♥Amy♥

Hey susancarole! The pre-op diet is kinda getting off to a slow start. I really need structure and discipline so I'm thinking about talking to my doctor about doing Optifast or something like that. Does anyone know if insurance companies typically would cover something like that?

Thank you so much, everyone, for the supportive and encouraging words. You have no idea how much it means to me. And yes...she is a hater.

Wow! That's so awesome! Can I ask how much of the weight you lost was due to the surgery? How much of the 25lbs was lost pre-op? I really can't wait to be banded! :thumbup:

Congrats on your surgery! I'm no doctor and I haven't been banded yet (can't wait!) but I've read on here that there were people who were still a little uncomfortable 2 weeks out but are fine now. Maybe you're a slow healer? Make sure you're taking it easy and try not to be depressed. You did a great thing for yourself. You just need to give it a chance to heal. Being depressed will make it take that much longer. Are you walking? I'm sure that would help with the healing and the depression. Good luck!

How long did you do your pre-op liquid diet for? And what did it consist of? You look amazing, BTW. Great work!!

So far so good! I went to my Pulmonologist appointment yesterday. Monday was the cardiologist, this coming monday is my meeting with my PCP to go over everything and officially start my 6 mo. physician supervised diet and exercise plan, Oct 4th I have a echo cardio gram appointment. The Cardiologist said everything sounded fine but he wanted me to have one "just in case" but he doesn't see any reason, from his standpoint, why I shouldnt be able to have the surgery. Nov 1st is the nutritionist and Nov 18th is the Endocrinologist. The only doc I am using that is reccommended by my surgeon in the psychologist. I was informed by a few psychologists that were on my plan, very nicely, that if they were to work with me on this I would end up paying more out of pocket for them than I would if I paid the flat fee for the surgeon's psych. considering she knows what he wants and the others will have to do a lot of going back and forth. Anyway, I'll be making some more appointments soon. The 6 months will be up before I know it! :thumbup: Thanks for asking!

I would just say that you need a consult and exam when you are making the appointment. That's what they told me to do when I went for my consult. You don't have to say that you are having the surgery until you get there. Make sure you get copies of the all the reports and any letter the specialists might write to your surgeon just in case. If anything is missing when the time comes to submit it all it will delay the approval process. Luckily for me I don't need any referrals. I probably wouldn't get much done quickly if I was constantly having to get referral notes from my PCP. Good luck on the rest of your journey! :tongue2:

Sorry if I posted this in the wrong place but...I know most surgeons will let you choose which kind of band they put in but can we also have a say in how big of a band ( cc size) we can have and is there a difference in weight loss as far as that goes? I read most people have 10cc bands but I have read that a few people have 14cc bands. Does anyone know why there would be different sizes? I'm guessing a 14 cc band would allow for more fills so I figure that means that the weight loss might not slow as quickly as it would with a 10 cc band? Please correct me if I'm wrong. I know hardly anything about this stuff. Thanks in advance!:girl_hug:

Congrats on the surgery and thanks! I can't wait to be where you are :confused:

Thanks Lcubed and susancarole!:smile:

I know it's a bit late but I'm new so I just saw this :wink_smile: Dr. Holover will be my surgeon. I just met with him on the 17th. I don't know if I can answer your question but hopefully it's been answered by now :smile:

Sorry you were denied but you should actually consider yourself lucky. Aetna just changed the requirement at the beginning of the year. Before February, I think it was, you had to have a BMI of 35 or over for 5 years. Good luck on your journey to bandland! I just started mine. Aetna is a PITA when it comes to all they want you to do to be approved but it will be worth it in the end. I've been obese all of my adult life so this is a long time coming for me. :smile:

Hi everyone! I just started my journey to bandland on the 17th of this month. I had my consult with Dr. Holover and I had my 1st Dr's appt yesterday. I went to the cardiologist and he's sending me for an echo just to be on the safe side but he said as far as he's concerned, I'm ok for surgery. I have the Endocrinologist on Nov. 18th and today I'm going to make a few more appointments. I'm not really rushing them because I have Aetna and they require a 6 month physician supervised weightloss and exercise regimen. I know there was something in the requirement about a 3 month pre-op thing as in place of the 6 month diet. Does anyone who has Aetna know about that? I have the Open Access HMO. I have an email in to the surgeon's office so maybe they can help me decipher that. It would be great to be able to get the surgery sooner rather than later. So, hello to all you other Long Island banders and banders-to-be! I'm from Suffolk! :smile:

This has been an issue for me, also. I told my parents what I plan on doing but I'm not so sure I want to tell my in-laws. They're very judgemental and although they can stand to lose a few pounds they think they're better than me because they are much smaller than me. They are "judge a book by its cover" type of people and I've come to terms with the fact that they don't like me because I am not "normal" looking. The only thing that is stopping me from keeping the info from them is what if, God forbid, something happens to me during surgery? If DH has to call them up and say "Mom and dad, Amy had surgery today and such and such happened" They are the kind of people who instead of rushing to his side to be supportive and comforting, they seriously will yell at him and ask why we didn't tell them before hand. They're very toxic people but DH loves them so I tolerate them. I don't want them to know because once they know then everyone will know but what if something was to happen? Ugh!! It's amazing how much wrestling we have to do when it comes to doing something for ourselves! :cry_smile:

I asked my surgeon about the realize band and he said that there is more chance of erosion with the older band and the realize band because it is one chamber (where as the newer bands have several "compartments") and when it gets filled it tends to crease in certain spots causing uneven pressure on the stomach which in turn can cause erosion. I'm so sorry this happened to you, Carol. *hugs* and I hope things work out for you in the end. Try and be positive. I know it's easier said than done but being depressed won't help you lose weight. If you want to keep that 50 lbs off you need to do something proactive. Lots of luck!

Thanks so much, Jo Ann. I haven't attended any meetings yet. I will be sure to attend as I get closer to having surgery, though :rolleyes2:

Hey Jo Ann! I'm sure you're doing great. Congrats on the surgery. I hope to be where you are very soon. :rolleyes2: What do you think of Doctor Holover? I'm getting nervous because I haven't read too many positive posts about him and his office staff on the OH Forum. I thought he was great but it's the after care that I read was lacking. I even read something about him cancelling a lot of appointments post surgery. Any info you can give would be greatly appreciated. I need to know that I am making the right decision as far as he is concerned.

Hey there! I had my 1st consult with Dr. Holover on the 17th. I have my first appointment with the cardiologist today. I'm hoping to get everything done soon but I have Aetna and they require a 6 month physician supervised weight loss regimen :girl_hug: Oh well...it will be worth it. I just hope it all goes by fast. I'm anxious :girl_hug: How do you like Dr. Holover? So far he seems cool :rolleyes2: