bradleybanana

Check out the the lapband support groups and then the local support groups and up under missouri. I know there are many people from Springfield, MO that post there.

I don't know if ya'll remember me stating that MY company was the one that would deny me for lapband. I went ahead and had the doctor send my information into the insurance company, ready for a fight on my hands, several appeals and to get my lapband by June. Well things have changed! I got my denial, but the good news is they denied be because of the 6 month supervised weight loss plan! First off everything probably wasn't sent in til March 10th and the doctor got a faxed denial back by today that's only ten days give or take a day. But it means that if I do the 6 months weightloss they will approve me so I hope! I had wanted to do this over the summer, but if I can get it done at the end of the year and have insurance pay for it instead of going self-pay I'm willing to do that! Just wanted to share with everyone....

I'm not a bandster yet but I've been on this board long enough to know what some of the veteran lapbandsters will say. First stop weighing yourself! I don't mean to sound mean, by any means...But this week, this first month is for healing purposes not weightloss! Your body has gone through a lot of trauma and it's trying to recover, let it do what it needs to do. You didn't gain weight over night and you won't loose it over night...Take your time, let your body heal and relearn how to eat...

Thanks SO very much for the information. That gives me just a glimmer of hope that maybe my company will cover this. My Surgeon believes this is medically necessary even though I don't have the severe comorbidities that many other do. I see this more as preventing those things, and with my mom's help I'm hoping to put something together to show my company how much money they could actually save if they allowed this procedure. I have a meeting with the Benefits lady on Monday morning and I'm so very hoping that she'll give me something I can work with, even if it requires a 6 month diet and exercise plan I'll do it! To prove to them, that Diet and Exercise alone isn't beneficial to me in my situation. I need this tool to be successful in any type of weightloss. Thanks again so much!

That actually made a whole lot more sense then I thought it would. Thanks so much, I didn't even know what to google to figure it out! I knew that our fat cells never went away and we're born w/ a certain number of them, just never knew what was in the fat cells and where they "went" after you loose weight. Makes so much more sense, thanks again! I want all my fat cells to go away as well!

I've been trying to figure out where all the fat goes when you work out, eat less calories the whole nine you know! So I decided to ask my fellow 20's bandsters and future bandsters. I checked on Wikipedia and I just don't get it, maybe my comprehension skills are in the 3rd grade level when they should be in the 4th grade level on this concept! LOL...Any laymens explanation would be greatly appreciated.

Right now being able to cross my legs the "right way" is only a dream. I can do the lean all the way over to the side thing and then through my leg over the other, but lord knows it doesn't stay that way for long before I get tired, or something starts to hurt! LOL

My employer a school district, one of the biggest in my area, does not include it in their medical benefits either. I know I'm going to be denied via my insurance company then have to appeal that will most likely be denied and then the second level appeal is at the company level. I have emailed the Benefits lady and she hasn't gotten in contact with me as of yet. I'm hoping to speak with her, be pro active you know so that she know's what's coming down the pipe and could maybe, hopefully talk with the insurance and say to go ahead and approve the surgery b/c she's spoken with me. I don't plan on being banded til June anyways, b/c of school so I can wait for the appeals to go through if she doesn't get back with me soon!

I haven't been banded yet, but I love reading other ppl's NSV's! It's inspiring and makes me want to do this even more than I do already. I know this is the right step and I'm making probably the best decision in my life by taking this journey to band land. I only hope my insurance/company can see the light and grant me this huge tool to a long life of happiness and healthiness. What i'm looking forward too, is being able to shop with my friends in the regular junior sizes at the mall and not having to go to "women's world" looking for clothes. I'm also looking forward to being able to cross my legs, not feeling squished at the baseball game or at the movie theater. Of course the double takes from guys won't hurt. My biggest NSV is probably being able to go to my 10 yr reunion in two yrs and ppl not believing it's me and only knowing it's me b/c of my "unique" voice. :smile2:

I started my journey at the beginning of the year. I heard of the lapband via the commerical and headed on over to lapband.com. That day I signed my mom and I up for a seminar. We both had intial consults with the surgeon about three weeks later. Then two weeks after that we had our round of tests. That was this week actually. Dr. Minkin and his staff (st. louis, mo) make it pretty easy on his patients. We don't have to set individual appointments for everything spaced out across numerous weeks. You do it all in one fail swoop! It's great actually. I checked in to out patient at 8:45 and was done with all my testing, psych consult, dietician consult, stress test/ekg, pulmonary function, and chest x-ray by 11:30 and on my way home then. Next is a follow up to go over my test results that's in two weeks followed by waiting for insurance approval. I know ahead of time it won't be approved so I'm working on my appeal right now, so I can just turn around and resubmit everything again. I hope to have my surgery in June when school is out. Hope that helps, sorry it was kinda long!

OMG! My doctor has been diagnosising me with ear infections for the last year and a half. I don't get sick! So I didn't understand how I was getting ear infections like every three months! I would go to the doctor w/ a sore throat or just to get a check up and he would say You have an ear infection. It's gotten to the point to where I renamed my doctor's number in my phone as, "it's another ear infection." I just told my mom about your situation and she was shocked! Thanks for the info, I'm calling my PCP first thing in the morning and seeing what he has to say about this. I have been having significant jaw pain lately, one time it was even swollen and I couldn't close my mouth for a few days. I even went as far as to self diagnosis, (habit of webmd addiction) THank you so much for the information! I thought I was going nuts w/ never feeling sick but always having ear infections. UGH!

My BMI, is I believe 45 that's what the Doc said yesterday...Dr. Minkin is affiliated with Des Peres Hospital. He's a really great guy thus far. He provides a lot of valuable information and doesn't sugar coat anything. He's open, honest and realistic about what his expectations are of you and what you should expect from the procedure. I went to a seminar with my Mother, who luckily I think is more happy for me than for herself, she's thinking of having it done as well. We were able to ask questions of him and get answers that made perfect sense. There were also two of his patients there to talk with as well, that was nice!

I'm sorta knew to the site, posted in a few threads but now it's the real deal! I had my consult with my doctor yesterday, he said I was a good canadiate which I already knew mainly because I attended his seminar as well. I have all of my testing set up for President's day. I didn't have to take off work, thank the Lord for that! *work for a school district* So after that I meet with him again to go over all the results and get everything in line for the insurance company. That's where the real journey begins! My school district hasn't included any type of WLS in our plan, so I'm sure I'll be denied right off the bat. I'm hoping that denial comes quickly so that I can then head right into the appeal process. Luckily, my Doc, Dr. Minking *St. Louis, MO* has had situations like this before, where the particular company didn't include it but the insurance company will cover it if the company does so, on a case by case bases of course. I'm hoping that based on my weight histroy, 25 now, overweight since I was at least 12 and the comorbidities I've had will help them *my school district* see that this is not only medically necessary but medically beneficial! Wish me luck on my journey. In the mean time I'm reading, learning, exercising, trying to follow the bandster rules, b/c hopefully that's how I'll be living the rest of my life anyways! Any advice on the insurance issue would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading and here's to a new me!

I think that's one of my biggest fears as well...Like Vessa, I think I use humor to cover my size, but I don't want to be described as the big girl, the heavy set girl any more. But with the weight loss I'm hoping that i'm not some other deragotry name and just the one with the "funny voice" (my voice is rather high pitched) or the one that has a nice smile, or the one that knows what the hell she's talking about! I'm really afraid that my bosses will look at me different and kind of put me down for the weight loss, b/c she was always the "hot" one where I work. Only time will tell what happens when the weight really starts coming off...I'm not banded yet, but I hope to be during this summer.

Hi and welcome! I would suggest you start by heading over to Welcome to LAP-BAND.com or even looking in the FAQ on this site there's a lot of great information there to answer all of your questions