emily_0192010

Thanks for the advice! Where do you get samples from?

I'm in Jax, Fl. My surgeon does many of his bands at their surgical center, but all of his sleeves are done at the local hospital because he keeps them at least overnight. I have never been there (luckily!) before, except for the seminar.... so hopefully they have nice staff. I think the entire hospital dedicated to bariatric surgery is a wonderful idea! The "digital bariatrics" sounds awesome as well. I bet if most hospitals were that organized it would make the entire insurance issue much easier. I am lucky insurance wise, I am still covered under my mom's policy and they state quite clearly that as long as you meet certain qualifications that they cover it. Good luck with the wait!

Hi Leah! I am also a newbie. I already went to my seminar but I still have to schedule my first appointment. Luckily for me though the first is a mix of a consult/physical/history so once I do that I can get the ball moving with all of the pre-op testing and such. Where are you having your surgery?

100 pounds is amazing no matter how long it took I think you have an amazing attitude and I hope I can be that optimistic once I start to lose my weight How did your surgery go? I am very curious about the actual hospital stay since most people on this forum tend to just say "i went it, it was fine" and then talk about once they got home. Thanks for the update

Hello everyone! My name is Emily and I am 20. I am in the beginning stages of getting the sleeve (went to seminar, need to make an appt) but I cannot wait to join all of the "sleevers" out there! I am from Jax, Fl. How is everyone doing?

I am saving up to get laser hair removal so that I never have to shave my legs again I mostly hide my legs now... but I live in FL and come summertime (okay, really its like spring, summer and fall) it would be awesome to just throw on the shorts or the bathing suit and not have to worry about shaving The second thing I am going to do is a photo shoot with my little sister (she is 5 now). I can't wait to make her proud and be a better role model for her. Thanks for starting this post, I love reading about everyones "rewards"

I plan to tell people the truth.... portion control, high Protein and low carb... plus lots of exercise No need to throw in the fact that I had surgery. I will not be ashamed of it (I haven't had it yet) but I am a very private person. I wouldn't discus any surgery that I would need to have, and I don't feel like this is any different. I think you did a great job handling the situation! I am a bit younger than you (20) but I can definitely understand the whole being in a group of really "well off" people, students especially, who get everything from mommy and daddy. I went (took a year off) to a private Catholic Uni in NJ on a partial scholarship (it covered everything but housing...) but most people there paid out of pocket. The way they behaved towards money was ridiculous. If they ever found out the truth I don't even want to begin with the type of comments they could come up with. Luckily for me my mom and my closest friends are very, very supportive. Good luck

I was reading on my insurance's policy bulletin on obesity surgery and they claim this: "Cholecystectomy:As a high incidence of gallbladder disease (28%) has been documented after surgery for morbid obesity, Aetna considers routine cholecystectomy medically necessary when performed in concert with elective bariatric procedures." This is definitely something I am going to ask my surgeon about. Has anyone had it removed simply for prevention?

I'm not sure about the three-month thing. I also have Aetna... for us I believe it is 3 month supervised OR a "Multidisciplinary surgical preparatory regimen" which my surgeon does anyways. But, do you know if Aetna covers the band? I seem to be getting mixed signals from them. I read somewhere that they will approve the band or bypass and then sleeve if you don't qualify for bypass because it is "experimental"... As for your three-month thing. If you have been seeing your PCP for that long and they have been keeping thorough documentation I don't see why that wouldn't work for Aetna. They do seem to be pretty lax about that. Good luck!

Which seminar did you go too? I went last week as well (Wednesday)... kinda funny to think we might have been at the same one! I have yet to hear back from Dana about the insurance verification so I don't have an appt yet I cannot wait to get started though! My mom and I are both interested and she has not heard anything yet either. I think I will give it until Wednesday before I call Dana.

Thank You for posting! I am currently deciding between the band and the sleeve (I am definitely leaning towards the sleeve) and one of the big points for me in the short term is the procedure itself. Reading about your experience definitely helps! Do you know where there are anymore posted? I think it would be great if someone started a post where everyone could post their surgery day stories (they have it on the lapbandtalk and it is awesome!). I tried searching and just browsing but I have only found a couple. I hope you are doing well post-sleeve!

Hello! I am currently choosing between the band and the sleeve. My main concern with the band is with the long-term effects of having an implant. I have heard that about 50% of people have their bands either removed or revised after the 5 year mark. Is there anyone who knows any more about this or who has had their band for a long time? I will be asking the surgeon about this of course, but in the meantime I would love to hear from you Thanks!

Hello!!!!! I am also in Jax I don't know if you have already found a gym, and I also don't know where in Jax you are. But if you are anywhere near or willing to travel to the Mandarin area (specifically near San Jose and St. Augustine) you should check out the JCA (Jewish Community Alliance). I don't know what your religious preference is, but I happen to bear Catholic and I promise that they do not care what your religion is. I freakin loved that place. The *only* reason I am not still there is because I can't get there anymore. They have a gym, pool, classes, child care... EVERYTHING! But, on top of that what made it amazing to me was 1) if you know to ask they can work with you on cost. They have a scholarship type program so that anybody can join. 2) They were the nicest people ever. Not only the workers but the people who went there and 3) It was not intimidating at all. There were people of all ages and sizes working out and nobody was rude. I love this place and while I was a member I actually lost a significant amount of weight. I toot their horn whenever possible so if you haven't found a gym, I would most definitely check them out!!!

Thanks for your input everyone! This is my main worry about the lap-band and I am looking forward to talking to my surgeon about it, but having people's opinions helps a lot!

About dumping syndrome- it has to do with the pyloric valve. In gastric by-pass the small pouch does not have this pouch, and so food high in carbohydrates (sugars) pass through way too quickly and "dump" out of the system. This is why there is no dumping syndrome with the sleeve or band, so I would imagine that there would be no dumping syndrome with the plication.