eastern washington banders

Cookinmom · January 12, 2008

Hello From Colfax. My name is Heidi and I live in Colfax WA. I am seriously considering the Lap Band surgery. I am 48 yrs old, 5'5", BMI 40 and have been struggling withmy weight since my first child was born 20 years ago. I feel I have done everything to loose weight. I'm a member of Weight Watchers, I've tried diet pills, working out,walking miles and miles, even starving. Yes I've lost weight but always put more back on. I have so many questions I dont know where to begin. What kind of insurance do you have? I have Group Health and I'm hoping its not a long drawn out procedure to get approval. What exactly is a fill, how often do you get them, how do they know how much to put in? What are PB's? /can you feel the port inside of you? How long did it take you to have the surgery once you decided to do it?

Oh Please write me back soon I am so eager to get this started

Heidi in Colfax

MOTOMOM · January 13, 2008

Hi Heidi,

I hear group health is a hard ins. to deal with. We just talked about it at our support group this month. Depending on your policy and if it covers bariatrics. If it does then you will have a better chance. With your BMI that will help and if you have co morbidities it helps too. No you cannot feel the port inside of you. It does not get in the way of activity. You can feel it with your fingers if you feel the port sight. A fill is when they add to the band to tighten it up as you lose weight around your stomach area inside. It took me about 2 months from start to finish with the ins. and evals.. A pb is when you don't chew enought and you burp food back up without stomach acid as it is to big to fit through the port. (hasn't happened to me) We have support group the 2nd Tuesday of each month. I know it is quite a drive but it is very informative and would answer a lot of your questions in one meeting. If you have any questions please feel free to give me a call and talk, I would love to hear from you .

Lisa (509)981-5696

Cookinmom · January 13, 2008

Lisa,

so what kind of things can be considered co morbitities. I know diabetes is one, one that I don't have, if anything my blood sugar experiences ocassional drops but not highs. I don't have high blood pressure either. Besides achy joints what else can be considered?

Now I'm worried about my insurance I'm going to call them on Monday...

Thanks for writing me back so quickly, I'll let you know what happens when I call the insurance.

Heidi

dandydeb · January 13, 2008

Heidi, co-morbitities would be metabolic syndrome, sleep apnea, any joint, etc pain due to the excess weight, high blood pressure, diabetes, any health issue you have due to the excess weight. Lisa is right about Group Health and the difficulties but do you have bariatric surgery listed as one of the things your insurance covers?

MOTOMOM · January 13, 2008

Thanks Deb,

you have more experience with the group health I appreciate the input.

Lisa

Cookinmom · January 13, 2008

I am going to call Group Health tomorrow and see what they have to say. As far as Co-morbitities I have a prescription for a sleep apnea test which I haven't done yet. I do have joint pain but my biggest frustration is lack of energy and the inability to lose weight. I have never had a cholesterol check but I bet it is high.

I will let you all know what happens after I call Group Health tomorrow. I'm so nervous about it. (that I will be turned down)

I have never been to any of Dr. Trotter's meetings...I am just at the beginning of this road

thanks for all the replies

Heidi

dandydeb · January 14, 2008

Heidi,

Even if they say no, you can still continue to work to get it done. Does your Dr. know of all you struggles with weight loss and lack of energy. If not you need to start building that history, call and complain about how you are feeling. Discuss and get documented all the weight problems you are having. This will mean some extra visits to the Dr. for you, but worth it in the longrun. It might take a year, but it can be done.

dandydeb · January 14, 2008

I wish I could say the same!!!! Was supposed to get my fill today and was rescheduled due to Dr. getting stuck in surgery. I tell you I get sooooo tired of this crap all of the time, I bet 80% of my appointments have been rescheduled by his office. I would have waited until he was done, but they didn't have any idea when he would be finished, and then being a friday, he may not even have come back to the office as my appt. was supposed to be at 3:00.
Deb, I came by your office but you were out. See you on Tuesday.

Ari

Ari,

I have not been in touch much the last week or two. I am so sorry to have missed you. You have had your challenges with that office.

deb

dandydeb · January 14, 2008

I am on liquids for 4 more days. This month long on pourabe liquids is killing me. Actually hasn't been bad until the last couple of days, and I feel hungry all the time. I hope starting on real food will make a difference.

deb

Cookinmom · January 14, 2008

Deb,

Well that is one thing I have done. I've gone to the same Doc for the past 15 yrs for everything. He has lots of documentation of weight gain, weight loss, energy levels,joint pain, he knows my weight struggles, which is good he is also very easy to talk to. I don't feel I will have any trouble getting his support.

Heidi

dandydeb · January 14, 2008

That is great Heidi, so now you just need to get started by going to an orientation night.

Cookinmom · January 15, 2008

:eek: I called my insurance today and I kinda felt encouraged. She told me to have my doctor refer me and that my initial request would be denied BUT there would be some things I would need to do and some documentation I would need to get in order to get it approved....which I figured I would have to do anyway so at least it sounds like it will be covered after jumping through their hoops

MOTOMOM · January 15, 2008

Hang in there Heidi,

Patience will be your best friend through the paperwork process. Good thoughts coming your way from this end. Come to our support group if you can throughout the process it is worth the drive. Lot of infor. and comfort.

Lisa

dandydeb · January 17, 2008

good for you Heidi, I agree with Lisa about the support group. Hope to see you there.

deb

Cookinmom · January 17, 2008

Ok I made my 1st Drs. appointment. I meet with my regular doc at 2:30 Friday. I'm going to talk with him about my weight, BMI etc and ask him to refer me to Dr. Trotter for Lap Band procedure. I am aware that initially my insurance will deny coverage so I will need to see what hoops they expect me to jump through so I can start jumping . Hopefully I can jump quickly!

I do plan on coming to some support groups I would also like my husband to come to one with me also....he thinks I'm taking the easy way out by getting lap band.....this coming from a man who can lose 40lbs in a week by just cutting out chips and pop...,.!! I don't even drink pop and my chip consumption is extremely low compared to his nightly fix. He also associates the lap band with gastric bypass and I want him to understand the difference. I'm going to have to wait until roads and weather get a little better before I make any evening trips to Spokane but I do plan on coming. When exactly do you meet? How many people go to the meetings? Are there even very many people who have been banded in the Spokane area?

Any advice on anything I might not think of that I should talk about with my doctor?

Thanks everybody for all your support I truly appreciate your support and encouragement

Heidi