dustbuster_00

Yes it is possible. I have been overweight since I was about 14. I struggled the same way you have. Have not been under 200 since Junior High school. Since being banded I have lost about 70 lbs. I am continuing to lose. I have gone from a XXXL shirt to a large and waist 46 to a 36. It is possible.

I have had the same thing happen to me after surgery. I have an appointment with my Physician this week to have a glucose tolerance test done. Being in the medical field as a Paramedic, I have done a bit of my own research. I believe what we might be experiencing is Reactive Hypoglycemia. Here a a link from mayo Clinic explaining Reactive Hypoglycemia http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/reactive-hypoglycemia/AN00934 . I think that you should see your doctor to find out exactly is going on in your body. When you eat or drink something with sugar in it, lets say a Protein Drink with added sugar! This causes your body to release insulin to breakdown the sugar and use it for energy. Your body is use to releasing a lot of insulin from when we were indulging in sweets before the surgery. So, your body continues to release a lot of insulin. Once that little bit of sugar is consumed by the insulin and used as energy, the body continues to dump out insulin looking for sugar that you ate. However, there is no more sugar there. Your blood sugars begin to fall below normal limits, your pancreas creates glucogon and tells your liver to break down the glycogen which releases glucose into your blood stream. This will cause your blood sugars to begin to rise to a normal level. Your body then releases epinephrine (adrenalin) into your blood stream this is what makes you shaky. Most people would eat or drink sugar to make their blood sugar rise. This will only make it worse in someone with Reactive Hypoglycemia the cycle continues.

It is recommended for persons with Reactive hypoglycemia, to eat small meals throughout the day including lean Proteins and foods that are high in Fiber. Make sure that you are limiting simple carbs and sugary substances. This will prevent your body from dumping too much insulin when you eat. If you are experiencing these symptoms make sure you see your doctor. I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on television. This is research I have done on my own that I am sharing with you. I have experienced many of these symptoms myself, and I have contacted my Physician for testing. Good luck, let me know what you find out!

My surgery was done on June 24th 2011 and so far I am down 22 lbs. I am scheduled for my first fill on August 5th. I am ready for a fill already. I have been eating food that are crumbly since a week after my surgery. My weight weight loss has come to a standstill. I have been able to eat more at one time before feeling full, but today I had my first real obstruction. I ate a few bites of some pork that was in BBQ Sauce. I thought that it was moist enough. I have had pork before since my band and it went down fine. This time I had bad pains for about a minute. I tried sipping on some Water to help it go through, and it all came back up. It was a weird feeling. I am still learning how to live with my new tool.

I was Banded Friday the 24th, and I have not been hungry at all. I have been on the liquid diet and can barely drink enough to stay hydrated. I am still having a lot of pain from the surgical gas that they used. The pain from the gas makes me feel like I am full. I called the Surgeons office today, and they said that some people have a lot of problems with the gas, and some do not. I guess I do! I have been trying to walk a lot and get the gas moving out of there, but It wants to stick around and cause me pain. I am suppose to be able to switch to mushier foods Friday after my Post-Op appointment. Has anyone else felt this way after their surgery? What did you do to get in all the fluids you need? I mean I feel full, but i don't know if that feeling is gas pain or fullness.

I started my Pre-Op diet on June 11th my surgery is scheduled for June 24th 2011.

The Pre-Op Diet my Surgeon recommends is the low carb diet similar to Atkins for 1-2 weeks. My Surgeon said that this diet will shrink the liver, because the body will burn up all of the fat that is stored in the liver when you don't give it carbs to burn first.

My diet consists of something like. eggs and bacon for Breakfast, pork chop for lunch, hamburger patty for dinner. It is not a hard diet to follow.

I know some patient's have had to go on a liquid diet Pre-OP. What Pre-Op diet did you have to do?

I will be Banded June 24th. I can't wait to get this over with and get started on my new life! Good luck June Bandsters!

Oh! do I sympathize! We also have BCBS. Sent in all documentation months ago - was denied 2x for same reason - not documented 6 month weight loss program - had been seeing endocrinologist for last 3 years; every month for past 6 months - they weighed/advised on diet/documented monlty discussions, etc. and also periodically met with their dietitian - denied because "wasn't medically supervised,e tc. "- I argued that Weight Watchers isn't really "medically supervised" nearly to the extent that a personal physician who is part of a Weight Management Group - also includedd 1 year of Weight Watcher records but from 18 months ago.

Finally, got approval yesterday - surgeon did a Peer to Peer that was also denied. The Appeal by us however finally got original decision overturned. It turned out that my former employer required participant in a specific program "" Better Health" but that was not available to us. I also but BCBS directly in touch with endocrinologist so they could tell her EXACTly what they needed in writing. While the denials took 48 hours or so each time, approval took almost 3 weeks!!! But it is done and surgery scheduled for 2 weeks.

Don't give up; be a squeeky wheel.

Congrats to you as well. BCBS can be a pain in the rear. Good luck to you after surgery.

Found out today that my insurance finally approved my Lap Band!

It was a fight to get them to approve it. We had to send a letter back to them the third time with directions on where they can locate what they wanted in my documentation. It was crazy like no one even looked at it in the first place at the insurance company.

I will be banded June 24th 2011. I am really excited.

Dang, my computer is giving me fits. I was trying to add a response...it edited my previous...so please see my previous post for more information.

Include it in your next appeal. I quoted the 1991 consensus on my appeal letter when BCBS denied me due to the 6 month requirement. I won my appeal, but it was a few years ago. Almost 4 now.

Thank you sooo much for that information. I guess we are not quite at the appeal state yet. My surgeons office say that they can do a peer to peer. The Insurance company medical director has to contact my surgeon and speak with each other. The medical director can overturn their decision. My surgeons office says that they have never sent that much diet information for one patient. They cannot believe that they are still trying to say there is not enough documentation. The insurance company will not come straight out and tell me what it is that is missing. They tell me that there is not enough documentation of a COMPREHENSIVE 6 month medically supervised diet and increased exercise. Although they have a 6 month daily food journal that includes exercise. Attached is a letter from my primary Physician stating that he advised me to go on Weight Watchers and personally saw me exercising. I don't know how they can deny it. If they are looking for medical records from the doctor seeing him monthly while on Weight Watchers, I don't know of anyone that sees their doctor every month while on Weight Watchers, nor does Weight Watchers recommend seeing your doctor every month.

Denied again! After sending BCBS IL 122 page daily food journal with weekly exercise at least 3 times a week, and weekly weight in, and a letter from my Primary Physician stating that he recommended Weight Watchers for the sixth month time period that I was on it. They are saying that is not enough proof of a comprehensive medically supervised diet and increased exercise. HOW MUCH MORE COULD THEY ASK FOR? They state in their medical policy for coverage that Weight Watchers is an approved commercial weight loss program. They have a copy of my Weight Watchers invoices from that time as well. This is really starting to irritate me. I feel like just giving up. Maybe this is not for me.This is the second time that they have denied me because of lack of documentation, but they will not tell me exactly what they are needing. Can anyone help me?

The insurance company really doesn't need you to prove that you have done 3 months of diet or six months of diet. Why did BCBS IL change their policy in March from a 3 month diet to a 6 month diet makes no sense to anyone other than the fact that they are trying to stall from paying for the surgery. They act like people are just going straight to the surgery instead of trying diet and exercise first. Geeze why didn't I think of that. I am going through the process now with BCBS IL I did WW online for 6 months consecutive last year. The two months prior to that I was on Nutrisystem. I submitted my Weight Watchers invoices and Nutrisystem invoices and they said that was not enough documentation. The insurance company is just trying to drag their feet even though I clearly meet the requirements.

This week i will be submitting my food journal for each day of the 6 month Weight Watchers diet along with an exercise log and weight loss log with a letter from my Primary Care Physician attached to it. I really hope this will suffice their documentation needs. I mean what else could they possibly want?

The insurance companies are a bunch of crooks who are just out there to make money off of you. They never want to pay for anything. Just look at your Explanation of Benefits. Your Dr. will bill them $200.00 and they will pay about half of that. They are sitting pretty with the oil companies making money off the poor and getting richer each day.

good luck to you, I hope that you get approved.

I am a 28 year old male overweight most of my years. I have decided Lap Band was the only choice for me at this point. I have tried dieting and exercise too many times. I need a permanent solution. My cousin who is a male also had the Lap Band done a few years ago he loves it. I have had my consult with the surgeon who will perform the surgery. I have also had all of my pre op testing done. Just dealing with the insurance company now. They wanted more documentation of the 6 month diet that was required. I hope what I am sending them this week will satisfy them. I am very excited to start my journey and live the rest of my life as a healthy person. Good luck to all the guys and gals out there who are working on the process as I am . To all the banded on here, I hope you continue towards your weight loss goals and meet them.

One other thought came to mind. When you did weight watchers or nutrisystem, was it for 6 months consecutive? I imagine it was, but if you did 3 months of WW then took a couple months off, then did 5 months of nutrisystem, they might take issue with that.

All I submitted for WW was my attendance books. I did traditional meetings. So it had the dates of the meetings and my weight. I did not give them food journals, but the myfitnesspal stuff is a great idea!

Yes I did WW for 6 consecutive months with no break.

I also have BCBS (different state) that requires a 6 month wait period. I had to submit records from my wls program, AND I had to submit 6 months of food logs. I would imagine just invoices aren't enough because you're not proving you ATE the right way? While you did WW did you keep your journals?

I did my Weight Watchers online and kept a food journal on there. Unfortunatly after you stop subscribing to their program, you are unable to retrive those documents. I keep track of my food and weight with "myfitness pal" online. This program allows you to print off food journals and notes. I will print those off and make sure they are complete and submit them to the insurance.

My Primary Doctor recommended Weight Watchers when I did it, but he failed to document any of this in my medical records. My Primary Doctor's office also failed to weigh me but only a few times in the past 5 years.

I was wondering if my doctor signed a weight log for the time I was doing Weight Watchers and submitted that as well if that would help?

Thanks for all the tips these will really help when I file the appeal. I have already submitted copies of my Weight Watchers and Nutrisystem invoices for 8 months. I will contact my PCP to have him write another letter stating that he recommended Weight Watchers and supervised my weight loss. If anyone has any other suggestions for me please let me know. It is like getting kicked back down when you are already so motivated to start this new journey.

The Insurance companies are crooks. I pay my premium every month to ensure I have good insurance. They get to sit behind a desk and make decisions on whether they are going to pay my bills or not. I wish I could choose when to skip my monthly premium and still keep my insurance.

I am not going to give up that easy when I am so close. I meet all of their criteria. I just need them to follow their guidelines and approve the surgery.

I contacted Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois today to check the status of my request for coverage. I was told that I was denied due to a lack of documentation of the 6 month required diet. The only thing that the insurance company requires is Documentation of active participation in a comprehensive, non-surgical program of weight reduction for at least six (6) months, occurring within the twenty-four (24) months prior to the proposed surgery.

They say they accept a recognized commercial diet-based weight loss program. I gave them copies of invoices from two months of Nutrisystem and 6 months of invoices from Weight Watchers. Now I am pretty sure both of those are recognized commercial weight loss programs. So why am I being denied? It just does not make sense.

They have medical records from a Physician who was treating me with weight loss medication for three months.

I have seen a nutritionist.

I have seen the psychologist.

Anyone have any suggestions for me? PLEASE HELP

What about purchasing your own policy. They are really not that expensive, I don;t know your age or any other health problems. You will have to pay a little more because you have a high BMI. Shop around you can always cancel the insurance after the surgery.

What reasons were you denied whether it was the first time second time etc? What did you have to do to get the insurance to reverse their decision?

I guess no one has ever been denied for insurance? This topic does not seem to be very popular. I see in other topics where people talk about being denied, but they never really say why they were denied or what they did to change the insurance companies decision.

What reasons were you denied whether it was the first time second time etc? What did you have to do to get the insurance to reverse their decision?

Hey!!

I live in Indiana but I work in Illinois so I currently have BCBS PPO from Illinois. I had to go through 3 months of doctors visits, which included the following: 3 months with a weight loss doctor, one visit with a trainer, one visit with the surgeon, two visits with the nutritionist, a chemical stress test, a pulmonary test, and a EGD (stomach scope). All of that has to be done within the 3 month time frame. I also have to lose 5lbs. My last appt. for everything will be the 8th of April. I started this process in February. I was told that on the 8th they will submit my info to the insurance company and I probably wouldn't have an approval until end of May/beginning of June. I hoping for sooner!!!

What did you have to do?

I have BCBS of IL PPO. I am required to have a 6 month diet within the last two years. They say they accept Weight Watchers and Nurtisystem as approved diets. I had been on both previously so I submitted receipts from those. They needed something showing that I have been treated for obesity in the past. I had records sent from another weight loss Dr. who had put me on phentermine for weight loss for three months. Also medical records from my primary physician showing my weight over the past 5 years. I had to see a nutritionist, a psychologist. I had to have blood work done. I had an upper GI and an EKG. I think the blood work upper GI and EKG were more for the surgeon than the insurance. I am hoping that all of my paperwork will be sent to the insurance company this week for approval. I am keeping my fingers crossed that it will be approved the first time.

I am with you. I have tried so many diets Atkins, Weight Watcher, Nutrisystem. Somehow I always seem to go back to my old eating habits. I get hungry watching others eat the BAD foods that I was avoiding. When my weight would plateau I would give up. I am hoping that the band will keep my full and keep me from craving the BAD foods or at least from overeating those bad foods. I am hoping with the additional help with the band, I will lose weight a little easier and be able to work out more with more energy. My surgeon will be submitting to the insurance company this week for approval. I am keeping my fingers crossed. Good luck!

My first appointment with my Lap Band Surgeon was 1 month ago. Yesterday I knocked out all of my appointments and tests in one day. First was my appointment with the nutritionist. My insurance requires 6 months of diet prior to the surgery. I have receipts from Weight Watcher from the past year as well as Nutrisystem. So, I only had to see the nutritionist once. Of course the insurance requires it, but they do not cover it as a benefit. I had to pay for that 100% out of my pocket. Then I had my appointment with the Psychologist which was very easy. After that I had my blood work done an upper GI and an EKG. I had to pay my portion of all these tests as well. My surgeons office will be submitting to the insurance company this week. I hoping that the insurance company will approve the surgery the first request fingers crossed. Anyone else at this step in the Lap Band Journey? I would love to hear how the process is going.

Hello everyone, My name is Dustin from Illinois.

Today was my consultation with the Surgeon. The consultation was very informative, and I am excited to get through the insurance process and get started. Anyone from Illinois been through the process with Blue Cross Blue Shield? I was wondering how long they take to approve the surgery after jumping through their hoops?

My BMI is 45 and I have tried everything in the past to lose weight. Obesity runs in my family, and I am tired of the struggle. I am looking forward to using the Lap Band as a tool to help me achieve a healthy weight.