jackie506

I am not banded yet but I was interested in all of the different things everyone has posted about times their surgeon gave them. I looked back in the paperwork I got from the surgeon at my consult to confirm and he says nothing to drink 1/2 hour before meals and nothing for 1 hour after. There really is a lot of discrepensies (sp?). Who knows who is right? LOL

Congratulations on making the decision to pursue the lapband and wellcome. Hope your consultation goes well. Keep us posted!!!

Hey Lori!! I have missed hearing from you. Hope your pulse ox was good. I got the CPAP but I really don't like it. It usually falls off my face a couple of times a night. I am one who tosses and turns so that is why. The straps come undone pretty easy. Got the results of my endoscopy yesterday. He says that I have a small amount of inflamation from the acid reflux but the biopsy they took came out normal and he does not see any reason I will not do fine with the lapband. He told me he thought I am a great candidate. YEAH!!!!!:clap2: I still have to see a pulmonologist but Mary at the office said I could just wait until I am approved if I want because it won't take me long to get into one. That is all that is left and then to have blood work right before. My goodness I better be approved! LOL. Feel like I have been ran through the mill. Are you submitting to insurance after you get your pulse ox results? Good luck!!!:biggrin1:

Do as many tests as you can. My PCP ordered all of the tests that I have already done and BCBS paid. I was really nervous about doing them all pre approval because I read some where that one person done that and their insurance wouldn't cover the costs because they weren't approved. I personally didn't think that made sence since we have to do the testing to see if we have co morbidities.

XGRL I know what you mean about the phentermine. I was on that stuff back in 99 and 2000 and that is why they made me have an echo to make sure I had no damage done to the heart valves. Luckily everything is 'clean as a whistle and looks 100% normal' (quote of the doctor). I have been on several supervised diets also. Just not 6 consecutive months within the last 2 years. I had given up on doing them because the only one that ever worked was the phen phen and then they took 1/2 of that off the market. I was to scared to continue taking the phentermine after that. Held off all these years without having an echo too surgeon said I had to have one befor he would do surgery so I done it. Was so relieved when they told me everything was fine. I really think I will get approved. The surgeon's office told me that BCBS is not hard to get approved if you meet their requirements and do everything they want done prior to submitting. I sure hope they are right. I am so afraid of getting my hopes up and then being shot down. I have totally met my annual out of pocket maximum so my surgery itself will cost me nothing. I had some other testing done for something else and then all these others the surgeon wanted so I met the $3,000.00 out of pocket max quick. Keep your spirits high and fight for what you want. Don't let them tell you no.

XGRL My BMI is 47. My friend has a BMI of only 36 and she was approved. She has diabetis. She has been trying to get the surgery for a while but she only had 1 co morbidity. Now she has high cholesterol and they approved her because now she has 2 co morbidities. Am I the ony one or does that sound ass nine? They wouldn't approve it until her health became WORSE!!! I don't get it. Good luck to you and congrats on taking control now. Don't let them deny and then walk away. Keep trying!! I haven't had surgery yet either but I am hoping by August. The surgeons office told me they don't think I will have any problem getting approved because of my BMI and I now have diagnosed sleep apnea and use a CPAP. I have 1 more visit for the supervised diet and then we will be submitting. I have already done my endoscopy, sleep study, psych eval, nutritionist, surgery consult, echocardiogram and now just 1 more month of the 6 month supervised diet. I have been very proactive in this persuit getting all of my testing done prior to even submitting. The surgeon told me that was great because I shouldn't have any waiting time once/if I am approved for surgery except for the 2 week liquid diet prior to surgery. Thank Goodness. Good luck on your pursuit and keep us posted. I will post when/if anything new happens here.

THank you soooo much for your words of wisdom Lori ann. I just needed to hear from someone else who had the same situation. I have also done the sleep study and they have found that I have sleep apnea so that is another co morbidity. I have achey knee and ankle joints and doc has told me for 2 years it is my weight. I am 34 and my BMI is 47.7. I am REALLY praying that I get approved and can have surgery in August. I called the surgeons office today and they reassured me AGAIN, LOL, that they think I will be approved the first time and that this happens to a lot of people. Those people are just AWSOME with patients. The co ordinator at the office always has time to talk and answer questions or just lend an ear. LOVE 'EM!!! I appreciatate all the support I find here and would love to hear from anyone else who has BCBS of Iowa. Thank you!!!!!

I will be praying for you and keep us all posted. You are a real trooper and seeing how you push through things encourages me when I begin to fatler in my thinking. Thank you and good luck to ya!!!!

:help:Ok I haven't been banded yet but I have 1 more 'weigh in' on my supervised diet. First 2 months gained 4 lbs., third month lost 2, 4th month lost 9, I have to go next this Thursday and I don't think I have lost or gained, My question is this, has anyone else had BCBS of Iowa and lost and then gained during their supervised diet? I am so afraid they are going to think that I am not trying hard enough on my own so they will deny me. I am telling you the scale and I are becoming bigger enemies than ever before :angry! I bought a bike and have been riding faithfully, eating the right food, bought a bean exerciser and do that every other day. The problem is not that I am not doing anything it is that even though I am eating the healthy foods (with a few minor slips here and there) I am eating too much and have terrible portion control. I am so hungry when I try to eat just 1 serving of food. I have a weekly list of eveyrthing that I eat every day of the week and each month when I go to my doctor I take it in. I have been VERY honest with what I am eating. (Even the blizzard that I had from DQ) He told me I was eating right just too much. Seen the nutritionist and she told me the same thing. She was really inpressed with what I had been eating and how I have been keeping track. Do you think they will send that to insurance along with all the other paperwork? Damn it I am trying but this is emotionally excruciating!!!!! :Cry: Wish me luck. I have 4 more days to move that damn scale down at least a couple of pounds. I have scheduled time to ride my bike everyday for 1 hour and then go to the YMCA. I have 135 lbs to lose so the whole exercising thing is tough but I can do it. Just need some input from you all to (hopefully) put my mind at ease. I am hoping I am not the only one who has bounced around on the supervised diet and that no one has been denied because of it. Thanks for letting me bend your ear and I can't wait to hear from others.

I am so sorry Alex. I hope that you will be able to turn their decision around. Good luck on the 6 pounds you have lost though. Keep your spirits up!!!!!!!

I am hoping to be banded in August of this year. Do you think all doctors will start using the 'new' band? I am really hoping so.

Thanks for the information. After reading about the whole process :star: it just reaffirmed for me that the lapband is the right one . I am just soooooo afraid of having things removed and rerouted in different ways than God intended. I will continue on my journey to try getting the lapband. Thanks again for the info.

Honey- I am so sorry for your loss. I am not yet banded and I worry about band slipping, being stuck or one of the several other things some people talk about. Good luck!!! Can anyone tell me what the 'DS' is. I have read several other threads before that talk about converting from the band to the DS. I was just wondering what that is and are the cutting some of the stomach and intestine out and then rerouting anything? That is what scares me about the rouxenY. Good luck all and keep posting. This site has really helped me in my journey BEFORE banding. I am learning a lot!!!

I have had GERD for the past 10-11 years and I was told that I would still be able to have the band. The surgeon had everyone he does surgery on have an endoscopy done prior to surgery and if they find a hernia they will repair it during surgery. I am still not banded (getting pre banding tests, supervised diet completed) but I am not worried about being banded if something shows up in the endoscopy. I agree with everyone else.....look for a second opinion and good luck to you;)

Mandi I am not yet banded but I was told by my surgeon that I had to have the testing to rule it out even though I didn't think I had it. (he has EVERYONE he does surgery on either do a clinic or oximeter test) They told me I would be surprised by how many obese people have it don't know it. They told me that now since I was diagnosed as having sleep apnea that I would have to have the CPAP for at least 2 weeks prior to surgery, while in the hospital and 2 weeks after surgery because by treating my sleep apnea it will promote healing. They also told me that the anestegiologist (sp?) will take more precaution due to the apnea. My thought on that was they should be taking that precaution on everyone anyway. I don't know really. I just wanted to pass on what I have been told. There are alot of others that never had it. My friend that is going to the same surgeon did an oximeter test at home and she was told that since her O2 stats never went below 97% she does not have to do the clinic because she doesn't have apnea. If you are not comfortable with the whole thing yet talk with your doctor and tell him your concerns. Let him explain his reasoning. I have read so many different opinions on this.

The clinic I went to would have done the same but the tech said that I didn't meet insurance criteria meaning that she wasn't sure if I had it or not. She said the doctor who read the results would do several different mathematical equations to see if I had it. (how many apnea episodes I had per hour divided by plus minus blah blah blah HAHA) Anyway, I found out that everyone has sleep apnea but the 'normal' person has 3-5 episodes an hour and I had 7. In my opinion that should be ok but my surgeon says 'no you need the machine or he won't do the surgery so I am doing the machine so I can have surgery and as I said before....I honestly did sleep better and felt great the next day. It would have been nice to do it all in one night but that is ok. At least now I can say I am done and it is over with.

Congrats to you happy@83. How long did you have the band before converting to the sleeve. I am not banded yet and I am just weighing all of my options before. I am REALLY leaning towards the band. So many have success with it and their are some that don't. I am trying to talk to both groups to get all of the pro's and con's of it. I am 106 lbs over weight and I am hoping that the band will help. Thanks!!!

they called on april 27 to set up my first appointment for May 10 and then I called on May 21 to set up my next appointment and I got it for the very next night May 22. I was lucky I guess. Some people say it takes so long to get into both nights. The surgeons office couldn't believe how fast I got it all done and they got the results the very next day after both nights.

I am on the other end of the spectrum from some of you. I am a very organized clean freak. I do all of my cleaning every 3 days. This includes scrubbing every floor, vacuuming, cleaning sinks toilets and etc, dusting and everything else under the sun that needs to be done in a house. I do laundry every night and make sure it is dried, folded and put away before I go to bed. If something is out of place in our house I am out of place. I have to have things put where they belong. The most relaxing thing to me is to get up in the morning on my cleaning days and do ALL of my cleaning right away (I go to work mid morning to afternoon) and then go to work and come home and have an early supper with my family, clean up afterwards and then set and read or get on the computer. I am very relaxed when my house is clean. I have 2 teenagers and my DD takes after mom, (she is a neat freak too) my DS on the other hand is a slob and would leave things lay if he was not told to put them away. DH he just goes with the flow. When we met (this is my second marriage) he had his own place and he kept it so so. He was fine if things started to pile up. Drove me nuts!!!! Needless to say we didn't stay at his place often. HAHA He does great though. I have a wonderful hubby that keeps things picked up and put away. My motto is when you want to use it get it from where it belongs.....when your done with it put it back where you got it from.

ivonea No I haven't had the surgery yet. I am still in the process of all of the pre op testing and all that. I should be done with all of this in the end of June or Mid July. After that we will submit to insurance and I am hoping I can have surgery in August. I just did my second night in the sleep clinic to titrate to the machine 2 nights ago. I honestly have to say that I slept ALL night. I haven't done that in years. I was not uncomfortable with the machine or mask and I felt very rested the next morning. They told me that t hey will send the results to my doctor and he will prescribe my machine at the setting that it needs to be set at. I am hoping that I can get the same kind of mask and that it goes as well at home as it did there the other night. I asked the tech the other night if sleep apnea is pretty common and he states it is. He told me everyone has some sleep apnea but the 'normal' number of apnea episodes in an hour are 3-5 and I had 7 so really mild is VERY mild. He told me that I will probably not need the machine once I have the surgery and loss so weight but he couldn't guarantee that and I understand that but I can hope. HAHA. Anyway he also told me that even though my apnea is so mild the surgeon that I am having requires me to have a CPAP because it will help with the healing process and the already high risk because I am obese. I don't mind that either because I am thankful my surgeon is being so proactive instead of reactive if something were to happen or go wrong. He told me to think of all the pre op testing as the most invasive medical physical I will ever in my life have. He said they will look me up and down, inside out and around and around. I guess I am very thankful that he is being so careful. Good luck with your apnea and hopefully after some more weight loss you will not have to wear the mask anymore. Have you tried different masks? I started with a mask that just covered my nose but I couldn't use that because I am a mouth breather at night so then I used a mask that covered my nose and my mouth and I was fine.:clap2:

Thanks for the info eficka. I will tell my friend that was at that the seminar totally set to have the lap band and then when she heard this she was undecided and thinks that she should/has to have the rouxenY because she loves sweets. Don't get me wrong I like my sweets to sometimes but even now prebanded I eat them maybe 1 time a week. Thank you all for all your words of wisdom. This forum really helps the prebanded and banded people. I am so happy I found this sight before I am banded. I have learned so much and I love sharing all my info that I learn with my family hoping that maybe that will help them understand the band a little better also.

Also what about surgery complications? Is this surgery approved in the US? What is the success rate for this surgery vs lap band. I have read several articles and threads that talk about people regaining there weight after 5-6 years with the rouxenY. What about this? Sorry I am asking so many questions. I am just really interested in weighing all of my options before making a definate decision. THanks everyone

Can someone tell me what the 'sleeve' is? Do they cut and reroute or what? Is this like the rouxen Y? I am considering the band because I don't want anything GOD gave me rerouted or cut out of me. Please give me some insight to this. Thanks:D

I am not banded yet but I can say that about 3 months ago we switched from using regular pasta to the wheat grain/whole wheat pasta and it is just as good. I actually thought my kids (teenagers) would say they don't like it (just because they are teens and it is healthy haha) but they both tell me they can not taste the difference and either can I or my husband. We use it in whatever we make or have that requires pasta. Try it out. Congrats on getting banded. I am sooooooo envious of you and can't wait to join you losers (no pun intended). Good luck on your journey.

Congratulations on joining everyone in bandland. :clap2: Take it easy and rest. I am soooooo envious of you and can not what to join you all. Keep posting so all of us waiting to be banded can benefit from your experiences . I LOVE THIS FORUM!!!!