Cleveland R U there????

[IamTess 0]

I would love to get together shawna. I am getting banded tomorrow. I've never posted anything on these before so i will try and look for your reply when I am done with my surgery.

[HeatherO 7]

I am still certainly up for a get together with all takers. I am from the East side, Mayfield Heights area. I would be happy to travel somewhere more centralized in Cleveland. It would be really nice to have a group going.

Courtenay, did you finally get banded? I havent heard anything new and I wonder how you are doing.

Shawna, hows it going so far? We were banded 2 days apart so we are very close as far as time spent in the journey. I still would love to get together.

IAmTess, I am so happy you have decided to join our losing team :0). I hope everything is going well with the surgery. Our start weight was only 1 pound different so we started from a similar position. I am currently down to 179 (have to update my stats). Please let us all know how you are doing once you are back online.

[KarenInOhio 3]

hello clevelanders !!!

i just found out about this site today (i've been on thinnertimes.com for about 6 months).

i've had the psych eval, done the 6 mo. diet, seen the surgeon etc. i am waiting for my psych eval results & then it's off to insurance-company-approval-land.

my surgeon of choice is dr ben-meir :tongue:

ps - i live in lake co.

[scanlon21 0]

I live in Lake County as well. I was just banded by Dr. Leena Khaitian out of Geauga Medical Center (Part of UH). The dr and her staff are simply perfect. Being that Geauga is a small hospital you definately don't feel like a number.

[HeatherO 7]

It is great to see a couple of new people from the Cleveland area. This thread isn't very active but I would love to get to know more people around the area.

I haven't pretty much reached my goal since my last post on this thread from May. I am currently only 2 pounds away from a normal BMI at 142 pounds. I am not really looking to lose anymore right now and am mostly focusing on maintaining through my pregnancy.

I knew before I got banded that I would lose weight . . . but the stats say typical loss is 50-60% of the excess. I really never even dreamed that I would be almost at 100% so quickly.

I love my band . . . it has changed my life and is absolutely the best thing I ever did for myself.

Congratulations on being newly banded scanlon21 . . . . you are definitely still in recovery and keep in mind that it only gets better from here.

I am happy you will be joining us soon on the melting side of life, a_thinner_me. You will have to let us know when you get your final date.

[KarenInOhio 3]

just thought i'd drop in and say HI and give you an update. i called my insurance co yesterday and they said i was denied. they said i need more counseling.

i don't think they mean nutritional counseling, because i had worked with a dietician this year for 6 months. and now that i think of it, i remember the psychiatrist said my psych tests were fine and he was recommending more sessions but they weren't mandatory for surgery.

i guess the insurance company thinks they are (mandatory). kinda bums me out since my insurance doesn't pay for psych visits.

have you guys been denied. how many hoops did you have to jump through?

:ohmy:

[KarenInOhio 3]

I live in Lake County as well. I was just banded by Dr. Leena Khaitian out of Geauga Medical Center (Part of UH). The dr and her staff are simply perfect. Being that Geauga is a small hospital you definately don't feel like a number.

Hey, I see you're from Mentor. I'm from Willoughby ! :ohmy:

[HeatherO 7]

just thought i'd drop in and say HI and give you an update. i called my insurance co yesterday and they said i was denied. they said i need more counseling.

i don't think they mean nutritional counseling, because i had worked with a dietician this year for 6 months. and now that i think of it, i remember the psychiatrist said my psych tests were fine and he was recommending more sessions but they weren't mandatory for surgery.

i guess the insurance company thinks they are (mandatory). kinda bums me out since my insurance doesn't pay for psych visits.

have you guys been denied. how many hoops did you have to jump through?

:ohmy:

I am very sorry about your initial denial, but don't lose hope. You may still be able to make this work if you are persistent. Can they tell you exactly how much counseling they think you would need to turn it into an approval?

Unfortunately, I don't have much experience with this. I had a WLS exclusion so I was self pay and skipped the insurance hassle.

Just a suggestion . . . there is a forum on here for insurance and financing. You may want to post a thread there stating "Denied Due to Need for Additional Counseling" People will give you lots of suggestions there . . . and perhaps some people may answer that have had this specific problem and overcome it. This Ohio thread isn't very active and only a small number of people see it.

By the way, we are neighbors too . . . I am from Mayfield Heights which is just a hop, skip and a jump down 90/271 from Willoughby :0).

[KarenInOhio 3]

hi heather ! it's been a while & a lot has happened. i went for 3 more sessions with the psychologist, he wrote his next letter, & got approved. he did give me some coping tools etc. nothing major.

so i got banded on 3/25. i'm getting my first fill on 4/24. a ex-coworker friend from progressive has been doing this with me all along. that was probably the biggest help of all.

i see you're pregnant now, that's great !!!!

[scanlon21 0]

I am looking for someone to work out with -- I have lots of stuff here at the house elliptical and recumbent bike small hand weights wii and wii fit plus exercise dvd's but losing motivation a bit. Can we talk?

[KarenInOhio 3]

nobody? all well...i found a Ballys total to use..

sorry, just saw this... Fitworks is good, but I don't know if they'd let you in for just a day or 2. We have a few Bally's around too.

[KarenInOhio 3]

I am looking for someone to work out with -- I have lots of stuff here at the house elliptical and recumbent bike small hand weights wii and wii fit plus exercise dvd's but losing motivation a bit. Can we talk?

sure scanlon. i'm in willoughby, i see you're in eastlake.

[scanlon21 0]

you can contact me off line at christine_scanlon@ohnp.uscourts.gov

[KarenInOhio 3]

I would love to shawna, having my surgery tomorrow. I will definitely need some support after and am good at giving it out too...lol.

i would love to, also ! how about a starbucks or something?

[HeatherO 7]

scanlon & a_thinner_me,

I am in the Mayfield area so not too far away. I would be up for a little get together at a Starbucks or something similar if you are interested. I don't really know any local bandsters and it would be fun and interesting to get together with a couple of other local people.