New and Confused

[jennbeth72 0]

Hi all....My name is Jenny and I am new here...I am so confused about so much....it is over whelming and empowering all at the same time reading the threads...I have so many questions and don't know where to start....So I guess I will tell just a little about me...I am 37 yrs old I have two children (boys) 14 and 13 they are 18 months apart...I am married to a police officer and live in hot hell louisiana...I was never really over weight until I got cancer the end of 2000...I had 4th stage non hodgkins lymphoma large B cell difuse aggressive...they gave me 8 months to live...well I showed them...and the steriods and meds showed me...I gained about 82 pds in 6 months and never lost it and have gained more since....I just found out with my new job that I have Aetna choice POS II ...I am wondering if anyone knows how it covers and what I need to do to start this journey...any help would be greatly appreciated....I looked at the aetna sight for the guidelines but it doesnt say if my plan covers it...I dont get my card until next week....I am so excited I hope and pray this will be for me and will work out...thanks for any and all help...Jenn:confused:

[crzytchr 3]

Hello, fellow Louisianian. Your HR department should be able to tell you the coverage you have. If not, any decent bariatric surgeon's patient coordinator should be able to call and see if you have coverage and if so, what requirements they have. My surgeon's patient coordinator had me an answer and approval in less than a week. If you need any more info, please feel free to pm me. Good luck!

[marie715 0]

Hi Jenn, I'm glad you posted. This website will give you lots of encouragement. As far as whether a particular insurance company will cover the lap band surgery costs, each person has to find out whether their policy covers the costs. In other words, 2 companies can each have the same insurance company but one company's policy may cover the costs but the other's won't. As I understand it, companies can elect whether to have weight loss surgery included or excluded from their particular policy. That may not be true for all companies but the bottom line is that you have to find out based on your policy number whether or not weight loss surgery is covered. That is probably just a simple phone call for you to make. From that point, I would suggest speaking to your primary care physician or gynecologist and asking them for their help in guiding you through this process. You're going to learn so much. It is such an interesting journey. I was banded in September 2008 and have not regretted it for one second. You sound like a super strong woman, with having beat that non hodgkins lymphoma. Go get 'em again, Jenn! Best of luck. Hope to hear from you again soon. Keep in touch.

[MissK 0]

Hi Jenn

Welcome to the forums, I'm not of much help, but wanted to say congratulations on "showing them who's boss" when they only gave you 8 months to live, I'm sure if you can beat cancer than you can beat this problem too!

Best wishes to you.

[jennbeth72 0]

Thanks guys any help is appreciated... I will find out Friday about my coverage and I scheduled to go to a free seminar for lapband surgery July 7th wish me luck!!!!

[TopTier 0]

Okay! Luck wishing heading your way!