MacMadame

The back stuff is often not counted by insurance. But sleep apnea definitely is. I started with a BMI of 41 but by the time I had my surgical consult, I was down to about 36. I should have been okay because I have high blood pressure, but my insurance wouldn't count it because it was controlled by medicine!! Anyway, it turned out my company has a WLS exclusion anyway so I would have had to self-pay even if my BMI was 70! Stupid insurance companies.

Welcome to LapBandTalk! I'm from CA, but the Northern part, so I don't know any surgeons in Palm Springs. But we have a CA forum and Doctors and Hospitals forum where you can ask ... assuming no one else who knows sees this thread and jumps in, of course.

It's 4:30 am here. I woke up all acidy because I stupidly drank a bunch of protein drinks right before bed. (I was behind on my liquid and protein for the day.) Passing a kidney stone is a lot like being in labor. You get waves of pain kind of like contractions and the drugs they give you aren't enough to handle the peak pain. Then the wave subsides right about the time they come back with the good drugs you demanded at the height.

The quoted rate is 1-2 pounds a week. However, a lot of people lose more and a lot of people lose less each week. Right out of surgery, you may not have restriction and you may be retaining fluids, for example.

There are two big threads in the Doctors subform about Dr. K. Seeing that many patients' experiences might help you make up your mind. You can ask there to see if people have experiences with Dr. C too.

Hi Candy. Hope you get scheduled soon!

You'll have to ask your insurance company about the fills. Most pay for them. Unbelievably some do not! Isn't that crazy? One place I looked at said that they bill fills as an office visit so that they are always covered. Another place had a program fee that included 1 or 2 years of follow-up including all fills. So it depends on the surgeon too.

Hi Chellie. Welcome to LapBankTalk!

Welcome to LapBankTalk! 60 lbs. is great progress. You are over half way there! I am too and, to some extent, it's freaking me out a bit. Maintenance scares me more than the weight loss portion.

Posting just to post. Oh and to say that I'm now in a size that you can't put over your head without unbuttoning the top button!

I missed last night's show. I said I would only watch until Colleen was gone so it sounds like I don't have to watch any more??

He should get a new PCP. Even if his surgeon or insurance does not require a referral from the PCP, there will be things that the PCP has to do -- such as order tests, do a physical -- and if you have a PCP who doesn't support you, they can really gum up the works by being a bottleneck for these things. Plus his attitude towards WLS stinks!

Welcome to LapBandTalk! That's great that you have a band model at home. I wish my dh would consider WLS but that's never going to happen.

Cool. My baby boy is old enough to have most of his doctor's check-up without Momma. I did get to see him get his Hep A vacine. Call it payback. Mini-Mac got two shots and was not amused. :tongue: I like scrambled eggs with salsa. But not ketchup. I'm not a big fan of ketchup -- it's too much like eating red sugar. I prefer mustard ... I put it in my egg salad, but not on my scrambled eggs. Now y'all have gotten me hungry. Damn you!

LuLuC - I had a slow loss in the beginning and I think it was *because* I lost so much pre-op! :smile2: I think bandsters can loser slower in the beginning because of lack of restriction but it seems very variable so I didn't want to generalize.

The claws are supposed to hold it in better and keep the port from flipping. Only time will tell if this works better than the Allergen way. Oh and the Realize port is low-profile while with the LapBand® you have to ask for that as an option. I forgot about that one.

Welcome to LapBandTalk!

Welcome to LapBandTalk. Personally, I'd go to Mexico before I'd go to Costa Rica. There are some great docs there and it's closer. sleep apnea, if it's bad enough, is definitely a co-morbidity under all insurances I have seen. The other stuff, not so much. Some of the insurance companies are really buttheads about co-morbidities! For example, my insurance company wouldn't count my high blood pressure because it was controlled by medicine.

You can get them at: tickerfactory.com There is an FAQ on here to tell you how to get them to show up in your signature once you make one.

Welcome to LapBandTalk!

Wow, 60 lb. That's awesome!

Congrats on your pre-op weight loss! You might get more answers to your questions on the General Support forum. More long-timers hang out there.

Hi Betsy. Welcome to LapBandTalk! Yes, the long-term complications rate for the band can be scary. This is why I changed my mind and got a vertical sleeve gastrectomy instead. It's a little riskier in the beginning (you can have a leak or a stricture), but long-term complication rates are pretty much unheard of and easily headed off with some Vitamin supplementation. Have you looked at all four ASMBS approved surgeries? Here's a chart that compares them: Weight-Loss Surgeries Compared

I wouldn't be surprised, actually. I'm pretty sure that's why many insurance companies require a 6 month doctor-supervised diet. Actually that's a myth. :smile2: But I hope you don't get lots of saggy skin either way. It's kind of the pits to lose a lot of weight and then still not feel good about your looks. :thumbup:

She tried to contact him AFTER she went to a US hospital and had her band removed. She was contacting him to get money, not to get treatment. The story never said she called him before her band was removed and I think that's telling. And I say this as someone who wouldn't use Ortiz myself, mainly because I think his operation is run a bit too much like a factory. But as far as I know and have seen, it's a competent factory and people don't take their lives in their hands when they go to him and he is responsive to his patients.