SeattleSweetie

I second that!

For me, having a food journal has become very important recently. I was scheduled for banding on May 5th, but when I got into the OR, my liver was too big that they couldn't put the band in. I thought I had done a good job at my weeklong, high-Protein, low-carb, liver-shrinking diet before hand, but apparently not. Now I'm back on the diet and I'm actually keeping a food journal and now I can see why I didn't do well before! There are SO MANY CARBS in a lot of foods you would never expect - veggies, fruits, dairy, etc, and eating a lot of unknown carbs is what hurt me the first time around. Now I'm doing it the right way, everything I eat (including condiments!) I write down, and I list the serving size, calories, fat, and carbs. I keep my carbs to 30g a day maximum and my fat under 30% of my calories. I'll tell you, it's hard to do, but having been in for surgery and coming out with all the same scars, and the same pain, but without the band was such a major dissapoinment that it completely keeps me from cheating. Everytime I want something bad, I just ask myself, "would I rather have this cookie, or have the band" and I'm right back on track.

Avatar: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f5/avatars-custom-title-issues-3434/ Ticker: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f5/ticker-tutorial-pictures-41782/

I had to have: Endoscopy EKG (Turned into 2 EKGs and an ECHO because of results) ABG Abdominal Ultrasound CT Scan of liver because of ultrasound results Barium Swallow/UGI Multiple blood draws for liver probs, Vitamins, and regular screening Psych Eval

Congratulations IndioGirl! Your pictures are great - you look totally spectacular! I'm so happy for you!!!!!! :tt1: :Dancing_wub: :Dancing_wub:

Aside from the worries like pouch stretching, or having gas pains, and all the rest of it, for me the biggest concern is really just all the empty calories. The human body only has capacity to process about 20 grams of sugar per day. Anything more than that really just becomes fat. The average can of pop/soda has 40+ grams (And that's just the can! Nevermind the big bottles that so many of us drink). So if I drink a can of pop, I've already given my body twice as much sugar as I can handle in a day on top of the sugars found in anything else I eat, like fruit, Cereal, yogurt, ketchup etc. For me, drinking a pop is really just self-sabotage. Unfortunately the self sabotage still tastes really good sometimes... :thumbup: A very interestng article about the effects of sugar and high fructos corn syrup on our bodies... Sugar coated / We're drowning in high fructose corn syrup. Do the risks go beyond our waistline?

Hey all, for anyone considering LapBand surgery in Seattle, I just wanted to take a moment and throw out a recommendation for Dr Ross McMahon at Swedish Hospital's Bariatric Center in Seattle. The girls in his office are really great - he's got a top-notch nutritionist, and a lady who's great with dealing with the insurance companies. The lady who oversees the department is very nice and supportive, and really the whole office staff is just super cool and makes you feel really good about your decision. They don't look down on you the way I've heard some doctors do and they really do everything they can to help support you. Also, they don't make you feel like they're trying to rush you in and out as fast as they can. Everyone on staff does their best to make themselves available, answering emails, returning calls, and will always take the time to talk and answer questions for as long as you want. Dr McMahon himself is a really nice guy. I think he's a bit overly thorough in all the pre-op testing he makes you go through, but he really does care about trying to make sure you're in the best shape possible for surgery. And if you aren't in good shape, he at least wants to know so he's better prepared to do a good job ahead of time. Anyway, if anyone is looking for a good doctor in Seattle, Dr McMahon is my first recommendation (I've met with a few lap band doctors in the area, and he was by far my favorite). To sign up for one of their seminars: Weight-Loss Surgery Program | Swedish Medical Center / Seattle More info on Dr McMahon: 10/28/07: Weight-Loss Surgery with Ross McMahon, M.D. | Swedish Medical Center / Seattle

Good news! I just went in to see my doctor and the nutritionist today, and I'm on the diet and logging every single bite of food I'm eating. I'm sending my weekly meal logs to my dr and nutritionist and they're both very happy so far. I've lost seven pounds just since Monday (though I'm certain it's just because I've not been eating much since I'm still recovering and not feeling too great) Turns out my doctor said my liver was really really big, like twice as big as it should have been (holy crap!) but he's certain that this diet will work and he said in six weeks, we'll do the surgery and even if my liver is still too large and he can't do it laproscopically, he'll do an open surgery to get the band in, if I want, so long as I'm good about my diet up till then. He really thinks I'll be fine by then though. Other than my liver and my weight, I'm in great shape with no other health problems (thank God). So one way or another, I'm getting this band in six weeks, no if's, and's, or but's about it! It's definitely motivating to know that I won't have to go through this same thing twice. I love my doctor! :thumbup: Ms Trina, from what I read in your other threads, you're doing great and kicking butt. Keep at it, you're so close! You're gonna do awesome!

All my wishes for good health and good chicken soup! :biggrin2:

I was doing a high-Protein diet - lots of eggs, chicken, a little low-fat cheese, salad with calorie-free dressing, etc. I think the problem was just that it wasn't long enough. They put me on this diet when I came in for my pre-surgery meeting on Tuesday and my surgery was the following Monday. Guess six days just wasn't enough to shrink my liver like they thought it would.

From what I hear, it's most common to fix a hernia at the same time they put the band in, so you shouldn't have much to worry about there. Good luck! :cursing:

Congratulations Cadets! Very exciting! :cursing:

Good luck, let us know how it goes.

You would probably get the best answer by calling your surgeon's office and discussing with them directly. If you don't have a surgeon in mind yet, then find a seminar in your area and attend. Once you've done that, touch base with that surgeon's staff and they can probably help you out. If your insurance doesn't cover WLS, then they won't pay for the band, but you may still be able to get them to cover the pro-op stuff like endoscopy, ultrasounds, EKG, etc. Then I would think the surgeon's office would be able to bill as much of the procedure as possible as a hiatal hernia and hopefully they could leave you just paying for the actual price of the band, since anesthesia and other hospital costs could be hernia-related. I'm guessing that you probably aren't the only person who's ever had this problem or question, so really, I would call them and just explain to them where you're at and see what they can do to work with you. They've probably been through it before and will do everything possible to help you out.

Hi Rebechuds, I'm so sorry to hear that they're refusing to approve it. I know it's really discouraging, but unfortunately, it may not actually be the insurance company's decision. If bariatric surgery is an exclusion in your policy, it's most likely because your employer (or whoever your insurance is through - spouse's employer, etc) has made it an exclusion, usually to help lower their portion of the healthcare premiums. If that's the case, then the only thing I can really think of is trying to lobby your employer to improve their coverage when they update their plans each year. I wonder if maybe anyone else here has had any success working with their employer to get better coverage, or even if they found different options to help pay for surgery or anything of the like that might help in your situation? Update - oops, I should also mention that if there isn't an excludion on your policy, but the insurance company is just refusing to cover it, saying you don't qualify cause of your BMI or co-morbidities or anything like that, then fight fight fight all you can! Some insurance companies will look for any nitpicky reason to save from paying $14k, even if it would save them lots of health care costs in the long run. Even though my answer probably isn't a lot of help here, I really do wish you the best of luck. I understand how frustrating things like this are.

Many people with Sleep Apnea have been banded. In fact, sleep apnea is one of the main co-morbidities that insurance companies use in the decision to approve your surgery. Your doctor sounds like he's either lying to you, or just has zero understanding of surgery, assuming of course that there aren't more complications in your medical history than you've mentioned here. If sleep apnea is really his only concern, you may want to find someone else who knows what they're talking about. Update - oops, I see you already replied. I don't know anything more about sleep apnea than the co-morbidity thing I posted here, so I'll just back my hiney right out of this conversation... lol

Congrats! I'm so happy that everything went well for you!!

When I was applying for approval, I didn't have complete weight records either. So I gathered everything I could, and the weight loss program coordinator recommended that I write a letter of my own to the insurance company that she would submit with the rest of my paperwork. I didn't have official records, but IU had a good idea in my head of how much I weighed and when, so I put it all down. This is the letter I wrote, and my insurance approved: Maybe something like this would help you?

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!

You know, I'm not really sure. Like you, we knew I had a fatty liver also, but when we did an ultrasound and a CT and they just didn't acurately show how large my liver was. To my understanding, fatty liver is somewhat common in bariatric patients and usually a doctor will put you on a diet. I did the diet, just not for long enough. I would recommend the same thing everyone else has - start a high Protein, low carb diet just to be on the safe side. And thanks everyone else for your support. I will be spending lots of time on here in the coming weeks looking for support . I'm super motivated though and I'm definitely going to be ready six weeks from now!! I'm so glad this board and all of you are here to talk to.

So I went in yesterday for my surgery and everything seemed totally fine. They got me into the OR but when they finally got in, my liver was too big for the doctor to get around it and do the surgery and they couldn't put the band in. They were really nice and caring about it, but I was so sad! As soon as I was coherent and talked to the doctor and they told me they couldn't do it, I started crying. Such a dissapointment! All hope is not lost at least though, They're putting me on a high Protein (low carb, low sugar, low fat) diet for the next 4 to 5 weeks and they said it will shrink my liver enough that they can go back in and do the operation safely. I did get all five incisions, and the only one that hurts at all is the big one, there's no pain in the others at all. The big one hurts because it's kindof right on the center of my abdomen where everytime I sit down, stand up, cough, laugh, etc that's the muscle that tenses up and then pulls on the incision. My doctor gave me some great pain pills though... I'm a bit high right now, lol. My doctor said when they go back to do the surgery again later, they can use the same incisions so I don't have a bunch of cuts all over me. My best friend is super sweet and happens to be a registered dietician (non-practicing though) and she took the day off of work so she could come over this morning and go grocery shopping with me. I have pracatically nothing in my house but juice, broth, and protien power cause that's all I was expecting to need for a while when I came back! She came over last night and we put together a grocery list and meal ideas. She's been really wonderful and so supportive, I'm lucky to have her! So that's it. I'm going to keep the best attitude I can, stay away from every possible source of carbs I can for the next five weeks and then I'm getting this thing done! I hope things went great for everyone else who had their surgeries yesterday. I look forward to hearing your success stories!

Good Lord, almost 300 pounds! (reading from your sig) That's AWESOME!!! It gives me hope, since I want to lose at least 210! Congratulations! My check in is 10am tomorrow, I'm supper-loopy and excited right now. Wish me luck!

If the insurance approved, they approved. However, if you're uncertain, it may be good to call the coordinator at your doctor's office, or someone on the office staff who handles insurance, and just have them confirm that this is an official approval, and nothing further will be needed from insurance.

Tomorrow is my band date and the only people I've told about the band are my mother, my best friend, and my fiancee. My dad is a really judgmental person, so my mom agreed to keep it a total secret from him. If I lose a lot of weight, he'd be happy for me, but if he knew it was because of a band, it would just turn into a big episode of how I wasn't able to do it on my own, and that's no fun for anyone. I'd rather he just be proud of me for me. My fiancee and best friend are both great people and have promised secrecy (fiancee isn't one to really talk much anyway - he doesn't like having other people in his business). I've had to take a good amount of time off work for various doctor appointments, so I just told my boss I had a thyroid problem and was having a small exploratory surgery. She's a blabbermouth and if I tell her about the band, it will get around to the entire company, and like many others who have posted here, I don't want everyone judging every bite I take of food or if I'm losing wait too fast, to slow, or otherwise.

I would think that they should, given that a chirporactor is still a doctor of some sort. When I submitted to UHC, I didn't have 5 years of history with anyone, cause like you, I would never let anyone weigh me. I had random weights here and there over the least ten years, so I wrote a leatter to UHC filling in where I knew I had been for the last five years and they accepted that. Good luck!!