Back~To~Amy

Whoo Hoo! Best of luck to you on your journey!

Welcome to the boards! Everyone around here is so wonderful and helpful. Best of luck to you in your journey.

feb27bandwoman--sounds like you had a great time and had some great food! Those of us with weight issues often inhale our food without really tasting it. Glad you really tasted and enjoyed your food. dhales--I think Coke for me is like cigarettes used to be, an addiction. I gave it up once a long time ago and went years and only had a handful. Now, I drink it like it's the last thing on earth and it is about to be gone. :-) I'm better off to get off it and just stay off it since it doesn't sound like it will be an option after banding. Thanks for the advice you gave me on weaning. I am doing virtually the same thing only using tea since it is a drink I've never liked sweetened. So far today, I haven't had any caffeine and only have a slight headache. After work though, I do plan to get me a tea.

Thinking of you today and hoping day 1 goes good!

Right after we quit texting last night I actually found a surgeon on my side of the metroplex who does the Iband.....Dr. Davidson at BSC Dallas. I didn't research too much on him since it was getting late and I needed to get to bed, but from what I saw, he seems to be very experienced in WLS. And, his fees for the the lap band alone are $1100.00 cheaper, a big bonus. Hopefully, the Iband is the same. I have already signed up for one of his seminars in 2 weeks and in the meantime am going to do further research on him.

Duh! That's one of the more obvious things I didnt think about. Thanks for the reminder Wendy. Small bites, chewing my food thoroughly and not drinking with meals aren't my strong points. Probably none of ours or we wouldnt be here. :-)

Coke! My goal this week is to work on giving up give up Coke. I am a total caffeine addict. I plan to use unsweatened ice tea to to wean myself off so I don't get those awful headaches. The other thing I plan to do in the near future is to start trying Protein powders. I'm am 100% fearful of the portions of this process that I will have to use Protein powder and eat sugar free things. I am about the pickiest eater out there and HATE anything with any any type of artificial flavoring to it. Anything else I could do to kinda start preparing? I think its better to start working toward this process then go through total withdrawl during the preop diet. I think it will be hard enough on it's own and anything I can do to make it easier, is worth doing. Thanks for any advice!

That's is awesome! I love what B-52 said.

Good luck to you and congrats to finally getting to this point!

A big congrats to you yaya! Onederland, no matter where you are in it, is something to celebrate!

In all my research and reading about complications and such, it never occurred to me until today if the band is supposed to last for forever. I understand things can happen requiring removal of it but under normal circumstances, is the band designed to last for forever if you have no complications? What did your surgeon tell you?

Good for you and good luck! I hope they are all very supportive of your decision.

Yeah, I didn't think it was right how Angela from the Bariatrics line talked to me. I mean saying things like " I'm not going to tell you that" because this is a process and I have to go through it. I did get a call from a girl in the general customer service area. She was super sweet and told me she talked to the supervisor over the insurance for my company. She is the one who told me I only have 50% coverage and the surgery had to be done in a center of excellence. Centers of excellence are all hospitals. When I called the doctors office they told me 50% of the charges done in a hospital would exceed their cash price so I was better off to go that route. I'm still gonna see what the Bariatrics group sends me to see if it will be any different. I'm not holding out much hope of that though. I'm prepared to do the cash option if I have to though. I don't want to but it may be that or no surgery.

That is great to hear! After being told I had great coverage for WLS, I found out that is not the case. I have coverage, but the coverage is so bad it would cost me more to use it then to pay the self-pay prices. I've pretty much convinced myself to do it, but darn it is so hard to spend that much money!

I can see very limited coverage on line. Apparently, the lack of insurance coverage is because my employer. They are basically in charge of setting what the coverage is.

Thanks Ken for shaing your story with us. It's nice to read success stories such as yours.

That's great cocamokis! You have been through a lot to get this far. I'm sending good vibes your way that all goes well and you get to have your surgery this time!

Bev---Yeah, I made the post right after the news from my insurance company. I regrouped and that, along with some time, gave me a new perspective. I am worth this and it is worth spending my money on! I do have credit cards in the event something major comes up while I rebuild my savings. And, I have family I could borrow from if need be. One has already told me so! Actually, she told me I could borrow from her and my brother-in-law if I needed/wanted to for the actual procedure. Love my sister! She and my mother are my two biggest supporters in life and are both always there for me. LadyFromIrvine--thats a great price for fills. For me, it is the airfare that would add up. It isn't cheap to fly out there! Thanks for the info. though. Ya never know when I need to pass it on to someone else.

I understand how hard it is to tell them. I've wanted to have this surgery for years, but telling people stopped me. I am the only one in my family who is really overweight. I am very successful in all aspects of my life except my weight and it was embarrasing to admit that by admitting I wanted WLS. However, I will be meeting my deductible and annual out of pocket because of another surgery. I called my insurance company and told WLS would be free once I met my out of pocket so I felt I had no choice but to mention it to my BFF, Mom and Sister who are all skinny. I mean who would be stupid enough to pass it up if it were free, right? They were all SOOOO supportive of me. What a relief! I did find out though it won't be free. I was given wrong information but I'm still leaning toward doing it. Best of luck to you!

I'm guessing that the people who made the "just diet" comment have never had real weight issues. Those of us who have had or currently have totally understand your struggle. It's great you have the support of your husband. If you decide to do this, do it! Don't let other's opinions stop you if it is really what you want. Good luck to you in your decision!

Hi there! We must live close. I'm attending his seminar next Tuesday at 6:30 pm at Baylor Plano. Of all the commercials running in our area, I was always drawn to his. Plus, after reading his site, I like the fact that follow up visits and fills for LIFE are FREE. Most places only give you a year. I hope I feel like he is my doctor after the seminar. Are you going to the next seminar? I'd love to meet you if you are.

Thanks Denise. The topic you speak of is one of the reasons I'm looking into the doctor I am. All office visitis and fills are free for life. That is a huge benefit to me as I haven't found anyone else who offers that. It's usally just the first year like you said.

Thanks for the suggestions to check out Dr. Ortiz. While I'm not opposed to having surgery in Mexico, I am opposed to being so far away from my doctor. For me, I just cannot let go of that feeling. I wish I could though, because it is so much cheaper. And, Dr. Oritz is on the California side of Mexico, correct? Over the long run, I think I'd end up spending more just to travel to see him. I just need to come to grips with depleting my savings and financing some and all this will be possible! To tell you the truth, the thought of not having to jump through the hoops of an insurance company to get their approval sounds like the big advantage of cash pay and it is sounding more and more appealing!

I've calmed down a bit since the intial post which I made right after my talk with the insurance company when my emotions were more raw. I still have hope. If I pretty much empty my savings, I can finance the rest and be able to afford those monthly payments. It just scares me to empty out my savings. I keep telling myself it is worth it, I am worth it, but it is hard to do. I'm going to go to a seminar on Tuesday and will proceed from there. I have time to decide and make my decision. I'm mostly scared to put out that much money and be without a back up in savings! Thanks to everyone who responded and gave me advice. I really appreciate the support here!