guitarman

try Dr. Adam Smith if Fort Worth. I know he offers financing. He is agreat doctor plus he is banded himself and can really relate.

Hey Dell. Don't give up EVER!!!!!!!!!!! I have fought this fight for three years and I am scheduled for Surgery April 19th. I am so nervous now. I had BCBS Rochester for the last three years and they would not even consider covering the band. At first I thought it was the doctors I was seeing that were simply imcompetent to get the procedure approved. And to be quite honest the first three doctors I saw here in Dallas each washed their hands of me when the insurance gave their denial each time. Precisely why I saw three doctors to begin with. It was as like I was important to the docs until they learned getting the procedure approved was going to be difficult, then I was pushed aside like a piece of trash. Well this year my company switched to BCBS Empire. So here I go again. This time I decided I wasn't going to let the doctors and their Lap Band agencies control my destiny, nor the insurance company. So I got on the phone to the insurance company and grilled them about the lapband procedure and why they wouldn't cover it. I was literally hostile until I heard this faint voice on the other line tell me that they did cover it. After I woke up from fainting the insurance company themselves not only found me a doctor to do the procedure but they also found me a psychologist for the eval. Can you believe it. I am out about 150.00 in co-pays getting this thing going. Now I am scheduled to have the procedure and I am scared to death about losing my relationship with food and am I doing the right thing. But I fought to hard to turn back. I obviously wanted it bad enough to fight for it. Another thing you can do is get your human resource department involved. Sometimes they can run interference for you and get things approved. They are the ones who hire the insurance companies anyway. Well thanks for letting me rant for whatever it was worth. I guess I was just trying to say DO NOT GIVE UP NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES THEY SAY NO!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks so much to all. Just remember the plural to Y'all is All y'all. :-)

My goal is to get on survivor next year. What fun that would be. Imagine being able to outlast everyone on the smallest piece of fish while their all starving. Actually we have a survivor pool each episode just for fun here at my house. what you do is you take the number of contestants on the show and find an exact number of players in your group. Each person assumes the role of their contestant on the show by picking a name out of a hat. Some folks play it for money with the last survivor getting the cash. I do it for fun. It makes the show even more interesting though if you have some connection with one of the people on TV.

I get banded April 19th and I also hope and Pray that my outlook on food is different a year down the road. There are three things I am going to do after the surgery everyday. Things that if I had been doing them all along I may not be in this situation. 1) Sounds corny but everyday when I wake up I am going to find something positive about myself in the mirror. 2) stop being Idle.....That is exactly why I want to lose the weight. I can be mobile and get back into woodworking and evolve my music career further. 3) find a different route into the house so that I do not have to cross paths with the kitchen first. I think I'll start coming in through the garage or the backdoor. I know it sounds stupid but it is so easy to come though the front door and detour right into the kitchen and into the fridge or pantry. At least maybe if I plan a different route I can gather myself on what I want to do once I get into the kitchen. you know, have a game plan together.

Wow.........Thanks for all the replies. Man this is one great group of people and I feel very welcome already. I am taking y'alls (I'm Texan - I can't help it) advice and getting the sub. Thanks again.................

Thanks Vinesqueen, I appreciate your input. I will definitely keep you posted. Hopefully I am a very quick healer. I've never had any kind of surgery before so we shall see.

Hello Folks. I am new to the group and am really looking forward to participating. MY name is Mark and I am about to have the Lap Band surgery on April 19th in Ft Worth Texas. Dr. Adam Smith is my Surgeon and is simply wonderful. Especially since he is a bandster himself. But I do have a question to anyone out there who might sing or entertain. I play in a variety band and have a wedding to play at on the 23rd of April. 4 days after surgery. I was wondering how much discomfort to expect and am I being realistic about being able to sing and perform at this function. I may be able to find a sub for me but am running out of time to do so. I obviously would prefer to do the gig myself but would greatly value anyones experience in this arena.