Maya314

I've never heard of that Dr, I'm going to Dr Schwartz in Tucson, and There's Dr Chaisson in Tucson as well.. I have friends who have seen Dr Simpson in Phoenix and I checked out his website and video lecture and really liked him.. Good Luck!

I haven't been banded yet but I can certainly feel your pain, I am a huge fan of "The Biggest Loser" (Isn't everyone?) :eek: Anyway.. I think one of the things that show has kind of set in my head is that if you're not dropping more than 5 lbs a week it's a disappointment.. but truthfully.. the healthy way is 1-2 lbs a week.. If only it came off quick.. but then who'd recognize you? j/k... Keep your chin up Mama.. Good times are yet to come!

I can totally relate, Disproving Moms are the worst.. My Mom seems supportive so far.. I say that lightly, She also has given "The Look" and so whether or not she'll remain supportive remains to be seen. As far as work goes, I'm pretty lucky, I only work 4 days a week and so I'm able to move days off around if need be, Also I'm luckybecause the Dr I work for will be taking some time off around the time I'm predicting my surgery will be so it won't seem weird for me to take the time off.. It's all kind of worked out to my advantage that way. My Mom understands why I want to keep it a secret, Ive done what I can to educate her and tell her that even though it will be easier to lose weight the side effects afterwards are hardly what I'd call easy. On the otherhand.. I have a 17 year old son that I am choosing not to tell... He's at the "Difficult Stage" (A total understatement!) and I think this would be something for him to use as ammunition in the future (He has issues with my weight) To sum things up... I think that whether to tell or not is totally a personal decision each with it's pros and cons... Man who said it was going to be easy?? Good luck in whatever you decide!!

Good Luck!! I also have my appt tomorrow! I hope all goes well!!

I have the exact same dilema, The hardest thing for me is wondering how I'll react to comments about How well I'm doing and how am I doing it? I'd feel kind of like I'm betraying them.. UGH.. the angel on my shoulder!! I hadn't thought of what linesj said.. that I might find support where I hadn't thought of before.. that's a good point. I dunno.. I still haven't decided, I'm only taking a few days off of work and have only confided in my immediate supervisor and one of my coworkers who is also considering the same thing.. One thing that I'm afraid of like Rachel is being judged like I can't do it myself and I'm taking the easy way out.. but when I think of that.. my response is.. well if it was easy.. I wouldn't be this way right? Everyone has their vice.. food is mine and I feel that deciding to get the band is me finally admitting that I have a problem and I'm going to deal with my addiction. Instead of being judged I should be commended!! haha.. Good Luck Rachel in whatever you decide, I'll be interested to see what you decide! *I have my preop appt tomorrow!

I love to blog.. So anyway.. this is the begining of my journey, I began sometime in December, I began by seeing my Dr, they said that I would require a 6month nutritional counseling, I would have to join a fitness club, have a physical and psych eval before my insurance would even consider banding me. The waiting game... :frown: I joined something called First Line Therapy, it was an out of pocket expense of $2000, as far as I was concerned it was well worth it. Come to find out 3 weeks later, that it's no longer a requirement of my insurance and I'm out the money!! Oh well, the way I see it... If I was told that I could have my surgery done ASAP as opposed to waiting 6 months and the cost would be 2grand.. I'd pay the 2 grand.. so I quit pouting.:redface: In the meantime.. I'm tracking down any and all medical records for the past 5 years for the purpose of needing documentation of my weight and any weight related problems for example; knee pain, back pain, sleep apnea, GERD etc... Next, I had a sleep study done, I had my suspicions that I had sleep apnea so I thought.. oh well, atleast the documentation would be there for insurance purposes so it was bitter sweet when I got my results.. I have sleep apnea YAY! I just got one more diagnosis for my insurance to consider my band... Oh hey wait.. I have sleep apnea.. that sucks.. that's a disease for fat people.. oh wait.. I'm fat.. that sucks more. Phooey. :eek: So my next step was the Psych eval, Loved my psychiatrist, she was awesome, I thought for sure I'd be in some dark room and she'd be interrogating me, but she was extremely supportive and gave me the thumbs up Yay! :tt1: Next my letter of Medical Necessity.. I researched and researched this, and found one website that had an excellent letter of medical necessity and added my twist (I've worked in the medical field since 1990) So here's what I did, my Dr's office was pretty clueless, God Bless them, but they just didn't know, all they wanted to do was send me with my medical records, so I typed up my own letter of medical necessity and took it to them, so My Dr put it on her letterhead and signed it, it was GREAT! :biggrin: The same day I took my letter to my Dr's office and all my medical records so that they could start my Prior Authorization from my insurance.. and then.. the waiting game.. :rolleyes2: Were my records going to be enough? I sent out an email to everyone on my address list and asked them to pray for me.. 10 days passed and I was getting antsy.. one of the girls I work with kept bugging me to call my Dr's office but I didn't wanna be a pest... I had already mentally told myself I wouldn't call until it had been 2 week.. UGH it was killing me!! So.. I nonchalantly called the insurance company instead.. and asked if they had EVEN received a request and they told me that I had been approved YAY YAY!! I was approved!! WOO HOO! I wanted to dance.. but couldn't dang it.. but I emailed my friend in the office and she came running to the back and gave me a big hug I wanted to cry and dance all at the same time! So now.. the preop appt is scheduled on 2/4/08 approximately 2 months after my journey began... I'm on my way to the begining of my new life.. and the end of my old one.. I can hardly wait! :tongue: PS.. if anyone is interested in a copy of my letter of medical necessity.. you can email me here or at lrome314@yahoo.com! Take Care.. God Bless.. and GOOD LUCK fellow BandPeeps!

I love to blog.. So anyway.. this is the begining of my journey, I began sometime in December, I began by seeing my Dr, they said that I would require a 6month nutritional counseling, I would have to join a fitness club, have a physical and psych eval before my insurance would even consider banding me. The waiting game... :wink2: I joined something called First Line Therapy, it was an out of pocket expense of $2000, as far as I was concerned it was well worth it. Come to find out 3 weeks later, that it's no longer a requirement of my insurance and I'm out the money!! Oh well, the way I see it... If I was told that I could have my surgery done ASAP as opposed to waiting 6 months and the cost would be 2grand.. I'd pay the 2 grand.. so I quit pouting.:tongue: In the meantime.. I'm tracking down any and all medical records for the past 5 years for the purpose of needing documentation of my weight and any weight related problems for example; knee pain, back pain, sleep apnea, GERD etc... Next, I had a sleep study done, I had my suspicions that I had sleep apnea so I thought.. oh well, atleast the documentation would be there for insurance purposes so it was bitter sweet when I got my results.. I have sleep apnea YAY! I just got one more diagnosis for my insurance to consider my band... Oh hey wait.. I have sleep apnea.. that sucks.. that's a disease for fat people.. oh wait.. I'm fat.. that sucks more. Phooey. :eek: So my next step was the Psych eval, Loved my psychiatrist, she was awesome, I thought for sure I'd be in some dark room and she'd be interrogating me, but she was extremely supportive and gave me the thumbs up Yay! :tt1: Next my letter of Medical Necessity.. I researched and researched this, and found one website that had an excellent letter of medical necessity and added my twist (I've worked in the medical field since 1990) So here's what I did, my Dr's office was pretty clueless, God Bless them, but they just didn't know, all they wanted to do was send me with my medical records, so I typed up my own letter of medical necessity and took it to them, so My Dr put it on her letterhead and signed it, it was GREAT! :tongue: The same day I took my letter to my Dr's office and all my medical records so that they could start my Prior Authorization from my insurance.. and then.. the waiting game.. :biggrin: Were my records going to be enough? I sent out an email to everyone on my address list and asked them to pray for me.. 10 days passed and I was getting antsy.. one of the girls I work with kept bugging me to call my Dr's office but I didn't wanna be a pest... I had already mentally told myself I wouldn't call until it had been 2 week.. UGH it was killing me!! So.. I nonchalantly called the insurance company instead.. and asked if they had EVEN received a request and they told me that I had been approved YAY YAY!! I was approved!! WOO HOO! I wanted to dance.. but couldn't dang it.. but I emailed my friend in the office and she came running to the back and gave me a big hug I wanted to cry and dance all at the same time!:smile: So now.. the preop appt is scheduled on 2/4/08 approximately 2 months after my journey began... I'm on my way to the begining of my new life.. and the end of my old one.. I can hardly wait! :cool2: PS.. if anyone is interested in a copy of my letter of medical necessity.. you can email me here or at lrome314@yahoo.com! Take Care.. God Bless.. and GOOD LUCK fellow BandPeeps!