carol422

Welcome, I haven't had surgery yet and I'm here to learn all that I can. My advise to you is to go to the seminar the Dr's office offers. Bring your husband with you. My husband went with me and we both learned a lot about the procedure, insurance coverage is also covered, along with questions and answers by the people in attendance. At the seminar they also talked about the different appointments you will need to have (pulmonologist, cardiologist, and phys. consult) before the procedure can be done. We also received a packet that had a ton of information to take home and read. Good luck with your journey. Keep us posted!

Has anyone recieved info in the mail from BCBS regarding LifeMasters? It is a free service thru BCBS .The program is administered thru LifeMasters, " a condition management program". The program is completely voluntary. Your benefits are will not be affected if you decide not to participate or if you withdraw from the program. You will learn how to monitor your health, including measuring and recording your vital signs and symptoms. Be able to share your info with your doctor to receive improved care. Receive valuable educational materials and videos. Does anyone know if they send this to insurance members for participation when they know that the insured is hoping to have WLS? My concern is that if I do not join this program it may be grounds for denial of surgery. That they may say I didn't want to improve my health with this program, so I may not follow the WLS guidelines. Has anyone else been offered this free service and not joined and still got approval for surgery? Thanks for any info you can tell me.

Take it one day at a time...Look at all you have accomplished already....by the way, "Congratulations" on your weight loss. When you need some friends, just come visit us..we'll be here for you. Have a great day!

Congratulations to you! Way to go!!!!:whoo::whoo::whoo:

Great NSV! and you do laundry. hahahaha I'm glad for you, can't wait til my rings just fall off! :whoo::clap2::whoo::clap2::whoo::clap2::whoo::clap2::whoo::clap2:

I weighed in this morning...down 2.5 pounds for the month. I guess that's not bad considering the holidays were happening. I'm a bit disappointed, but at least I didn't gain. YEAH! So now I'm done 19 pounds. Oh well, I still have 2 months to lose another pound. I was told I needed to lose 20 pounds during this 6 month period. Any pound gone is one less I have to carry around with me.:whoo:

I weighed in this morning...down 2.5 pounds for the month. I guess that's not bad considering the holidays were happening. I'm a bit disappointed, but at least I didn't gain. YEAH! So now I'm done 19 pounds. Oh well, I still have 2 months to lose another pound. I was told I needed to lose 20 pounds during this 6 month period. Any pound gone is one less I have to carry around with me.:whoo:

Hi RonKat, hope your doing well!

Hi RonKat, hope your doing well!

I haven't updated this for awhile. I've lost another 8 pounds! Total 16.5 pounds lost! YEAH!!!! :whoo:I thought I'd never get thru 6 monthly visits with the doctor. Three visits down and three to go. The fourth one is 01/03/2008. The Dr's office has all my paperwork in their hands. . My supervised diet is half done! I don't feel that I have been as successful this month as I was the last two. Oh well, it is what it is. I'm trying very hard to stay within 1200 calories, but some days it is harder than others.:faint: One day at a time.....one day at a time.....It's also the holidays. I know I shouldn't use that as an excuse....I still feel like I've made great accomplishments. I no longer drink pop....wait to drink after my meal....still trying to eat slower and to practice chew, chew, chew. One day all of these things will be second nature. I hope anyways! With the weather changes it makes it harder to walk daily, but I can use On-demand and get the exercise channel to continue working out.

I haven't updated this for awhile. I've lost another 8 pounds! Total 16.5 pounds lost! YEAH!!!! :whoo:I thought I'd never get thru 6 monthly visits with the doctor. Three visits down and three to go. The fourth one is 01/03/2008. The Dr's office has all my paperwork in their hands. . My supervised diet is half done! I don't feel that I have been as successful this month as I was the last two. Oh well, it is what it is. I'm trying very hard to stay within 1200 calories, but some days it is harder than others.:faint: One day at a time.....one day at a time.....It's also the holidays. I know I shouldn't use that as an excuse....I still feel like I've made great accomplishments. I no longer drink pop....wait to drink after my meal....still trying to eat slower and to practice chew, chew, chew. One day all of these things will be second nature. I hope anyways! With the weather changes it makes it harder to walk daily, but I can use On-demand and get the exercise channel to continue working out.

LOL! We all experience the same tragic tales of our fights with the scale. I had to weigh in this morning at the doctors office, (Visit 3 done, 3 more to go) and my scale at home was close, that is after I added 6 pounds to what my scale says. Anytime I weigh myself at home I must add 6 pounds, crazy isn't it? I was worried that my scale was lying to me again! I think we should throw the damn things out!

I haven't had surgery yet but my Dr. is Dr. Joyce. I like him and his staff is very friendly. As a matter of fact a few members of the staff have had surgery too.

You all are too funny! Have a wnderful day! Derrick, be careful out there....

Isn't it terrible that the children of today have had their youth taken away? I say lets stop catering to all the nuts in the world and lets stop being so critical of every little thing! It's okay to have your beliefs, but don't force everyone to live by them. The world has gone nuts! Why can't we let children be children? Have a great day!

Congrats to both of you! Way to go! Yahoo!

Just do it! We've all been in your shoes. Go to a seminar first, get the information from the Dr. Listen to everything at the seminar, listen to the questions that are asked by others at the seminar. It will help you make up your mind. Once you do that you have made your commitment to becoming healthy. Learn all that you can. Good luck and keep us posted!

When my kids were little they made a list of the things they would like to get for Christmas. They also knew that they would not be able to get everything on the list just because they wanted it. They were always told that if they didn't get it for Christmas that they could save their money from allowance and birthday gifts and purchase it on their own.

Yes, yes, tell us.....

I haven't been banded yet but it is my understanding that it is to give you time to heal. The band needs to find its resting spot. Hope that helps. If someone out there feels I'm wrong please let me know.

Hi, I'm doing the 6 month diet. I walk 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. I also try to keep calories at 1200 per day. Somedays it is easier than others. I don't count veggies in my calorie count. Since 9/28 I have lost 8.5 pounds. That keeps me motivated. Good luck!

Hi Lana and welcome! The 6 month supervised diet is a BCBS of IL insurance requirement. I must go to the Dr's office once a month for 6 months to weigh-in and talk about what I'm eating and what exercise I'm getting so that it can be documented for the insurance company.They want to see that you will follow your Dr. instructions after the surgery. They also needed 5 years of medical history that show weight. Psych evaluation, cardiologist and pulmonologist consult. Every insurance company has its own set of requirements that you must have before they give an approval. I wish it were easy, but it's not.

Welcome applesmith1226! I too am on the 6 month supervised diet. I hate it because I've done this before. Oh, well, I will do whatever it takes to get the weight off. Keep reading the other posts. They are a great inspiration to me! You will also learn a lot here. I know I did. Good luck!

Hi mscathy1, welcome to LBT. I too am waiting for approval. I must finish a 6 month supervised diet before final approval. It is a long process and a frustrating one. In the meantime I keep learning more and more from this site. It really keeps me motivated to keep up the hard work. Good luck to you!

The Dr.'s office contacted the insurance company. The insurance company then sent me a letter with the requirements. But I already knew them from the Dr's office. I was already on the diet when I received the letter from the insurance. Hope this helps.