthier lifestyle for you and your child is the better way to go

[Jim1967 3,569]

Doctors and Insurance companies want to make sure you're educated and mentally and physically ready for a life long commitment. This is not like going to the Dentist for a cleaning.

[Phranp 46]

Thanks to all of you for your responses and concern. One of my main questions to the doc during consult was how long should I wait before trying to conceive after surgery and he said that around six months should be enough. That's how I came up with that time frame. I was an overweight overeater for my last pregnancy and I really don't want to feel that way again. My knees are in terrible shape, they hurt all the time, and I know that I will feel better and be healthier after this surgery. I will try to wait patiently I guess, but I don't understand why I must wait so long for a procedure that is to improve my health. No one would advocate a patient waiting for heart surgery just to prove that they are serious about changing their lifestyle. I want to get my new life started now. It seems frivolous to make me wait for no medical reason.

You're right, "no one would advocate a patient waiting for heart surgery just to prove that they are serious about changing their lifestyle". But believe me, you are talking apples and oranges. You say "I know that I will feel better and be healthier after this surgery." No, you won't. Sorry, that's not the way the lapband works. You will feel better and healthier after YOU USE THE BAND TO HELP YOU CHANGE THE WAY YOU FEEL, THINK, AND ACT, when it comes to food. I cannot stress enough how the band is just a tiny element (that can make a BIG difference) of this weight loss journey. Please, please, please do more reading about the band and what it REALLY does. Also, on the "Lapband and Pregnancy" forum on this site (scroll down you'll see it) there is a woman that is documenting her pregnancy -- her second pregnancy, but first with the band -- because she gained so much weight with her first child and doesn't want to go through that again. She may have some first hand experience that will help you. She had her first child at 36 and is now 40 or 41 and pregnant with her second.

I am not responding to your post to be argumentative. I, like the others that have replied, already have the lapband and we know what actually happens once it is placed. I am baffled that your doctor told you that pregnancy 6 months post-band would be a good thing. Maybe you are getting lapband w/plication or something like that? I hear the weight loss is faster with the "extras". What I do know is that you sound like a smart woman, and you can only get smarter if you take the time to learn about the band from bandsters. Yes, everyone's journey is different, but there are some things that we all have in common, things that we all go through after having the band placed.

Although doctors would like you to have a greater understanding of the band before you have the surgery, some people are, as they say, "from Missouri, the show me state". These people aren't going to learn how the band REALLY works until they have it placed. I don't know if you are "from Missouri", but if getting the band is the only way you will "get it", then I agree with you "Why the Wait". You are not alone. Most of us were anxious, and like myself, some of us had to wait due to insurance requirements. I started therapy before I even went to my doc, hoping to be better prepared. Did starting therapy in October help prepare me for life after the surgery the following June? For me the answer is yes because I struggle with head hunger much less after acquiring tools to change my thinking AND expectations after having the lapband placed.

Again, I wish you only the best of success on your journey.

~Fran

[audreycat123 59]

thanks fran, you make an excellent point. no one would suggest that heart surgery is a "tool" for staying healthy. You are right.

I appreciate all of your responses and will continue to research this surgery while waiting for November (if i turn up preggers then so be it), but so far when i weigh all of the bad things that i discover with all of the good things that i discover, i become even more confident that lapband could be one of the most important tools i could get to make me a healthier, happier person. and a better mother to boot.

(i doubt the band will ever make me a more patient person though!)

happy to have found these boards - sara

[maegan 51]

I am done having kids, but my surgeon highly suggested on all of the paperwork that you shouldn't get pregnant for a year. I had to jump through all of the hoops for my insurance, but it is worth it. Luckily, he made me have a sleep study done...I stopped breathing 117 times in one night!!!!! I am glad I found out I have sleep apnea. I would never have found out I had a risky disease like that if my surgeon hadn't made me go!

[Jim1967 3,569]

My Wife was considering the Band as well but when we went to the seminar they said if anyone wants to have a baby they expect you to wait 1 year post op before doing so. She passed on the band at this time. Being 34 she didn't want to wait.