kmt1973

Thats normal, just be patient. I'm in your shoes now. I was originally scheduled for last Sept, and after doing everything I was told to do, the insurance said my obesity was pre-existing. Now I'm waiting for Feb, when my year is up. Hopefully I will be approved. Good Luck to you.

UPDATE: I won't be getting my surgery till Feb. 2012. Insurance won't pay until I've had them a year. You know obesity is a pre-existing disease and duh, I've has this prior to getting my insurance. Oh well, the funny thing is, I'm ok with it. I've waited through the 6months dr visits, I can wait for this too.

It is bcbs of Alabama. Good Luck with yours. And thanks for the advice about talking to the person at work. I hope it helps.

I am so frustrated. My first time was denied. They said I needed to send them my weights for the last 3 years. So, of course I did. Now they said, "I'm not saying you're denied BUT.........Even if we approve you, we will not cover your surgery until January 2012. Because even though you have never been seen for your obesity, the weights you submitted show that it was pre-existing." What the heck, when I started this in March, why in the heck didn't they tell me this before I started jumping through hoops for them!!!!!!!!!

I was denied All bc when I went for my final visit it was on July 29th instead of August 1st and I have to go for 6 CONSECUTIVE months and I went twice in July. Once on July 1st and the last the 29th. RIDICULOUS! Well I went in August for my 2nd 6th month visit. Waiting on Approval once again. Tentative surgery date is still Sept 14th. So excited and nervous

Wow, CONGRATULATIONS! I'm still waiting o_0

The six months diet is something your surgeons office should have told you. I had to go to my family dr, for a supervised six month diet. He told me they dont expect you to lose much weight, they just want you to stick with seeing the dr and following his plan. Its their way of weeding out the ones whos aren't serious. Check with the person in your sugeons office to find out ALL the requirements of your insurance company. Good luck!

Thanks everyone, I am so glad I am not alone. My hub is very supportive but he doesn't know what this is like. I hope we all get approved too.

Thank you for taking the time to post this, I found it very informative. This is something I recently posted to someone researching. I would say that there are three regularly occurring post-op posts that you should be aware of as you prepare. Being aware will help you deal with the psychological aspect of the band in the weeks and months following surgery. 1. Be aware: You may experience a lot of discomfort after surgery that is pain related. People vary so much on this and of course everyone hopes to be one of the "bounce right back" folks, but be prepared to be in a lot of discomfort for up to a week or even more. It is NORMAL to be depressed and/or regret having the surgery immediately post-op. 2. Be aware: It is very likely that your weight loss will stall or even reverse (meaning actual gains) during the first weeks to month after surgery. This is counter-intuitive to people, because they just had weight loss surgery AND they are on a liquid diet and not eating. But it is NORMAL to plateau or even gain Water weight while your body is recovering from the stress of surgery. Try not to despair. If you keep at it, you will begin to lose weight soon enough. 3. Be aware: A lot of people feel very hungry and ready to eat eat eat almost immediately after surgery. For a lot of people, the band alone doesn't do anything for weeks to month until it is filled. This is what people refer to as Bandster Hell. A smaller subset of people do feel a reduction in hunger right away-- but if you don't go in automatically expecting you'll be a lucky one, then you won't be as baffled and disappointed if you aren't. It is NORMAL to feel hungry and frustrated until you reach the appropriate fill for your body, and that may take weeks to months. Knowing these things and expecting them will help tremendously with your emotional reaction to the band. If any of these things happen to you, you are in good and prolific company. Don't despair! Figure out before your surgery how you might cope with them when they come up and odds are, they won't be a problem for you. Knowledge is the key. I would add the following to that list: 1. The average loss at 2 years with the band is 60% of excess weight, according to band literature. So if you need to lose 100 lbs to be in a "healthy BMI", then the average person will have lost 60lbs by the end of year 2. This is the average, which means that there are going to be a few people who lose 0 lbs in 2 years and an equally few people who lose 100+ lbs in 2 years. Most people are going to be right around that 60% mark (I wish I knew what the standard deviation is, that would be even more helpful). 2. Weight loss is not constant and linear for most people, even if they are very very consistent with their eating behavior and activity level. It seems like it should be-- calories in/calories out-- but there are a lot of people that tend to lose in cycles and you may be one of them. For me, I lose weight in chunks, then I "plateau" for a few weeks, then I drop another bunch of pounds within three days, then "plateau" again. You may also be one of those people-- don't let it worry you. 3. Exercise may temporarily stall your weight loss or even make you gain, especially if you are starting or intensifying your program. I have been working out consistently for the past two weeks after about 10 years of nothing. I have GAINED weight even though my eating hasn't changed and I'm burning more calories. That's normal. I know if I keep at it, I will drop that plus some more and have a healthier heart and more stamina to boot. 4. This is hard work, even though the band DOES make it easier if you let it. I get full on small amounts of food-- not "stuffed" full like I was used to, but "ok, I've had enough and my body doesn't need more" full. This is REALLY hard to get used to. Full is never again going to feel like full has felt in the past. But, I can still eat past the point where my band says "eh, you've fed your body as much as it needs" and very very often my brain says "do it, you know you want to, mmmmm it tastes so good, just one more bite!". It is a real struggle sometimes to listen to my band and not my head hunger. I actually have a little mantra when I'm eating and being mindful. I say "if I'm not going to listen to the band when it says stop, then why did I bother with this surgery in the first place?" That tends to turn down the volume of the head hunger. I think people naturally go into this surgery very optimistically. They go to the seminar and the surgeon and the carefully selected successful patients of that surgeon talk about how amazing it is. They come on this board and look at the success story forum, and the "I lost 100 lbs" forum, and the "before and after" picture gallery. They see people's tickers (like mine) who have lost huge amounts in months, not years and they expect only the best , most luckiest results, and ignore the fact that the average expected loss in 60% of excess weight at two years. I understand this because I did it too, and I fully believe that I have been incredibly LUCKY so far and that it's "easy" for me to say this but I do think that bandsters who are really in touch with reality and not overly optimistic are going to be able to emotionally adjust to banded life better. Do not get the band if you expect it to work like bypass. If you want super fast results, and you want malabsorption, then get the bypass. With the "plusses" of the band, including its adjustability and its reversibility, come some costs and one cost is that it requires adjustment which is unpredictable in some ways, and it's associated with a slower rate of loss.

I am at this moment sitting at work waiting on insurance approval, through bcbs of alabama. I did the 6 month diet with my pcp, and all the other good stuff. Nothing more to do. I am so dreading the "NO, SORRY" phone call. Is anyone out there going through the same thing at this moment or been through it? Has anyone out there been rejected?

I'm a pre-bander and this has helped so much, thank you!

Its not that he wants you to lose weight as much as he wants you to shrink your liver. Thats why the cheese and all is unlimited.