NWgirl

Definitely talk to him and express how you really feel about your weight. I personally have dieted for years and never been able to get to the weight I want to be, and I've been miserable about my body. Don't get me wrong, I like myself, just not the way I look. I also watched a youtube video of a lapband surgery and my honey watched with me. Before the video, he was hesitant about the surgery, thinking it was a full blown, open you up kind of procedure even after I told him how minimally invasive it is. After watching the video, he actually saw for himself how little is done to put the band in and is relieved and 100% behind me. He knows how hard I've tried to lose the weight on my own, and my recent diagnosis of hypothyroid helped to shine a new light on maybe why those diets never worked...

I did want to buy the withings scale, but think my honey would disapprove. I have a Fitbit too (it is AMAZING) and they have started coming out with apps that you can link to. I am linked to lose it, and am pretty sure the withings can link to that too... Somehow I still can't justify the $150... Maybe in a year or two there will be more competition in the marketplace and I can get one for a lot less.

Just looked at the rest of my paperwork, and saw I will also be having an EKG, vital signs, and body fat measurement as well as photo taken on the first day as well.

For my first meeting on the 17th, I was told the same thing. I will be going in at 730AM for a welcome group/orientation and then I will be taking a 300 or 400 question multiple choice test (I assume this will be gone over at my visit with the psychologist). I was told I will be there til 11 or 1130am.

Those Withings scales are pretty awesome... they have wifi built in and automatically upload weights to a website for tracking... Of course, they are about $150.

Yay for you!!!!

I am with you, my insurance that covers surgery started 1/1/12 Just make sure that (obviously) your insurance covers the band, but more importantly, make sure that if your insurance company has a bariatric contact to call them and ask if there is anything you need to do for them. For my insurance, bariatrics are covered but you must be on a list of patients that have contacted the insurance bariatric contact before they can assure that anything related to the band is covered (including pre-op testing).

Hi Shirley, Where is the site? I looked under specialty forums and saw diabetic, etc but didn't seem to find thyroid? What am I doing wrong?

So my primary care Dr.'s office called today and told me my blood tests came in. My PC is at the same hospital as the surgery center I am using, so I was able to get lab work for both offices combined. Turns out, I have high Iron level (test ordered by Lapband office), low thyroid, and low Vitamin D. I go to see my PC Dr. on Thursday... I assume they will be putting me on thyroid medicine. As for the high iron, I'm hoping the test was a fluke. I did see a couple women post on another forum that they got high iron levels back, but that they also use Seasonale (or the generic), which only lets you have four periods a year if taken correctly. I am wondering if this is possibly part of the issue?

Congratulations! What a surprise

I know, I've been religiously poring over sections for the last month and need my forum fix!!!!

I had something similar happen to me last year. I was covered under an employee Regence BCBS plan, and Oregon Weight Loss Surgery sent me a letter stating that I was covered and the level of coverage, copay, etc. I wanted to verify myself, so I called the insurance company and was told there was no coverage. I explained to the insurance company employee that I had received a letter with benefit breakdown and asked how it was possible. She then did a three way call with her, myself, and the insurance coordinator for Oregon Weight Loss Surgery and come to find out the OWLS coordinator saw I was under a Regence Employee Plan and ASSUMED I was on the plan that covered bariatrics without actually checking. Needless to say, I am now under a new insurance that does provide coverage and will not be going to OWLS because the coordinator didn't even apologize for the mistake. Talk about a total let down... I have a feeling this also happened to you

That sucks When I tried in internet explorer, I got the same error message as above. When I try in Firefox, the page turns blank (unless of course I am going to new content). Hopefully this gets fixed asap.

Sorry to hijack your thread, but is any one else able to get into specific forums right now? I have tried switching internet browsers and trying to enter from different spots, but am unable to access anything but the "view new content" section. Any help appreciated.

I know if I go to my insurance website (Anthem BCBS), I can select to either search by doctor/profession or by hospital. I assume when the hospital comes up, the insurance will probably cover at whatever tier is stated.

I'd recommend going to their online search (I typed your plan into google and came up with a search link https://www.oxhp.com/secure/providerSearch/content_doctor.html) and finding the hospitals that are covered by your plan, and then calling the hospitals and ask if they have a bariatric surgery center or offer bariatric surgery.

What about vitamins too? Maybe you are lacking vitamins you used to consume?

That's great to know! Wow, I just noticed your ticker says you only got the band in April of this year and you've already lost 130 pounds???! Congrats!

Good luck!

My Aunt's husband is also employed by Fred Meyer and she got her Lapband about two or three years ago. She said it went super quick because there wasn't a wait like most insurances require. She also looks amazing and is one of the main reasons my parents were so quick to add me. I manage a restaurant and am trying to figure out how much time I should take off... I imagine if all goes well, I should be ready for surgery in February. I've always had a high pain threshold, and so I think I could probably manage to take Thu/Fri/Sa/Su and be back to work Monday. If that won't work, I will wait til Spring break in March and take the week off. I don't really want to take a week off until then because most of my employees are in school and can't work some days. I also am unsure if I want to really tell anyone outside of my immediate family and fiance, so I don't want to explain what I'm doing for a week. Crossing my fingers it all goes well!

Hi everyone, I have been stalking around the forums for some time now and decided I'll reintroduce myself I originally looked into Lapband surgery last year, and after being told by Oregon Weight Loss Center here in Portland, Oregon that my insurance did cover the procedure, I found out they in fact did not I was originally insured under a Regence BCBS employee plan, but out of the three plans Regence offers their employees, only one offers bariatric coverage (and of course I wasn't on that one!). I was a little bummed and decided that it was time to start saving for a trip to Mexico to get the Lapband because I can't afford the 15-20k US prices. A few months ago, my stepmom offered to add me to her insurance plan because it for sure covers Lapband. She and my dad have watched me yo-yo diet for years now and just want me to be happy and healthy. I'm really excited to be taking this step, and have all of my pre-op appointments set for the first couple weeks of January . I did change to Legacy Weight Management Institute instead of Oregon Weight Loss Center, mainly because Legacy is a center of excellence and I didn't want to pay the extra fees to go somewhere that wasn't. The insurance coordinator told me this morning that I was lucky because my new insurance (Kroger Anthem BCBS) does not have any requirements as far as diet, weight loss required before surgery, etc. I'm so looking forward to a new year and the possibility that I won't be the fat girl forever! I think I'm going to make a bucket list of things I want to do as I lose weight.

I remember reading that the Fitbit is modeled after the system that the Wii uses to track movement... I'm not really sure how it works, but I'm guessing that there is some kind of motion field it uses to almost visualize what movement the body is making. Like I said, the only real difference between the Bodybugg and the Fitbit is size, cost, and a small discrepancy in calorie counts. I have tested the step tracker and as long as you put in your own stride length and don't leave it at default, the step count is right on. I really encourage you to buy the Fitbit and test it- you can always return if you don't like it. For myself, I figured it was a very small amount to pay for such an investment in my own health. Good luck

There is another post about the Fitbit vs. Bodybugg going on http://www.lapbandtalk.com/topic/138780-fitbit/page__fromsearch__1. What I posted there: I have had both the Bodybugg and the Fitbit. I started out with the Bodybugg in September 2010, and when the renewal came up on my subscription, I decided I was going to test the Fitbit vs Bodybugg. After two weeks I decided I wanted to keep the fitbit and sell the Bodybugg. Pros/cons of each item are below... Pros for both items: - Very accurate calorie counts - measurement of low activity, medium activity, and high activity - food logging - variety of reports (when I ended my subscription, Fitbit did have more report types available (sleep, etc) Cons of Bodybugg - Big and bulky- must be worn on upper arm for best accuracy. Is very noticeable and attracts a lot of attention. - A lot of people develop rashes under the strap and system due to moisture - must pay membership fee to get access to website. If you let membership lapse, you cannot have access to your old data. - Food logging was far from great and often timed out. Pros of Fitbit - Free membership with option to upgrade to a premium membership. If you are a serious numbers person, then this is good, but otherwise the basic membership should fulfill all needs (shows food logs, activity logs, sleep logs) - Small and easily hidden. I wear my Fitbit on my bra. - built in display showing calories burned, steps, distance and (with the new Ultra) floors climbed - GREAT customer service. - much cheaper than Bodybugg Overall, I really can't say anything negative about the Fitbit. It does everything the Bodybugg does at a fraction of the original cost and without any required membership fees. I did have a problem with my original Fitbit before the one year warranty was up, and Fitbit immediately sent me out a brand new Ultra at no charge. Bodybugg customer service seemed lacking when I contacted them on occasion. The bodybugg also stated I burned 300 more calories in a day than the Fitbit- I'm not sure which is more accurate, but I would rather be under stating vs. overstating my burns.

Forgot to mention, the Bodybugg stated I burned about 300 more calories in a day than the Fitbit. I'm not sure which is more accurate, but I'd rather have my calorie burn under reported and not over reported.