LynneB

My Dr charges a $2900 program fee, plus $250 initial consult fee, plus my deductible and %20. My total will be over $5,000 out of pocket.

Dont forget to watch him on Montel today!!

I am sched for 4/11, with a 10 day liquid preop and 3 week liquid post op...its gonna be tough, thankfully I have every1 here for support!

Personally I would not take a chance, my surgery is April 11th & my Dr told me he can tell if someone cheats on the pre op diet from the size of the liver & he will close you right back up without the band and then you will have to wait at least 6 months before he will give you another chance. It isnt worth that risk!! Maybe you could pretend to "not feel well" at the dinner to keep from eating.

They claim it was denied based on it being an exclusion. Apparently the morons couldnt read my contract where it said "exception" to the exclusion was if it was medically necessary and auth by a physician. It took me threatening them with an atty on my 3rd appeal to get them to stop giving me such a hard time.

I got my approval today from UHC!!!!!!!! I faxed my Cap One financing contract in yesterday to my Dr & they were faxing it in today but decided to call UHC for one final check on my 3rd appeal & they overturned my denial!! I was so happy I was in tears w/ the billing girl from my Dr's office. 3 months of fighting paid off. My surgery is set for April 11th. No turning back now! I could have set the date sooner but I just paid $2,000 for a 3 night trip to Disney World for spring break & I dont want to be 3 weeks out from surgery & trying to walk around amusement parks for 3 days. I am still in shock! My Dr made UHC fax over the approval in writing since they gave verbal approval a month ago & then rescinded it the day before surgery so it is official! I am gonna be a bandster, finally!! I dont think I have felt this happy in years!!

sorry, my father had a stroke.....left out the word

I put that I hate my life because if it wasnt for bad luck I would have no luck. I know I am blessed in the ability to file an appeal, its not like I am gonna go homicidal or suicidal over this or anything else, but right now, my life seriously sucks, 2 deaths in my family in the last month, my son being diagnosed with muscular dystrophy that is only affecting his heart and he is only 14, my father had a a couple weeks ago, and all that is just the start of things that have gone wrong lately. Being on the 10 day pre-op diet just to have surgery cancelled on the 10th day and now having to appeal and fight is just a small mole hill in the mountain of my life. So yes, right this moment, I do hate my life.

:mad::angry:After everything I have been thru, all my Dr did to make sure UHC was going to cover this, my surgery was supposed to be this past Friday the 8th. Well on the 7th ins calls my Dr & tells him they are NOT PAYING!!!!!!! They claim its an exclusion in my contract. DUH YOU FREAKING MORONS!!!!! The exact wording in my contract is "Surgical or non surgical treatment for obesity, including morbid obesity, is an excluded service UNLESS authorized by a physician for medical reasons." 5 yrs of weights, and 4 co-morbidities, 3 different physicans writing in letters of medical necessity and over 100 pages of medical records dont just scream "authorization by (3, not just 1) physicians for medical reasons"????!!!!!!!!! AGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! I am so mad and disappointed. I just havent been able to log in for awhile because I just want to cry when I even think about the surgery! I should be healing right now, not still waiting!! So now they required a formal appeal letter and a copy of my contract that states it could be covered if criteria are met to review the decision. You would think the idiots would have looked at the contract before denying it! They are the ins company, they make their own contracts! So now I have to wait at least 15 days for another decision which will probably be another denial in the hopes that I will give up and let them out of it. So the 15 days is up around the 19th or so, and my parents are in Vegas till the 21st and I committed to pet sitting for a friend untill the 23rd so even if its approved I wouldnt be able to have it till the 1st of March which then would put me going to Disney World for spring break when I am still on liquids or at best mushies. This sucks so bad! Why cant things just go my way just once in my life???!!!!!!!!

My Dr said the same thing, he will open you up & if your liver is too large he will close you right back up and reschedule your surgery in no less than 2 months. I am not taking that chance!! I have waited soooo long for this, no way am I waiting another 2 months because I messed up the preop diet!

After all the "pink elephant" stories and the 400 question quiz stories, I was really nervous about going today. All my appt entailed was 45 mins of talking about my childhood, my struggles with weight and different diets & reasons why I chose lap band. That was it, no questionaire, nothing. Dr said I was a perfect candidate & she felt I should get it done as quickly as possible. She will have her report over to my surgeon by 8 am tomorrow & then everything goes to ins tomorrow morning for final approval. Feb 8th may not be my surgery date if ins doesnt put a rush on it since I have to start my 10 day preop in 8 days, but I will definately be banded sometime in Feb for sure!! I also have been feeling like I am getting sick for the last 3 days, bad sore throat & bronchitis feeling cough & chest congestion. I am overdosing on vitamins so hopefully I can fight it off in time!

Great job Patty!! You look amazing! I hope I can do as well as you!

Wow all these stories are so sad! I answered yes to the poll for numerous reasons. The one that stand out the most are: High school, I was on the drill/dance team and I was the only one out of a team of 25 to have to weigh in before each performance and if I hadnt lost 2 pounds since the previous week I wasnt allowed to perform even tho I was one of the best dancers on the team. At that time I weighed between 140-160 at 5'1". I finally got sick of the humiliation my junior yr & quit the team. At the age of 21 and the weight of 180, I applyed for a hostess position at a Lonestar Steakhouse. They at the time had all employees line dance in the aisles about once an hour. I had danced all my life & taught line dancing for 2 yrs so I knew my stuff and I told them that on my resume. They never auditioned me but my anorexic skinny friend who had never danced in her life was auditioned and told they could teach her how to dance since she looked good in their skin tight blue jean uniforms. I called to check on my app after she was hired & was told I didnt meet their "requirements". When I asked what requirements, they said they had weight limits due to uniform sizes. What they dont make jeans and white button down shirts in my size???!!! I shoulda slapped 'em w/ a discrimination lawsuit!! More recently, I have had people ask me when I was "due". Like being fat means you are automatically pregnant? And yes, I have had skinny salespeople ignore me and walk right up to a skinnier person who came up there after me knowing I had been waiting longer. There are so many more times too. It doesnt matter what your confidence level is or how you are dressed, some ppl are just plain insensitive and ignorant!

they are really mushy, they have no crunch to them at all, more like the texture of a milky way. My dr just said to smash them for the mushy stage & kinda suck them into the roof of your mouth to make sure they are really soft. I tried it & they do soften almost into a liquid chocolate when you take tiny bites & press them into the top of your mouth. They are so sweet & yummy!!

Atkins Advantage Chocolate Caramel and Fudge Brownie protein bars. 160 calories, 12g protein, 17 carbs, 1g sugar, 9g fiber, 230 mg potassium & lots of other vitamins. They taste better than regular candy bars!! They qualify as "mushy" according to my nutritionist. What an awesome way to get protein & feel like you are eating candy bars without cheating! These are terrific!

I am doing good during the day but dinnertimes have been Joto's Japanese Restaurant (they cook at the table its really neat & awesome food) and Sonny's BBQ (totally terrible food and service, waste of time & money) and my last will be a fancy gourmet place (comparable to a Chef Gordon Ramsey's place) tomorrow which is also a 1st date w/ a new guy so wish me well!! I'm so nervous!!

I ordered some samples but they havent arrived yet. Are they good? They seem convenient in the little test tube bottles.

I am in FL & I have UHC. When I called they told me no way it was totally excluded no matter what medically necessary reason, but my Dr called & I guess explained my co morbitities & how a one time surgery cost would save them a ton of $ in the long run. They then "found" a loophole in the exclusion policy and agreed to cover everything @ 80%. Dont give up!! Request a copy of your policy & take it to your Dr, they understand the ins jargon better & can find a way to make them cover it.

before I found out ins was gonna cover me, I had financing thru Cosmetic Surgery, Dental Procedures, Vision Costs and more: Healthcare Financing I have horrible credit so my mom cosigned. It askes you on the app if you are applying for someone else & what the patients name is you are applying for. With my bad credit, my APR was 23%, $16000 financed was $565 a month for 5 yrs. Would have been tough, but worth it. Thankfully ins came thru!!

Hi, welcome!! I am not banded yet but will be Feb 8th. It took me about a week from making the final decision (researched for over a year) to get my surgeon appt, ins filed and a date. It really speeds things along if you get all medical records (5yrs proof of obesity), seminars, support groups out of the way. Are you self pay or ins?

Thanks for the reply. I have been here almost a month so I'm not really a newbie anymore. But it's nice to meet you :tt1: I love this forum, I spend hours a day reading here.

Not banded yet, but I asked my Dr & he recommended Mylicon Gas drops that infants take for colic.

I cant stand the wait!! I dont even start my preop diet for another 12 days. I may start it sooner just to be sure my liver is perfect. Ins is approved as soon as I get 5yrs of weights to them which I will get tomorrow from my endocrinologist. Anyone else start the diet earlier than you were supposed to? What can I do to speed up the time? I feel like I have read and researched everything there is and when I try to look for more info, its all so repetitive. The days are dragging by so incredibly SLOOOWWWWW!!!!!!!!! AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!

This one is also like the weight watchers scale momlambert described, you can clear the log or program it for others to use and hide the last reading.

I just bought an awesome one today from bed,bath&beyond. It was $99 & it measures weight,BMI, body water percentage, daily caloric intake and bone mass which measures calcium and vitamin intake. You program it to your exact weight, height and age and it keeps a running log of the last 500 times you step on it so you can track differences day by day. It is called a Tanita InnerScan Body Composition Monitor. Its really simple to use and understand, I love it!!