Howdy from North Texas!

whimsy · January 17, 2008

I thought I'd take a moment to introduce myself as I hope to be spending a lot of time here in the coming months.

My name is Andi and I recently celebrated my 34th birthday. I am happily married - we don't have any children at this time, unless you count our 3 cats and 4 dogs. I have been diagnosed with hypertension, sleep apnea, Type II Diabetes and Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, so it is our hope that lapband will help me with many of my health issues.

We started this process over a year ago when we went to our surgeon's seminar. ( Dr. Stephen Hamn - Plano, Texas) Shortly after, we had our consult and psych eval as well as nutrition counseling. The only thing stopping me was the BMI requirement by our insurance company. My BMI was over 50 and the insurance company would not approve surgery if it was not 49 or less.

As of November 2007, they have dropped this requirement - so there shouldn't be anything else that would cause them to say no. I've met all the other requirements.

Our surgeon's office submitted the necessary paperwork to our insurance company December 5th and they said it would take a month or so to find out the result. This waiting is just horrible!

A bit about me - I'm the proud owner of two french bulldogs named Joey & Chandler. I'm a gamer girl (I met my husband via a MMORPG), I'm intrigued by true crime and the paranormal. I love horror movies. I'm a fan of the Barenaked Ladies, Kevin Smith movies and Chris Rock. Reality TV is a guilty pleasure and I often quote Dr. Phil.

I am excited to find an active and supportive community of friendly folks to share this experience with. I can't wait to get to know you and learn from your experiences as well as be inspired by your success.

katiebug · January 17, 2008

Hi! I'm Katie & this is my first real time in the forums. I was looking for others that have had Lapband near me, & it turns out I was banded by Dr. Cribbins... he works in the same office as Dr. Hamn. As soon as insurance approves your claim, it will happen FAST.

Good luck!

jojo30family · January 17, 2008

:pray2:I live near the Austin area. I had lap band in June 2007. My surgeon was Dr. Ganta. Good luck with your approval process. I agree with Howdy from North Texas, once approved it does move fast!