Florida Pete

I hadn't even thought about that. My son just turned 1 a week ago too and is 22lbs also. I have to be able to hold and cuddle him.

LOL I think I would have to agree with that. Christmas shopping, decorating, crowded malls, family visits, etc etc... I am a lot more calm and prepared for this surgery then I am for the holidays!

I can totally understand how he got their phone number. I am sure you filled out a form with either nearest living realtive that does not live with you. But like others have already said this is a direct violation of the HIPAA if you did not sign any form giving the doctor permission to talk to them. If you did not then I would look at taking legal action against your doctor. Laws are only as good as people that are willing to pursue those that break them.

I am having my surgery done in Mexico by Dr. Kuri at Hospital Angeles in Tijuana on Dec. 5th. I have heard a lot of good about him and the staff at Hospital Angeles. I have an aunt who had the lapband surgery performed by him 4 years ago who lives in Seattle and she gets her fills done locally in Seattle. My surgery coordinator sent me a list of fill centers here in Florida with one that is only about 45 minutes away from my location. I am confident that I will have good service and well experience surgeon and staff performing my operation. I am a self pay as well which ultimately is why I made the decision to not have my surgery done locally.

Yes, Dr. Kuri wants me to do that Liver Shrinking Diet for 3 weeks prior to my surgery. It's a combination of liquid shake meals for 2 meals of the day with the 3rd meal basically being a low fat diet.

I haven't been banded yet but my aunt, who was banded 3 years ago and is a Seattle Bandster, swears by the unjury shakes. She's sending me a sample and I should be getting those in the next day or two. I am really picky about taste so I'll give you my opinion after I try them out. On a side note everyones tastes are different. What you may like may not taste good to me at all. So I think the best way to find what your going to like is to try the different shakes and figure out for yourself what you do like. :biggrin:

How did you know you were ready youself to be banded? Today I was talking with my wife about the scheduling to be banded and she suggested that I could wait until after the holidays and start the new year with a new me. I told her no that I wanted to start the new me as soon as possible. A year ago I know I was in the mindset that yeah I would wait until after the holidays so I could get some good eating in and "enjoy" the holidays as everyone says. But I don't feel that way anymore. Seriously I have been thinking more and more about the foods I eat, the amounts of foods I eat, and why I am eating them. I am sick and tired of eating all the time. I am sick and tired of behing morbidly obese. It's that point in my mind where I have already commited to making the change. To turning my life around. I am pushing forward with the change. I cannot let excuses get in the way anymore. I want to "live" my life. Not eat it away.

Thanks all for the support. I am moving forward and still working on finalizing a date but I am almost there and so look forward to getting the band and life after the band. Oh and I will most certainly have to check out the Florida Bandsters! Woot!

I think one of the biggest changes that I am going to have to go through is how to live with the band. Not just in my change in diet and exercise but the change in my overall life. For example Friday at work two people brought in food for everyone here. Donuts and begals were served up for everyone to enjoy and get fat on. Then again today another person brought in left over cake from the holiday weekend. Sure it's easy to say I won't have any but it's really setting the mind so you don't even have to think about having some or not. Even beyond that I start thinking about life in general. For instance a few weeks ago we had some friends over for a BBQ. The was the main focus of the time was eating. Chips and dips before the main course. Then the main course and then desert after that. Why couldn't we have just invited them over for a pool party or to play cards or watch a movie or even just to have time to sit and visit with each other? The answer really is we could have. Going a step further is learning how to act in an environment where I will be asked to go out to lunch or dinner with friends. This I think is going to be one of the biggest changes to go through. I was talking with my sister inlaw over the weekend and she was talking about how they have some friends that the husband had gastric by-pass and now he hates going out to eat. He makes it very vocal about how he doesn't want to go out to eat. I can see both sides but I think that's where I say you have to learn how to approach your friends with doing something other then living life based around food. So now I start thinking about what can I do to say lets do something other then food. What are suggestions I can make to my friends for other things we can do. Over the weekend we went to my inlaws. Living in Florida it's common to get out a lot of course because of good weather. But this past holiday weekend it was not good weather. So it was like the family was lost so it turned into an eating feast weekend. I don't think that anyone really knew how to handle the weather or what you could do instead of the outdoor activites. It's a mind set on life that has to be changed.

Hi Rose, It really is disappointing what the insurance companies have done with their coverages for WLS. Most insurance companies will still cover WLS but that does not mean that is the "plan" that your employer has bought. For example BCBS still does pay for WLS but the plan my company bought WLS is excluded from coverage. My company would have to pay a significant amount more on everyones premiums for insurance if they were to chose that as a coverage. So the insurance companies more less have stopped covering by making it not affordable for companies to pick up the coverage. It really is sad that it's not part of the standard coverages. If I continue the way I have been in a short time I would more then likely become diabetic. Very possibly need some sort of heart surgery. And become more of a burden with more and more medications. But the insurance companies see WLS as a high cost surgery with little gain. How they see little gain I don't know but it's the statements they make. Lucky for me my family has said they will pay for the surgery so off to Mexico I will go for my surgery.

Why am I fat? I have always been a big kid. Here I am 35 going on 36 in just under two months and I am still one of the biggest people around I know. All through school I was one of the biggest kids and in the 80's and early 90's it was a very different time. You were a big kid if you were just a little over weight which I was. In 1990 I joined the Army National Guard. I was 6'-3" and weighed 210 lbs. I was 17 years old. I was considered to be big and tubby. I went to basic training and when I came home at a lean 180 lbs everyone thought I was to thin. Ok what the hell is what I thought. 210 lbs I was a fatty and then 180 lbs I was too thin. I quickly put on more weight and got up to 230 lbs. Still not all that much over weight but still I had a belly. Now I stayed around 230 for a couple of years until I went back to college and then started in my career field. I got a desk job. Within a year I went from 230lbs to 325lbs. Then over the next few years I slowly added more and more on to get to 375lbs. I ate as much food as I wanted. Me? Give me the combo meal plus another burger. Oh and make sure it was supersized. Exercise? What's that? Sure I got out once in a while with my buddies to play paint ball or go snowboarding but that was my extent for exercise. It wasn't like I was getting out to go walking or jogging. I didn't do any exercise routines. So I really believe it was over eating and laziness. That put me up that high. Then I moved to Washington D.C. for work. My marriage was on the rocks and I actually had a good job turn bad. I slipped into depression and turned to eating more and no longer went out to do anything at all. 375 turning into 400 that turned into 425 and then God only knew after that. I ended up going through a divorce and left my job. Moved to Florida to start a new life. Last Janurary a small group of us at my work decided to do a weightloss group. More of just a support group to cheer each other on. Well it didn't last long but I still wanted to work on losing weight. I had no idea how much I weighed and neither did my doctor. The doctors office didn't have a scale that would weigh over 400 lbs. Hell most of them would only go 350 lbs. So I invested the money and got a scale that went up to 550 lbs. The day I got it was my shock. I stepped onto that scale and I was 485lbs!!! Never before in my life had I weighed so much and I really didn't know what to do. From January til now I started to change my diet and started to walk more. In a short time the excuses came up and I stopped walking but I kept to watching what it was I ate and drank. Today I am down to 469lbs but still so much much more then I had ever wanted to be. So why am I fat? To me it is a combination of things. First was lack of exercise and over eating. Next was depression eating. With the grace of God and the help of my therapist I have battled and beaten my depression. Now is time to move the next step forward and battle and beat this weight.

I can only imagine! Thank goodness I have a good marriage so I won't have to worry about this but I can just imagine how that must be and on top of that how do you tell this person that you have been banded and can't eat much.

1.) Who's you're insurance company? Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida - BlueOptions plan 2.) What state do you live in? Florida 3.) Was your plan provided by your employer or do you pay for it out of your own pocket? Employer Paid Plan 4.) Are you banded yet, waiting for approval, denied...etc? WLS is excluded from the plan

I think one of the biggest changes that I am going to have to go through is how to live with the band. Not just in my change in diet and exercise but the change in my overall life. For example Friday at work two people brought in food for everyone here. Donuts and begals were served up for everyone to enjoy and get fat on. Then again today another person brought in left over cake from the holiday weekend. Sure it's easy to say I won't have any but it's really setting the mind so you don't even have to think about having some or not. Even beyond that I start thinking about life in general. For instance a few weeks ago we had some friends over for a BBQ. The was the main focus of the time was eating. Chips and dips before the main course. Then the main course and then desert after that. Why couldn't we have just invited them over for a pool party or to play cards or watch a movie or even just to have time to sit and visit with each other? The answer really is we could have. Going a step further is learning how to act in an environment where I will be asked to go out to lunch or dinner with friends. This I think is going to be one of the biggest changes to go through. I was talking with my sister inlaw over the weekend and she was talking about how they have some friends that the husband had gastric by-pass and now he hates going out to eat. He makes it very vocal about how he doesn't want to go out to eat. I can see both sides but I think that's where I say you have to learn how to approach your friends with doing something other then living life based around food. So now I start thinking about what can I do to say lets do something other then food. What are suggestions I can make to my friends for other things we can do. Over the weekend we went to my inlaws. Living in Florida it's common to get out a lot of course because of good weather. But this past holiday weekend it was not good weather. So it was like the family was lost so it turned into an eating feast weekend. I don't think that anyone really knew how to handle the weather or what you could do instead of the outdoor activites. It's a mind set on life that has to be changed.

Thanks for the great posts all. This has helped me in making my decision as well. I have yet to be banded but soon hopefully. The thing to really remember that getting banded is not just going to fix everything about our weight and over eating. We have to work at it mentally and emotionally as well. So many of us have been eating so much food for so many reasons and now we're restricting our food intake. First and foremost I think is getting the support you need from family, friends, support groups, and beyond. Coming here I think is a great place for support and advice. Many different people from all over with many different experiences.

So after finding out that my insurance will not cover the surgery and that disappointment I informed my family of what has transpired. Each one has come back to saying that maybe the family could all come together to help me get the surgery done after all. This really is different since I have never seen this kind of support from my family. I don't know that anything is really going to come out of this but it does bring a glimmer of hope to my life for this. I need to talk to each of them more about it but I really am curious as to what they all have to say. Of course as a result now the plan looks like I should really consider Mexico for the operation. Prices there compared to US surgeons are remarkably cheap. I have heard a lot of good things about the surgeons in Mexico too. So time will tell what happens from here.

Thanks all for the support. My family has come forward and they are going to help me in getting this surgery done. So I am moving forward and will be going with Dr. Kuri. No date set yet but I am looking forward to this. I am so thankful to my family for coming forward like this. When I told my wife that they were going to do this she was surprised too. One of the many reasons I am going with Dr. Kuri is that a close aunt of mine has gone to him as well for her surgery 3 years ago. She speaks very highly of him and has had two of her friends go to him as well. Most certainly I look forward to the new life ahead.

Well after doing some research I have narrowed it down to Dr. Pedro Kuri in Tijuana or Dr. Jose Rodriguez in Juarez. I have seen a lot of good reports on both. They both are very well experienced but Dr. Rodriguez is a bit more experienced then Dr. Kuri. I do however have an aunt who has had lapband done and she went to Dr. Kuri so that is a big plus in his direction. Does anyone have any stories to tell about either one of these doctors? I would like to hear both good and bad experiences. Thanks again for all the help!

So I learned that my insurance company will not pay for lapband. Very disappointing but not all that surprising. Chances are that I will be waiting a long time before I can get this procedure now but there is a glimmer of light that I might have some people come forward to help me with this. They are asking me about Mexico. I have an aunt who went to Mexico for hers and she has done very well. Is there anyone else around here who has gone to Mexico for their surgery and if so can you give me some particulars? Things I need to find out is the name of the surgeons, locations, pricing, and your experience. I have been quoted $7,500 for surgery in Cancun. That included two nights at the hospital, two nights at a hotel, and all that goes with the surgery. This is also for the Realize Band. Welcome to Cancungastricband is their website. Please any info would help a lot. Thanks!

So after finding out that my insurance will not cover the surgery and that disappointment I informed my family of what has transpired. Each one has come back to saying that maybe the family could all come together to help me get the surgery done after all. This really is different since I have never seen this kind of support from my family. I don't know that anything is really going to come out of this but it does bring a glimmer of hope to my life for this. I need to talk to each of them more about it but I really am curious as to what they all have to say. Of course as a result now the plan looks like I should really consider Mexico for the operation. Prices there compared to US surgeons are remarkably cheap. I have heard a lot of good things about the surgeons in Mexico too. So time will tell what happens from here.

Well it came out today. My insurance company will not pay for the surgery. It is an exclusion in my insurance no matter what. I cannot afford to be self paid as my credit is horrible due to a divorce a couple of years ago and quit simply I cannot pay out on it at this time. So chaulk me up to the numerous others out there that would do it in a heartbeat to live a better life but that it is not an option. Back to trying to lose weight the old fashioned way.:party:

Well it came out today. My insurance company will not pay for the surgery. It is an exclusion in my insurance no matter what. I cannot afford to be self paid as my credit is horrible due to a divorce a couple of years ago and quit simply I cannot pay out on it at this time. So chaulk me up to the numerous others out there that would do it in a heartbeat to live a better life but that it is not an option. Back to trying to lose weight the old fashioned way.:tongue2:

Andrew Larson <--- Click the Link

You just made the best step you could. You came here and told us about it and admitted to yourself that you had taken a step back. So now you can change those actions and move forward. You have already done so well with losing the weight keep it up. Remember this phrase "Nothing tastes as good as thin feels." You are doing great in being on the road to being thin and you will get there. It's alright that you slipped a little. Now you can get back on track and continue down the road. Have faith in yourself and know that you can do it!:cursing:

Thanks for your comments both. I was actually thinking about the eating without having anything to drink at lunch today. That to me seems like it's going to be really hard. I think tho that it is a good idea to start practicing. I hear a lot about people not chewing their food enough or eating to big of bites.