dolly_lala

i'm sorry your friend is being so down about your choice. I hope she can realize this is your gift from God to helpyou loose the weight. What does she say to people with pace makers and birth control.......oh God will help your heart, oh God wont let you get pregnant he'll help.. No God gave us free will to make choices and decisions and gave the brilliant doctors and scientist the ability to pro long our lives and help protect us and live a healthier life style...

Well I contacted the surgeon after not hearing back from them VIA Email like they said they would send after the seminar, seems tho a letter was left out of my email address... Anyways While I was on the phone... She said she looked over my insurance info and since I have met my deductable for the year, that all i will have to pay the surgeon for my surgery is 600 DOLLARS!!! This is great news to me since i thought i would have to pay like 2400 which was my out of pocket expense. The dr said i would also have to pay the hospital a bit, but from what I know of experiences with hospitals you can work out a payment option with them and it deffinately still wont be more than 2400 till my insurance pays 100% of everything..... All I have to do now is finish my 6 month diet i have like a little less than 5 months to go. That puts me right at december to get the surgery done which it will be pushing it cause my insurance will renue and I will have to meet my deductable alll over again. So wish me luck the next few months its like a waiting game till december all i have to do is the diet, physc eval. and get my DR to write the letter of medical nessisity. ONE QUESTION... How are hospitals with working out the payment options, i'm hoping that If i tell them that i will pay partially and fully pay everything within the next month when i recieve my tax return. *Crosses fingers* its going to be a loong 5 months..

lol i will be putting on makeup atleast before i go home, i dont know when i had my c-section i didnt put anymakeup on when i left to go home i dont remember, i was so exausted, but i probably will put it on to show off that even after surgery i'm a sexy beast

i dont have this problem, but iknow my insurance told me that they would not approve if i had thyroid problems, i have bcbs of florida state ppo plan...

well good luck hun, we all slip up every now and then, i hope you still continue with your preop diet and everything will be okay...

my husband assures me that my 24 year old body will look normal but i know my lower tummy pouch wont go back, expecially after baby, so my plan is to get banded, loose the weight and in 3 years have my 2nd baby , loose that baby weight, and THEN get a tummy tuck maybe a boob lift if i need it, but i wont go under the knife for ps till i am done having children, it woudl be pointless...

i havent been banded yet i'm not too worried about my tattoos looking a certin way well i have one that may look weird since its on my upper arm and i suppose when the weight goes down it may be loose skin up there, but the rest of my tats are on my lower arms which doesnt show alot of weight (its all in my tummy) here is the picture of my arm tat.. yeah i guess i am kinda worried about that one, being it is the largest tattoo i do have..hmm

i do notice once i finish burning (lol) that my pasty skin that has some glow on it looks a tad thinner but that is because in theory darker colors make an area appear smaller, just think of it as highlights or makeup, you put a light color under your brow bone to make the area appear larger, and a darker color in your crease to make that area appear smaller, same thing, its all about illusion...

i hope things work out for you doll, keep trying!

good question i was wondering that myself..

haha i had my gallbladder removed two months to the day after having my son as well...dern babies lol, but i'm not sure about issues and stuff i was wondering that myself..

Well I attended DR. Maremas Seminar tonight in st. augustine, fl. It was pretty good i think. He seemed alright he seemed to push the gastric bypass more than the band, but i know i will NOT get bypass, he also seemed to like the realize band more than lapband, not sure why he said he likes the contour more i dont know, but i will research both, does anyone have the realize band? Well i weighed in my weight was still 230, bmi was 40.5. So i'm not sure if when i go approval they will go off that what that says, or whatever weight i am at when they submit my approval, i still have to do the 6 month diet.But the insurance lady said my bcbs ppo state employee plan was the best one to have that they take cause she said they are easy to get approval from. And with my bmi at 40 i dont have to have 2 co-morbilities. Not sure when the procedure will be, still have to talk further to them, about all the info that i need for approval, also i'm stll no sure if they want the several thousand upfront, phew still quite a bit i have left to do i think, but we'll see the 6 month diet will be the hardest and longest part to get thru.......... So yeah anyone know the difference between realize and lapband and do the insurance company go off your bmi from your weigh in, or do they go off of the latest weight before approval? thanks LaLa

i know this can be very overwelming i'm in the same position as you, the best thing for you to do, is go to your primary doctor, and from there he or she will help you out if they feel you need the surgery, my primary has me starting the 6 month diet just incase i need it for aproval, he also recommended me to a surgeon, its quite helpful to have your primary backing you up in your journey....good luck

thanks for the responses, i knew and know that smoking is bad why else would i quit when i was pregnant, for the health of my son ofcourse, i seemto care about him more than myself and i know if i wan to be around to see himm grow up i need to qui smoking, when i go to my next weigh in at my pcp i will ask about the chanix

So I am a smoker let me give you some background, I'm 24 i've been smoking on and off since i was 19, i know its unhealthy and i've tried to quit, and just like food its an addiction. I smoked since i was 19, then quit when i was 22 when i found out i was pregnant with my son, picked it back up about a month after I had him, quit 4 months later.....And just recently picked it back up January of this year...Its a battle for me.... What i'm wondering is if the surgeon recommends you quit before surgery, I know theres risk with lung problems after surgery, when i had my galbladder out i smoked and my chest did hurt, but i made myself caugh and breath deep....and used that little blower thing they make you do to practice breathing.... On the other hand i read on a surgeons website if you smoke it can help you show the insurance company that you need the surgery since alot of smokers replace food with cigarettes, which is the case for me, I smoke so i dont eat as much...its a vicious cycle..any advice from those that smoke and has been to their consultation appt. LaLa

not sure about her story, but from what i've read ALL the doctors are different, and some docs dont even have pre-op diets:confused:

i'll keep that in mind, i'm in trouble cause my husband and i have no qualms about holding things like that back infront of each other, uh oh how embarassing will that be for me if i had an accident, lol i'd probably laugh...then cry lol

the way they make things that go in your body i'm sure its okay, i have an IUD (Contraceptive) and its right there and even vigoris sex couldnt move that thing, i'm sure you will be fine, just follow the doctors orders or atleast try to lol. you should be A OKAY

absolutely fantastic, congrats on the loss, you did an awesome job, i hope to be as successful as you are:thumbs_up:

Oh gosh me too i can barely tie them, thats why i just leave them untied, like the other day my husband told me one of my shoes were untied and i just shrugged, we were in the grocery store and i didnt want to make a public display of trying to bend down to tie my shoe.... Gosh there are so many reasons, but i can tell you is...my health is deteriating, and so is my happyness.... I love to do hair, its such a part of my life, it makes me happy, but when i saw this picture of me doing hair for a wedding it broke my heart, cause i'm smiling so big...but then i see my body, and my head that looks dislocated from my body...tottally destroys my mood. im so embarassed for showing this picture i would never post it anywhere else, i hope to one day be banded, just waiting for approval..

thats what i thought but it looks like lots of doctors want some sort of program fee and other fees as such...:party:

Hey there, I had my apt with my primary and he is sending me to DR. Marema in st. augustine, i made a post on here about that and someone said that he wants 5000 upfront and pays you back whatever is left over after the insurance has paid them...what doesnt make sense is i have a 20% copay and if his avg surgery price is 17000 that means i should only have to pay 3400 for my co-pay, and i've also read that he wants 995 on another post for office visits, doesnt make sense since my co-pay for specialist is 25 dollars a visit i'm so confused, i dont think its fair that i have to pay this extra when my insurance is specific in what it covers....and what i have to pay.... any experience with this doctor? Thanks

congrats on your upcoming surgery, if you put yourself to it, you can do the diet and it will all pay off in the end! good luck

thanks for mentioning the clear protein drinks i was concerned about pre slim fast protien shakes and how to keep my energy once i have the surgery, thanks