CamarilloCA

Thank you, Sleeve4me. I just hope that they don't make me go to the Options Class in Los Angeles because that is too far to drive for me. I appreciate all the help. I will update this thread to let you all know what happens. I so appreciate the information and support. I am just so anxious and upset, and my abdominal pain won't seem to let up.

Thanks so much, Dorrie! I will do that on Monday. Thank you, Bionic! That is so awesome that you could do it all in two weeks. That's very reassuring. I hope I am as lucky as you were. Thanks again.

Hi Bionic, thank you so much for responding. You have given me hope now. Can you tell me some more information about how you went about getting them to cover it? Did you have to have a BMI over 40 or over 30 with some other serious condition? Did you have pain and go to your PCP? Did they make you go through a program of theirs first? Sorry for all the questions, but I am anxious about this. I have stomach pain all the time and can't imagine living with it for six months while I fight for them to cover this.

I feel your pain here. I self-paid also for a lap band -- a total of $15,000, which included life-time fills. I did qualify for the lap band through my insurance, but they wanted me to do a weight loss program of theirs first, which would require driving into Los Angeles once a week for six months, which I couldn't do. I have had my lap band for four years and regret it also. I throw up at nearly every meal and recently had all the Fluid taken out. I'm trying to see if my insurance company, Kaiser Permanente, will cover the removal of the band and revision to the sleeve. I think Kaiser insurance is pretty good in general if you have the option to get that insurance. If you opt to go to Mexico, I think you will have to self-pay as I don't know of any insurance that would cover surgery in Mexico, but they most likely will be less expensive than having surgery here. I would think that your best bet is to see your primary care physician about your lap band problems and request that he refer you to a bariatric surgeon for revision surgery.

Hi there, I was wondering if anyone who has Kaiser Permanente insurance got them to cover revision surgery from lap band to a gastric sleeve. I qualified for the lap band surgery through Kaiser, but I opted to self-pay because they wanted me to do the Options program before the surgery, which would have meant driving into Los Angeles once a week for six months, and I couldn't do that. I wanted to have my surgery performed by a surgeon in Ventura, which is much closer to where I live. Anyway, I paid to have the lap band surgery and got the lap band in April, 2008, and I had a small amount of weight loss at first, which eventually came back. My band was tightened nearly to the max, and I would throw up at nearly every meal. They told me that my metabolism is very low, which would make it hard to lose weight, and I have found that to be true and try to exercise when I can. Lately, I have a never-ending stomach ache and am trying to see if Kaiser will remove the lap band and approve the vertical sleeve instead. The endoscope apparently showed that there is no erosion, slippage, or ulcers, but it is possible that I have scar tissue around my band or that I may have a hiatal hernia. I am trying to get a upper G.I. to be able to learn more about my stomach pain, but I have to wait about a month before I can get an appointment with my PCP. Has anyone here with Kaiser Insurance had revision surgery approved? Can you tell me what your experience was? Did Kaiser make you wait a long time until your revision surgery? Thanks very much for any advice or assistance.