Finally after all these years...

[txdresser 0]

I am getting the lap band surgery.whoo hoo!

I have always been over weight all my life and have fought to get some sort of surgery for years thinkin it was the only answer. My husband even became apart of the isurance bored at his job to educate them on the benfits of the surgery . But being that i had no health problems at that present time they continued to say we are lookin into it . Only to be turned down several times b4 from other insurance companies.

Well in Feb.2007 on my birthday I went to the dr. right after me and my girlfriend from work decided we were gonna go do weight watchers together . She had never done it and was scared but i had made my mind up it wasnt going to fall off by its self . so we started and each others support and the groups were great . we both were hand and hand for a good while . we were looseing pretty good together .The support groups were great but after about 6 months we were getting bored and stuck in a rut . We both had lost about 50 lbs and people were really starting to notice and we were really feeling great . Then she went and got pregant on me .So I lost my partner . SO i kinda eased off and decided to take a break but still try and do it on my own . i did pretty good for awhile but there were alot of changes going on in my life at this point .I had turned 35 in feb and that day i went to the dr he told me i was borderline diabetic and had a thyroid prob. My blood pressure was always good but that day it was elevated probably because of all the "great" news he was giving me .So needless to say i left with many prescriptions and diabtiec poke ur finger machine 3 times aday and much more . well bull crap was i living like that.

He decided that he needed to change insurance. He had pretty much always supported my decision but thought i didn't need the surgery even though he had went to the seminars with me.But as my husband he supported me either way . i had often thought of ways to self pay but there was just no money fallin out of the sky for me .

So finally ....

I said what the heck . let me go one more time on this new insurance and see what they have to say . Supposeably they were going to cover it when he decided to change to the military insurance ( in which he is just a reservist). So in june i made a appt to listen to the seminar and to talk to Dr. Spiegel. Been there and done that so i was just there half hearted . Just going thru the process yet again to see what the insurance would say .

Of course at this point i had takeing other messures to contorl my weight . i started to work out at our local gym and after a few weeks i decided to go to a dr and get the growth hormone shots. had been doing that for about 4 months .so lost about another 20 lbs, which when i had stopped weight watchers i had gained a few lbs back so i was back tracking also.So as of my time to go see Dr. speigel i had lost about 70 lbs since feb 2007. pretty good i thought but now i am at this point i felt like i still needed a life change . i knew what to eat and how to exercise but still need to control the amount . so thats where i come in to the band at .

Back to the seminar went and listened loved the attitude the staff had and the statistics they gave on past clients and his surgery rates and such . left there haveing mixed emotions . I felt like oh here we go again and how long is the process gonna be before they say no again. So went home saying well i have done my part now lets just wait. Then the office calls me and says we need a referral from ur dr. I was like here we go . But i had talked to my obgyn b4 and she said she would gladly do that for me. so i got her email and emailed her with what i needed and she got right back to me asking me to list all my diets and what i was doing at the present time to control my weight . She wrote a fabulous referal listing my weight b4 i started weight watchers and my current weight when i had just saw her. and all the iets i had tried and what i was doing at the present time. i couldnt have asked for her to be more prompt with it and more efficent . Well i had to go to my reg dr also for script refills so i went ahead and had him right one also. Figured it cant hurt . Well after i talked to him he had said he was impressed i had lost so much weight on my own but both dr's knew that it is only a temporary fix and both stated it. So i had stayed on the lap band office to make sure they were getting the communications and such with ins and my dr office to know they were sending in the referals to the ins co. My reg dr even went ahead and did blood work because he said there gonna want updated blood work . makeing sure ur thyroid and such is all good. went straight from there and did that and so now just wait till they tell me at the drs off ice what to do next . According to them i was gonna have ab0out 4 or 5 things to accomplish b4 i could have the surgery if they approved it.

I went the last week of june to listen to the seminar and as of sat july 12 .i had a approval! She called me from the office and said i have a approval for u ! i thought she was joking . I said ok what do i have to do now. She said schedule ur appt and u can have this friday . I was like WHAT! r u kidding me ? I have waited so long to hear those words and now it was reality and i was going to have this life change . I could not believe it

So i called her back monday and said ok lets schedule well by then the dr wasnt going to be there this friday but she would make me for next friday . i was like omg ur really gonna make me wait after getting me all worked up and decided that was fine it would give me time to take care of some things and to eat all i wanted b4 the surgery. LOL

well then today she calls and says ok he has changed his schedule again we can either do it this friday or aug 1st . well heck yeah bring it on . so this friday it is . i go for my pre-op tommorrow and surgery on friday at 5:30 am . I cant wait and i intend to keep the progress up so i can track for anyone in my same situations .

Not very good at bragging about myself . But guess what i am about to get better. LOL

FYI ... as of feb 2007 my peak weight was 398 as of july 2008 I am 330. Can't wait till i am 230!

[lfoss 0]

I am so happy for you!! My date is August 1st. I was turned down a few years ago by 2 different ins co's too.

[MyMeshelle 2]

Wow Congrats!! Im having surgery on friday too!! We will be banded buddies :frown:

[vegasgirl44 0]

Hey girl! That is so exciting! This Friday, wow! You are going to be one hot chick....you are already GORGEOUS!

I met with Dr. Teng today and have my surgery scheduled for August 14th, so I am pumped! Going to get my cardiology consult, upper GI, and lab work done, and I should be just about ready to go.

Good luck with your surgery!:frown: