Lower BMI Bandsters!

[Bikergirl 0]

Did you figure out your bmi yourself or did you go to a website and plug in your numbers to figure out your bmi?

I thought this would be a good thread to ask. I know the formula for calculating BMI and mine is 35-36ish with the formula but wouldn't different bodytypes change that? I am apple shape and thinking that this is not accurate. I was wondering if anyone's dr ever used a different method of calculating BMI. I've heard of weighing in Water and by measurments but couldn't find any info anywhere.

Christel

[2BBANDED 0]

Hi everyone! I'm from Mi. and I'm new to this so I hope you get this. I too have a lower BMI. It's around 33. I'm hoping to find a Dr. here in Mi. to do my surgery although it would be nice to go on a vacation...lol.

Well before I go on we'll see if I did this right.

Bye

[November Lily 0]

Congrats on the 2 pound loss Audrey. Hello everyone else.

First day of food today (well legit food) - I just had sushi - it has never tasted so good before.

I put on 1 kilo in the mushie stage but Im back on the wagon now and hope Ill lose weight - so many more options than in the mushie stage.

[christellini 0]

Bikergirl,

I plugged my numbers in on a website. I confused bodyfat % for BMI though so I guess your BMI is what it is. Unless anyone knows anything different???

[Oregondaisy 2,021]

I'm in Hillsboro. I went to a seminar yesterday at OWLS (affiliated with Legacy Good Sam) and I think they quoted 20k...if I do a self pay they would Not be my first choice, too spendy. 10k sounds reasonable since I wouldn't have to travel by air, where in Oregon are you?

I am in Coos Bay/North Bend. There are a lot of people that come from the

Portland area to get banded by Dr. Tersigni. Two gals that got banded the same day I did are both from there. The 10,000 covers all your after care for a year. You do have to pay for a pshyc eval. which cost me $75 and I had a little bit of lab work I had to pay for. There's a chance your insurance would pay the lab work if your primary care doctor ordered it. Oh and the day after surgery, the hospital charges $200 for a swallow test. Blue Cross made them drop the price to $160 for me. So all in all, it's closer to 11,000. I am not exactly sure what Dr. Ortiz in Mexico charges, but at least you would be closer to home for your aftercare.

[Monkey 0]

I'm not banded yet. But I'm going to a bariatric group to help meet the requirements of my insurance. The goal is not to lose weight during the program, but to change lifestyle and eating habits so the days after the surgery are not a shock! I think it's great, just making the time is tough. My BMI is 40 right now. I'm still not sure my insurance will authorize the band, but the dr.'s office said they would help me.

My question is this. . .I thought I would never be able to eat bread, rice and Pasta after the surgery. How are is everyone doing eating the starch/carbs??????

I'm also considering having surgery in MX if my insurance does not approve it in the U.S. Could you advise how expensive it was and how difficult was it to make the arrangements.

[katschai 0]

Hi - getting banded 4/20. I have been exercising 30-40 min 4-6 days a week since may and nothing, down a little then back up. But after reading everything I am a bit worried about not losing a significant amount of weight, since the exercise has not made any significant impact on my weight, hope the restriction does the trick. :nervousKathy

[SIENAK45 0]

Hello,

I Actually Gained A Little Weight Before Going To My Apt. Then Realised That Since I Was Self Pay , You Only Have To Have A Bmi Of Over 35. My Bmi Is Now 37 And I Am Scheduled For Surgery May 7th. I Am Counting The Days. Not Looking Forward To The One Week Of liquid diet. Any Tips On How You Guys Got Threw It.

Thanks

Siena

[momlambert 77]

Not Looking Forward To The One Week Of liquid diet. Any Tips On How You Guys Got Threw It.

Thanks

Siena

Oh man. liquids are the worst. Today was my first day of "full liquids" vs. "clear liquids" since my Monday surgery. I made it! Tomorrow I get to start mushies. Am I excited! One thing that got me through Clear Liquids was the thought that lots of people have to be on that diet for a week or more BEFORE surgery. I felt lucky for only having to do six days. Another thing is that I haven't really felt hungry. Hunger isn't as much of a problem as not feeling satisfied--that's definitely the bigger problem. Another thing that really helped me is the realization that I could do permanent damage to myself and the band if I didn't let it heal properly. That's a huge incentive! Good luck to you. YOU CAN DO IT!

[Bikergirl 0]

We ARE NOT suppose to eat bread, rice and Pasta because of the type of carbs it is, however; we had girls night out last night and we went to a mexican restaurant. I started solids on Thursday, and I ordered seafood enchiladas with rice, refried Beans and lettuce/tomatoe salad. I did eat some of all, but was not able to eat the whole thing at all. I brought more home than I ate. Now I will not have any bread, rice or Pasta for awhile. We can't eat them everyday, maybe special occasions.

I don't think depriving yourself from food helps you (mentally). Moderation is the key - making healthier choices, wheat noodles instead of regular. We are making a lifestyle change not a diet!!!

I'm not banded yet. But I'm going to a bariatric group to help meet the requirements of my insurance. The goal is not to lose weight during the program, but to change lifestyle and eating habits so the days after the surgery are not a shock! I think it's great, just making the time is tough. My BMI is 40 right now. I'm still not sure my insurance will authorize the band, but the dr.'s office said they would help me.

My question is this. . .I thought I would never be able to eat bread, rice and pasta after the surgery. How are is everyone doing eating the starch/carbs??????

I'm also considering having surgery in MX if my insurance does not approve it in the U.S. Could you advise how expensive it was and how difficult was it to make the arrangements.

[Want2get_banded 0]

Hi everyone!

I am in unfamiliar territory here, so be nice .

I have done a LOT of research on the Lap Band procedure, and have heard only a few stories of low BMI patients being insurance approved for the band. I am currently 4'11 and i weight roughly 168-170 pounds (depending on what time of the month i weigh in) and my BMI is currently 35.3 & I want to get banded. I have struggled with my weight for 8 years now and at a recent dr's appt, i was warned that If i keep gaining weight at the rate i am ( about 6 to 7 pounds per month) i risk developing diabetes. I have contacted Dr. Carter who's practice is in Arlington, Tx to see if he thinks i am good candidate for the band. There are asking for LOADS and LOADS of information and documentation in order for me to get approval. #1 problem, I do not have a PCP i usually use my ob/gyn as my primary health care provider, and i usually only see her once or twice a year. She has never truly monitored my weight nor has she supervised any of the numerous diets i have attempted. Is there any other way for approval that you guys may know of? I am getting down right desperate here as i don't want to have to wait another 6 months to a year to have my op. :help:

P.S. does anyone here have bluecross blueshield insurance, and if so were you approved for this op even with a low bmi?

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[HelenC 0]

I had a BMI of 37, BC/BS of IL (Plan 121), and I was approved. However, I did have to do 6 months of physician supervised diet before they'd approve it. Fortunately, my doctor said "just show up once a month, weigh, and give me a log of what you allegedly ate", which was good because at the point when I started the 6 months, if I had lost 10 or 20 lbs, I wouldn't have qualified. After I did the 6 months though, BC approved within 10 days, paid 100% of the surgery after deductible, and they paid 100% of the fills.

[SGDodge06 0]

Hi everyone!

I am in unfamiliar territory here, so be nice .

I have done a LOT of research on the Lap Band procedure, and have heard only a few stories of low BMI patients being insurance approved for the band. I am currently 4'11 and i weight roughly 168-170 pounds (depending on what time of the month i weigh in) and my BMI is currently 35.3 & I want to get banded. I have struggled with my weight for 8 years now and at a recent dr's appt, i was warned that If i keep gaining weight at the rate i am ( about 6 to 7 pounds per month) i risk developing diabetes. I have contacted Dr. Carter who's practice is in Arlington, Tx to see if he thinks i am good candidate for the band. There are asking for LOADS and LOADS of information and documentation in order for me to get approval. #1 problem, I do not have a PCP i usually use my ob/gyn as my primary health care provider, and i usually only see her once or twice a year. She has never truly monitored my weight nor has she supervised any of the numerous diets i have attempted. Is there any other way for approval that you guys may know of? I am getting down right desperate here as i don't want to have to wait another 6 months to a year to have my op. :help:

P.S. does anyone here have bluecross blueshield insurance, and if so were you approved for this op even with a low bmi?

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Here are a few things I did on my own. You need to make sure you doctors will write letters to the surgeon telling why they think you are a good candidate for lap band. Think of any symptoms you have that "may" be attributed to being over weight. I have bad knees and a bad back. I asked my orthopedist if they "could" go away with weight lose and he said yes. He wrote me a letter saying that. I have regular period and stress urinary incontenace which if you say you have they take your word for it. Not something they examine you for. This is when you sneeze or cause you can have a little urine leak. So my gyno sent a letter saying that my irregular period and stress urinary incontinence "may" be fixed by losing weight. I have started snoring and cant sleep very well. I had a sleep study done. They said that I have "slight" sleep apnea. Losing weight "may" help this. I have shortness of breath when exerting myself. now high blood pressure. This is do to my anxiety and my anxiety meds help it. My doc just wrote that I have high blood pressure, they don't ask what it is due to. I hope I have covered everything that go me approved. The main thing is getting all you duck in a row as my husband would say lol. Start making all these doctor visits on your own before your consult. You can have the visit tell them you are considering lap band and then when you need the letter you can just call the doc since you have already seen them for this problem. If you are worried about the 6 month diet. They just want six months of your weight being recorded. I was lucky I had seen my doc every 3 months for a while do to my anxiety, but every time you see your doc they weigh you. when I wasn't sure if I was going to be approved I was sure to see my doc once a month and when making the appointment I said it was a follow up on weight loss so I could get the appointment easily. Once you have done all that you need write all your appointments down on a calendar. This was my g-d sent. For example- my psych eval letter was holding me back it hadn't been faxed over. I call them on feb 20th and say" I am looking on my calendar now and i see i had seen the doc on feb 1st and i am still waiting for this letter. They called me back and said he is working on it right now. Yeah right he probably forgot about it. back to the psych eval make sure when you are talking to them you let them know you know that the lap band is only a "tool" and you are willing to work and do the rest on your own. i had a friend fail the psych eval for not making that clear enough. back to the letters. Make sure you get to proof read them for yourself. My primary doc who was the one who had so much important information in hers wrote that I was 26 not 27. to me that is a big deal so I'm sure to the insurance company it was. through this process the woman that was working with me at my surgeons office who I spoke to like everyday to follow up on the letters had kept my "date" open for me. April 2nd. This was like the most important part for me since my vacation from work started that day and I wouldn't have to miss any work if I did it this day. Well, while I was waiting for all these letters so I she could finally submit everything for me to the insurance company she told me that my surgeon was going to be away that day. OMG THAT DAY I FREAKED. Anxiety attack at work while the kids in my class were playing recess. I had to have a kid bring me my Water and my "purse". Had to take my meds that I hardly ever have to take. The woman said I have everything and I am submitting everything to the insurance company. I still didn't know what my date would be though at that point I would have taken any surgeon in the practice. Next day on my lunch break after all that freaking out, I got "the call". It was Laurie the woman from my surgeons office. She says "hi, what are you doing" I was like "eating lunch? " She said "how are you", I said "good, and you". She said "good, is march 30th ok for a sugary date"? (that would mean I would only have to take one extra day off of work and I would have my surgeon). I said it was great. Then, said says" oh, and you are approved". I told her I loved her lol. I have the empire plan as my insurance company and it only took two days to approve. I hope this stuff helps someone.

Let me know if this helps?

[Oregondaisy 2,021]

I don't know. There are a lot of us lower BMI patients who were self pay.

I paid 10,000 and I would do it again. I got a 2nd mortgage on my house.

Do you have a booklet that says whether or not WLS is covered? Mine was Blue Cross and it said right in it that WLS was not covered, under any circumstances.

[SGDodge06 0]

I didnt look in a booklet. I had a TT in 04' and they covered that too. It was considered medical cause I was getting rashes under the fold of skin. at the point i was down to 150 though. I had only been dateing my now husband two months then.