Mrs Sabre

I had my psych & nutrition evals today, and all went well. Everyone is on board and believe I'll make a good candidate for surgery. It will be about a week before all reports are in to Dr. Kuwada. It will go to the insurance from there. I hope to hear from the insurance by the end of the month. From there, Dr. Kuwada needs one or two more surgeries scheduled for an Inamed proxy to come oversee him perform surgery. When I saw him last week, he said he had 2-3 more patients at the same stage I am; so hopefully it will work out quickly/easily. I'd love to have surgery by the end of the year, and although it's not impossible, I'm not going to count my chickens.

Congratulations and welcome!

Awesome! Congratulations!

Bless you both! Thanks for keeping us posted. Our prayers continue to go with you!

Count me in! I've had this on my planner since our last meeting.

I have my psychological & nutrition evaluations tomorrow (11/1). I had my sleep study done Friday evening and won't get the results until next Thursday (11/10). From there it will go to the insurance. I'm still optimistic

Starr, Haven't heard from you for a while. How are you doing?

I e-mailed Dr. Kuwada yesterday with a question I have about some of the required documentation for insurance approval. I checked my e-mail this morning to find a personal response from him. I have to say, this just adds to how impressed I am so far.

Congratulations to both of you! :banana :banana :banana Has anyone heard how Starr is doing? OK gals, I'm officially jealous; I want my band

Congratulations Ladies!

Awesome! Congratulations!

During a weight management consultation (to create a paper trail in support of Lap-Band surgery) I was told the Remeron I've been taking for a few years is linked to binge eating. I don't know that I binge per say, but I do eat a lot ... I stay hungery! I was switched to Zoloft, which actually seemed to curb my appetite, but it made me very very dizzy. I stoped taking any anti-depressant about 6 weeks ago, and so far, so good. If it takes a while to get all anti-depressant medications out of your system, I may not be too far behind you in resuming medication. If that happens and Prozac isn't linked to weight gain, maybe I'll try it. Good luck & God Bless! Just know that you're not alone.

Is it the groceries or the sale that gets you excited? I doubt you are crazy. If you are, then my Dad is too. The standing joke is that he's going to go bankrupt saving money. It doesn't matter if he needs something or not. If the sale price is good, he's going to buy it. He has enough 4 for $1 canned goods to last a family of 4 for a year, and he's single. I'm just the opposite, I don't like to grocery shop.

Assuming I make it through insurance approval, I absolutely dread the liquids! Two weeks before and up to two weeks after ... that's a month without chewing. I may have to white-knuckle myself through it Enough of my premature whining, I hope you feel better soon Ms Bear.

Melissa, You might just be on to something. I could wear my motorcycle boots and armored jacket; that should be worth several extra pounds

I count myself truly blessed; I do have a few close (skinny) friends who know my struggle, love me anyway, and are very supportive of me ... regardless of my clothing size.

Congratulations! I hope to join you shortly.

I'm only 10 pounds away from the 40 BMI mark. I'd hate to do it, but it wouldn't be hard at all for me to pack on 10 more pounds.

I'm not there yet, so I have no idea what's normal; but I do hope your throat gets to feeling better!

Jen, I have UHC and am in the same position. My BMI is 38.6 and my co-morbidities are relatively minor: GERD & depression. I have my nutrition & psych evals next Tuesday. I know UHC through my employer covers WLS, but they won't give out details on their criteria. I'm still going to try. If I get turned down, I'm likely to eat until I hit the 40 BMI mark and try again. God bless and good luck. Just remember, you're not alone

Amen! Awesome Penni; thank you!

HAPPY BANDIVERSARY! :banana :banana :banana

Ok Charlotte area bandsters with United Health Care: 1. Did any of you have a BMI under 40? 2. If so, what (if any) co-morbidities do/did you have?

Dianne, I hope you feel better soon. Please keep us posted.

I had my visit with Dr. Kuwada today and have to say that I really like him thus far. He and his staff were really nice, took their time, and treated me with respect. He answered all of my questions very candidly, and was very thorough in his explanation of potential risks. He even drew diagrams. He thinks I'm a good candidate for surgery, and his only uncertainty was how the insurance might look at my BMI of 38.6 and fairly minimal co-morbidities. I've scheduled my psychological evaluation next Tuesday morning. I already had my appointment for the nutritionist scheduled for that same afternoon; so I'm going to take the whole day off from work. Dr. Kuwada has done over 200 laparoscopic bariatric surgeries, but only a handful of Lap-Bands before he came to Charlotte (from Chicago). That would concern me more if I didn't know that Inmed is currently re-certifying him, and will have an expert on hand while he does my surgery. Guestimated timeframe for surgery, January or February. I'm getting there