Really seriously considering the band

[truckoholic 0]

Hi all! I am a 27 year old male who is 6' 1" at 310 pounds. For the most part I feel pretty healthy and don't feel that big most of the time. However, I do have consistant high blood pressure, I am on the verge of being diabetic and have diabetes on both sides of my family history, my knees for the past couple years have been hurting, my hips have started hurting, I am pretty sure I have a little sleep apnea (never had a sleep study done) I have absolutely horrendous heart burn all the time due to a hiatal hernia, I have had my gall bladder out and besides all that, I am just sick of being fat. I also have Gynecomastia (think I spelled that right) which for those who don't know, is when a guy has breasts the size of a womans. I guess the word actually means "Woman like breasts". I have suffered with that problem since I was about 12. I will not go anywhere without my shirt on because my breasts are so big. Have talked to a doctor about having them reduced and all he could say is "You need to lose weight" Although I'm sure that would help some, it is a proven fact that people with that condition even after losing weight still have the big breasts. But since most doctors seem to not want to do anything with that til you lose weight first, I guess I need to lose the weight for that reason too. I Have tried multiple diet methods, herbalife being one of the most succesful. Lost about 20 pounds when I was using that but after a while it just became obvious that that was not a feasable long term way of doing it and rapidly gained all my weight back.

I own and drive a truck which doesn't help any. One thing that bothers me is that I really don't eat a whole lot. But apparently my body absorbs just about everything I do eat. I am also a licensed commercial helicopter pilot, but because of my weight I am so embarassed and unable to pursue that career. It was so embarassing when I was doing my flight training when me and my flight instructor would get in the helicopter together and go to take off, and could barely get the thing off the ground, and then it would be leaning heavily to my side. And you can imagine my embarassment when I had an opportunity to go on a ride along in the Portland Oregon Life flight helicopter and they were getting me all set up to do it, then came the dreaded question "How much do you weigh?" "300" "Oh wow, I am so sorry, but our weight limit for ride alongs is 250 pounds" I felt so rejected and hurt.

And this past year. Went to the California State fair. My brother in law and I stood in line for this ride for about an hour and we finally get up to it, I get in the seat and sure enough, the harness thing would not latch shut because I was too FAT!! I am so sick of that crap! I had pretty much gotten to where I was content with my weight. Figured that since gastric bypass surgery was not an option that I wanted to take, and dieting was not the way for me, that I might as well make the most of it and learn to just deal with it. But you can only take so much of those situations where you are too fat before it really gets to you again.

The other day I saw a commercial on tv about the lap band. That was the first I had ever heard of one. Did not realize there was a fairly easily reversible weight loss procedure out there like that. When I saw that, I instantly saw a ray of hope. Both my parents are big, my dad is 350 pounds and I only see myself catching up to him and his diabetes real soon and like I said, I am only 27 years old. I have got to do something for my health, and my general way of life. Oh how my life would change if I was about 100 pounds lighter!

So since I saw that commercial on tv I have spent a considerable amount of time looking up information on the procedure and looking at hundreds of peoples before and after pictures, just amazed by the results! And have read many many forum discussions about the pros and cons and have pretty much made up my mind that it is the surgery for me. Given my BMI of 40.6 and my above mentioned related health problems I'm just wondering how easy I might be able to get my insurance (Blue Shield of California) to pay for the procedure. Sounds like there might be a good chance. How do you go about getting started? Thinking about going to one of Western Bariatric Institute's info seminars real soon. Guess I would find out there.

Anway, glad this resource is here! Look forward to hopefully sharing my success sometime in the next year or so.

Edited March 25, 2008 by truckoholic

[Wheetsin 714]

Given my BMI of 40.6 and my above mentioned related health problems I'm just wondering how easy I might be able to get my insurance (Blue Shield of California) to pay for the procedure. Sounds like there might be a good chance. How do you go about getting started? Thinking about going to one of Western Bariatric Institute's info seminars real soon. Guess I would find out there.

Hi Truckoholic. Remember that our bodies' abilit to store fat is not just a product of how much we eat, but also what we eat, our metabolism (given your age and profession, I'm guessing this one might hurt you), etc.

There are two places I would recommend for getting started. The first one is to call your insurance company, see if they approve the procedure, and see what their requirements are. Once you know whether or not insurance coverage is possible, schedule an information seminar (more than one preferrably, so you can test the waters with different surgeons). This will give you base information on the band, the surgeon, practice, and most likely the preliminary paperwork you will need to fill out. But some practices won't get to the paperwork route until they know your carrier covers the procedure, or you're self-pay.

Your preliminary info indicates that you qualify based on the generic requirements for carriers that cover: BMI 35+ with 2+ comorbidities or bmi 40+. From that generic baseline there are variations, and there are also carrier-specific requirements such as medically supervised weightloss attempts, physician referrals, medical histories, requisite testing such sleep studies and stress tests (will depend on your medical history).

Best of luck. Men kick ass at this (and every other) type of weightloss effort.

[strikeuptheband 16]

Truckoholic, when you find out what your insurance will cover, take the next step and talk to your HR dept where you work to see if your employer has put an exclusion on WLS. My insurance would cover it but the particular plan my employer bought does not cover it. I am now going to see if the VA center will provide this service since I am a veteran. Good luck and keep us posted.

[MerryHearted 20]

Hope you find out you are covered! The band rocks! :biggrin:

[JBJB00301 0]

Hi Truckoholic,

See if the you're covered like the others have said. Also, see if your insurance requires that you follow a medically supervised diet for six months before they approve it. I would suggest, starting the medically supervised diet as soon as possible. You can go to your regular doctor monthly or a nutritionist. See what your insurance requires. My insurance and doctor required, this and also that I have 1 visit with a nutritionist and 1 with a psychologist. They want to make sure you're ready for this and have realistic goals.

But I would also recommend you go to an information session and see if the procedure is right for you. Mine was in NY and was chock full of information on what I had to do for the Surgeon, forms needed to fill out...etc They also discussed the procedure in more detail. They also gave guidance with dealing with insurance companies too. I don't recommend gastric bypass, as I know too many ppl with issues and they needed additional surgeries.

Although the procedure is touted as reversible, you should not go into this with that thinking. You need to realize, whether you lose the weight and get healthy with the band or without the band is something you need to do for the rest of your life. As far as band removal, you need to have a medical reason (band slippage, band erosion or some other medical condition reason for the insurance to pay for the band's removal. Otherwise, you're talking at least $17,000+ to have it removed. It is also a more complicated procedure, then the initial surgery to insert the band, due to scar tissue that will form around the band. They will need to cut threw this in order to remove the band. It's something to think about.

I was banded on Dec 13, 2007. I'm 38 yr old female and started at 237lbs. I now weigh 215lb. I have the 10cm band. I am diabetic and also have a hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid). My BMI was 43. The lapband surgery itself is easy. But the afterwards, is something to get used to. You have to learn how to eat for the band. Eat not only what will pass thru the band, but what is healthy and will pass thru. Big difference. The lapband is a tool. If you use it right, it will work. If you don't, then you're wasting your time. You can still cheat on the lapband. So, it's important to make sure your ready for all that you need to do be successful. It's a process.

The doctors won't do surgery on you for your other condition because you are a higher risk for complications. With the lapband, the doctors are going to put you on a liquid diet for atleast 2 weeks before your surgery. They want to make sure the liver shrinks. When we're overweight our liver becomes fatty and enlarges and covers the area where the doctors need to work. After the surgery, you have to follow another week or 2 of liquids, then a week of mushy foods and then finally solids. The purpose of putting patients on the liquids after surgery is to allow your stomach to heal and allow for the scar tissue to form around the band so you have a less chance of band slippage. Also, the more weight you take off pre-op, the safer you're surgery will be.

I'm happy I did the band because I have had a tough time losing weight in the past. Eventhough my weightloss is slow, I'm happy its going in the right direction. To have gone thru the holidays and my busy season at work and be down 22lbs, is huge for me. My band is 10cm and I'm filled about 7 1/2 cc's. My doctor told me that being I have a bigger band and I'm on the smaller side of heavy (whatever that means), it takes more liquid to feel the restriction. So even though I had 3 fills, only with this 4 fill did I finally have restriction.

Remember no advice beats your doctor's advice. We can all give you our opinions and experiences, but your doctor needs to tailor your health care for you.

Good luck !:biggrin:

[BillieT 0]

Truckoholic, I am 53 years young and was banded on Feb. 27, 2008. It took me almost a year before I decided to go for it. I am so very glad that I did. I went to two different seminars before I decided. I did a lot of looking into the lapband and it was still kind of confusing. Find a surgery center & DR. that you are comfortable with and one that has great support before and after. Good Luck