SpecialK

I have a late January birthday and I can't think of a better present than Aetna approving me by the end of January. Congratulations on your approval yesterday.:clap2:

Congrats Jess30. I can't wait for the day to get down from 26/28 and even 30/32 or 3x into a 22/24 as a milestone. I'm sure you will shine for your Christmas party! Enjoy. and... Feast on the compliments not the goodies!

I had a tough experience and was asked to pay $50 administrative cost for my PCP to get the paper records from the past 5 years out of storage since they've gone to computer only in the past 2 years and to give the surgeon's office what Aetna needed on my 5 year weight history, I had to pay the cost for the PCP office to have the paper file pulled from storage, copying done, then sent back to storage. I should follow up and see if my PCP has completed this after hearing your story. My PCP isn't supportive about weight loss surgery even for those she knows have struggled for years so I'm kind of pushing ahead without her if I have to. Good luck!

Thanks Ray for confirming that I just should get a January and February nutritionist appt lined up and then I should be close for maybe a March approval & banding instead of thinking I had to wait 6 months! Woo Hoo!:clap2:

Quilting is a big love but I haven't had enough time for it yet but the winter is a good time to curl up and do this. I also do water color painting, I've dabbled in stain glass, and I love gardening.

Have to confess that at my BMI 57, I gave up long long ago on even trying to flirt with someone because I hated the rejection. Even if I took the time to get to know the guy, and then tried to flirt, I was a flop at this. However, I have 2 sisters who seem to be able to flirt effortlessly.. go figure. Hoping when I get closer to a normal weight that I'll figure the flirting thing out - or at least get courage to keep trying if I get burned the first 10 times or whatever!!!

Mariposa - I just noticed your tag line says you were banded in 2004 and had a port revision in 2005. How has it been now that you've gone what 3+ years? Are you at your goal? I thought the big guys would win it all along - knew Neil was a likely winner but wasnt' surprised by the Twin brothers winning both the $100K and the $250K top prize. The only thing that bothered me this season was the Product Placements...ie. advertising... stop it please! That's what commercials are for. I hate that they keep renaming all the football Bowl games with big commercial product names too. Like it that they keep the Rose Bowl as just that .. The Rose Bowl!

<p><p>Dawn, it is so encouraging to know someone who has achieved the level of loss I need to do has done it. Thanks for posting. I'm 5' 5" and I'd love to be able to run any distance right now...just too painful on the knees and would get short of breath quickly if I tried too. So, save a space for me in the future on the starting line of a 5K or whatever!</p></p>

I'm not banded yet but almost finished with my clearances and this is something the nutrionist just mentioned yesterday - staying away from liquid calories - they go through the band fast and don't satisfy compared to eating something you have to chew to eat and that takes longer to digest. I can so relate to how hard being overweight, morbidly obese, is at Christmas, New Years's Eve and then a January birthday for me, followed by Valentines' Day no less so I always considered this period one of the hardest and loneliest for overweight single women like myself. Hang in there, one day at a time and with all the great suggestions everyone posted, I so appreciate the ideas in advance of getting banded.

I had my initial nutrionist consultation Dec 18 with my surgeon's hospital bariatric program nutrionist. I am hoping that counts as 1 of my 'intensive' nutrionist counseling appointments. I had to provide her food journals, information on diets tried including ones where I took Phentermine (not Phen-fen), trying WW actively now, etc. She was pretty cool about things. Told me diet expectations. If I need to do one nutrionist appt for January and for February before submitting to Aetna, let me know so that I get the 3 done.

I'm trying to be sure I also have the same things lined up that I need to go approved. Aetna PPO Choice II program. I'm finishing a cardiology clearance, have my sleep clearance, and finishing psych clearance in January that is required. I am having my PCP send any records she has from the past 5 years where we took weight and heights (she does every visit) and notes from any visits where she discussed my overweight and diet needs, and sending that to the surgeon's office who will do the submittal to Aetna. Now I'm trying to decide if you're saying if you have 5 years of PCP records documenting weight issues with hopefully a scattering of notes she made about my weight and advising me to diet, will that be enough to not have to do 6 months of physician supervised weight loss? Just to be sure I am scheduling a January PCP visit to keep talking with her each month about weight and diet so she knows it has to be documented in her notes. I had a physical in November, sent her the request for records for the surgeon's office in December and now have a January appointment. I'm hoping that counts at least as 2 of my 6 months of appointments. Any comments or help you can provide will be greatly appreciated.

I don't know if someone replied yet but Onederland means gettign down into 100s on your weight instead of the 200s.

Some eating questions for those of you who are banded already - the nutrionist mentioned these items as ones not recommended for eating that weren't things I'd seen any other postings about people having trouble with those after they got past the initial 4-6 weeks. Interested if you've had trouble or have given up these completely? Broccoli pineapple Celery Raisins (or any dried fruit) Marshmallows If you have others to contribute plus comment on these, feel free.

Hi girls. I did my initial nutritionist appointment today at Mt. Carmel so that's one more item off my checklist. I have an echocardiogram scheduled for Thursday to finish my cardiology clearance. The psych test is supposed to be this Friday but we're still finding out if my medical insurance will now cover the test because its their requirement for surgery clearance or if I'm going to have to pay for that psych test out of my pocket. If so, I'll put that into January so I can try to get my health care flexible spending dollars to help cover that to help a little.

Congrats Juli! You're just amazing.

Jess30, I had tried to coordinate a Columbus area get together to be in January at Polaris Mall Food Court but that was going to be on an evening. That sounds like a long drive for you but if you're interested, we'll keep posting once we settle for sure on a date and time. Some folks asked about maybe doing a weekend during the daytime. If that's better for you too, let us know. I am about the same size now as you when you started your band journey so its so encouraging to me to see how great you've done. Congratulations.

Angie, Yes I will pray for your husband's polyp biopsy to come back negative. I had a colonoscopy for the first time earlier this year and they found 2 small polyps and they were okay but they said I have to have a repeat at 1 year instead of going 5 years like alot of people do. Hearing your witness here, makes me glad to know I should get a second one done to stay on top of this. God Bless You!

Hi there to Nurse Niki! I was just at Mt. Carmel today having my cardiac stress test as one of my clearances I have to complete to get my insurance approval for my lap band surgery. Wow - I'd give Melissa Webb a call and talk with her since she is Mt. Carmel's Bariatric program coordinator and see if there is anything she can do to help you along. I hope Mt. Carmel will be supportive. They've recently begun running TV ads on the Mt. Carmel Bariatric program on TV. I have to say a nice Thank You to all the techs in the nuclear Medicine group - they were super nice to me today. I was a little nervous going in and the time when they inject the chemical stuff is a little scary for 5 minutes but they were great at reassuring me and before I knew it, it was over. Keep us posted on your progress with insurance approvals and clearances. Maybe you and I will end up in the same band month group! Kathy

Hey everyone, have you seen the TV ads running this month - I've caught it on Channel 4 NBC several times where its Dr. Choban visiting with a patient and Melissa Webb the bariatric coordinator is there and then Melissa the dietician is also in it. Looks like they are trying to step up the awareness for the program. Maybe we'll get some new friends joining this forum thread.:bounce:

My psych eval test got rescheduled to the 21st because the insurance company hadn't okayed the actual test yet. Don't ya love the insurance process..but on the other hand I am grateful for insurance covering this. The cardiac stress test tomorrow requires no food or drink after midnight and no cafeine for 24 hrs before. I'll be ready for coffee as soon as that test is over...thank heavens they have a Tim Horton's right there at the hospital..ha ha.

I meant to say the web site for the company to inform people about the Realize band specifics is what is under development not the band device itself.

I tried to find a photo or image of what the Realize band looks like and not having any luck. The Reallize website says its still in development. Anybody have a picture they can post?

Dimples, I am so sorry to hear how hard it has been for you. I am not yet banded and I was wondering if your doctor required you to come in and get an MRI or Cat Scan or something to see if the band was in position, the tubing is still connected okay, and what is happening inside? I hope they can work with you medically if things need adjusted. BTW - was wondering how they can tell how much fill is in the band other than to keep track of how much saline they say they've injected, i.e. is it possible the saline is leaking out and they can't tell it?

Dr. Watkins - are you using the new AP bands and are you happy with them?

I finally got scheduled for my cardiac stress test - its actually a chemical test where they inject some medication in to dilate veins and make sure everything is okay and the cardiologist is present while its being monitored. My appt is 8:30 on Dec 14th so say a little prayer for me. Its just the unknown of thinking I don't have any heart issues and now what if they find something... totally paranoid sounding I know. Again today I was just thinking how I had my gallbladder surgery laprascopic and outpatient and somehow my good old heart held up for that with them just doing a simple EKG before hand. So again, it feels like insurance is putting me through a pretty expensive set of cardiac tests here for a simple surgery but its fine. I always prided myself on being a healthy overweight person - never much one to run to doctors unless I was really sick with flu or something that I couldn't get past with over the counter stuff and rest so its weird having so many doctor appointments. Debbie you mentioned taking care of Alzheimer patients at one time. Are you a nurse or aide?