ndwife

I have had PCOS for about 4 years now and have had non exsistent menstrual cycles. I was banded on May 28th and lost 17 pounds. I did lose 13 in the month before then, but I was also on a liquid diet. The funny thing is now, I can't get rid of my period. I have been on it for 3 weeks due to the fast weight loss. Good luck in research on getting the lap band. I can tell you that it is the best thing that I have done. Also, my husband and I have been trying to get pregnant for 4 years with no success. I go next week to get my bloodwork done. PM me if you have any questions.

My surgeon said 1 year also. You are young and still have plenty of time.

I was banded on 5/28 and have adult onset asthma (due to gaining 100 lbs.) Anyway, I have not used my inhaler at all. My mom has the same thing but 10 times worse and her asthma is doing good. She was banded on 4/14.

I went in to see my PCP and told him what I wanted to do. He was very excited about the journey and was behind me 100%.

Good luck in your journey. I have Aetna also and was approved in 4 days. It has been a pretty easy process. I started on Feb. 5th and was banded on May 28th. Just a few tips that I did, I got a 2 year weight history from my primary care doctor, and doctors notes from my obgyn, endocronologist and primary care doc. I turned all of that is with my 3 month diet notes and have not had to deal with a denial. Good luck!!

Just wanted to say "HI" and thanks for all the well wishes. All went well. I did not even take pain meds in the hospital. I did last night because I was so uncomfortable. I have just been drinking my liquids today and hanging out on the couch.

lynlynkr- if you do need a cpap machine, Dr. Choban wants you to be on it for 6 weeks before you get your surgery. Well, I am 4.5 hours from getting my band. I will check in on Friday. If it was up to me I would bring my laptop to the hospital but I don't think that my husband will let me.

Hey everyone- I am getting banded on May 28th and as much as I am ready for it, I am scared with the sleep apnea. I was diagnosed during my testing for the surgery. I have awful anxiety with the mask and cannot get through an entire night with it. Can someone please calm my nerves? I had my gallbladder out 3 years ago and was heavier then and I am sure that I had sleep apnea, but I did not have a machine at the time and woke up from the surgery just fine. The sleep doctor scared the crap out of me!!! Help me please!!!

Hi everyone- Went to all of my pre-admission testing and my nutritional class today. It wasn't too bad. I was actually done with everything at 11:15 or so. TM- call and find out what is going on. Whenever I have called the office, I always get a call back from Charlene. I would ask about what else is needed for insurance and what not.

Wow- sorry to hear that you are having so many problems. I started my journey later than you and I am getting banded on 5/28. I do have the same insurance and I turned in all of my doctors notes and nutritionist notes for the 3 months. I also had a letter from the PCP and doctors notes on weight loss from my endocronologist and obgyn. The more info the better. My info was sent on 5/5 and received my approval on 5/12. I received my surgery date yesterday. Good luck with getting through to your doctors office. You do not want to have to deal with an appeal.

Thanks for the well wishes everyone!! I just hope my liver is small enough. I have been watching what I eat and such and switching to more of a liquid diet for the week. So, we will see. I will be banded 5/28 at 11:30AM.

May 28th!! Wow- the next week is going to be a whirlwind of craziness. I go for pre-op testing on Thursday and meet with Dr. Coban next Tuesday and then off to get banded on Wednesday. I was a little shocked. I have already been pre-registered for the hospital.

Hey everyone- How long is the wait to: 1) get a phone call from someone about a surgery date and 2) surgery date (2 or 3 weeks after the call) I looked backed at some old posts and it looks as if people were called the same week you were approved from insurance. I am tired of all the waiting we have to go through. Thanks for your help.

Again like everyone said-who knows what they want. I lost 5 pounds and gained that five pounds back in the 3 months that I went to the doctor. Also, stick with it. You are young and do not want this weight to cause more problems with your health. I was just approved and I can't wait. I am infertile and can't have children due to my weight. So, go through the end of the diet and then go for the approval. Good Luck!!

I heard today that I have been approved though my insurance. Wow! What a relief not having to go through a denial. Charlene said that I had all of my ducks in a row. Looking forward to getting my band date.

Hi Everyone! I have been approved with Aetna Open Access POS II. It took no time at all. My insurance coordinator told me that I had all of my ducks in a row. I did get doctors records from 2005-2007. I have been going to a endocronologist and we talked about diet and exercise every 3 months in 2007. I used all of there records and I sent in 3 months of diet info from my PCP this year along with nutritionst reports too. I also took someone's adivce and highlighted my name, weight, dates and where it talks about diet and exercise on my doctor's notes. I called Aetna last Thursday and they said that my paperwork was in the approval stage and I heard today at 1PM that I was approved:thumbup:. I should be banded in June. PM me if you need any help with Aetna.

So, my turn to wait for insurance approval. It was submitted on Monday and as of yesterday it was in for review. They told me it would take 4 days to review it. So, we will see what happens. Question for the sleep apnea people: How did you get used to having that thing on your face and sleeping with it? I am having terrible anxiety with it and just can not do it. I need to in order to have the doctor sign off for surgery. lynlynkr- just an fyi- Dr. Choban wants you on your cpap or bi-pap machine for 6 weeks before your surgery. If you do have the sleep apnea, get your follow-up appointment schedule for 4 weeks from now. This is what I did. Also, if you have to get the machine and such, make sure you get the same mask you had on the second night. I did not get the correct one and it has held me up for 4 weeks. TIA for the sleep apnea recs.

Hi Everyone- I have not been on in a while, but nothing has changed. I did find out that I have sleep apnea and now I have a nice little machine by my bed. I also just met with Dr. Choban today and she is going to dictate my letter for the insurance. The question I have is does the office (Charlene) call you to let you know that the paperwork has been filed to your insurance or do you have to call them? Thanks in advance.

Where are you located? Dr. Trace Curry in Cinncinati does it outpatient. I believe his site is lapbanddoctor.com.

For those of you who are now banded, did anyone (Dr. Choban, Price or Miller or Nutritionist) every talk to you about gastric bypass or recommend doing that one instead of the band? Thanks-

Thinner Me- The same thing happened to my mom. She is going to Dr. Curry and had her surgery denied and then sent in a appeal. By the time the appeal went through her insurance dropped him. Well, since she had signed a contract with him (apprently that is how he does it) and started the process with him the insurance had to pay. I would check with your insurance and explain to them your concerns because you were approved for Barix at the time. It is not your fault it takes that long to go through everything and the finally get a surgery date. Good Luck!!

Thanks Thinner Me- I am doing my sleep study on Monday night. Hopefully I will not have it and if so, get th surgery lose the weight and not have to worry about the machine. Greg- did you send in your approval to the insurance with or without the sleep apnea clearance.

I am what you would consider the freshman on the board. I am just starting the process of getting my clearance for the surgery. I went to the Pulmonologist yesterday and he cleared my on my asthma, but thinks that I may have sleep apnea. So, I have decided to take the sleep study to rule out sleep apnea (cross your fingers that I don't have to take a machine home). My mom told me to look at the bright side that it is another co-morbidity. It is bad enough that I have all these other medical problems, I am just not ready for another one. I am ready to get health and get this weight off.

Is anyone going to the Support Group meeting tonight? I will be there and my mom is going to be with me. I am looking forward to see what it is all about. I have a feeling that most of the people that will be there are gastric bypass patients and not LB.

This is for anyone that has been banded at Mt. Carmel. I went on Thursday to have a chest x-ray and had to check-in through outpatient registration (this was at Mt. Carmel East). They made me pay my 10% up front. I did not have a co-pay, just that portoion. My question is when I go to register for the surgery that day are they going to want me to pay the 10%? I am a 90/10 plan with no deductible. I know that the office would tell me this, but I was curious. Thanks-