LifeStartsNow

Congrats to everyone who have recently gotten approval and have March dates! I've been in the Feb 09 board for no particular reason outside of getting some questions answered. :tongue: I know you all must be so excited and I am so very happy for you! Your adventure has officially began! I am one of those whose insurance hasn't been approved yet and feel very anxious about it. I feel like I could finally feel like my journey has started once that happens. My insurance changes March 31 to the insurance someone mentioned above where you have to be 40bmi or greater for a min of 2 years. So this is it for me! My appt with the surgeon is this Friday - so that will be when my insurance is submitted. I still have the psych appt, nutritional appt, and support meeting to attend. I have a stress test from cardiologist, last mammogram, & copy of my cholesterol bloodwork. I will be getting copies of my dr supervised weight loss attempt and a letter of recommendation from a Dr I have been seeing for the last 7 years. I'm sure I still need an actual referral from my primary care physician. Anyway - tmi - but I hope to join this group of March success stories! I wish you all getting ready - all the luck in the world! And as for protien drinks - I've read in a couple of places that the protien drinks at costco are really good. As for a name. March melters is good. Shrinking Shamrocks? Shapely Shamrocks? Shameless Shamrocks? Lucky Lapbanders? Curvy Clovers? Classy Clovers? LOL -how fun to think up stuff....

Wow - very exciting for everyone! I wish you all the best of luck - you will do great! I can't imagine how nervous and excited you must be - must feel a little like the anticpation we felt as kids on Christmas eve! LOL.

Thanks HarleyNana - you're right. I have found a lot of great info here. And such informative people not afraid to share anything. Lovemy2dogs - LOLOL! I know it IS awful!. I actually weighed myself today and I'm 232, so I'm 2 lbs short. I have to gain 2 lbs by friday. Its so strange!! I'm really concerned about not having given myself enough time to get this done and get the surgery scheduled in time by the end of March. I sure hope they understand and try to help me along as much as they can -otherwise its a 17500.00 self pay. UGH.

I am part of the Sentara board. That board is getting more and more active and I've asked some questions there and did get some good info, thank you. I just need to be patient and wait until Friday when I meet with the surgeon. I'll ask him again about the 11am thing and let you know. You're doing an awesome job with the excercise! What an inspiration you are. I am like you - unless I exercise - the weight isn't going to come off. I have a personal trainer I'm seeing 2x per week. I've not gone the past 4 weeks, and as bad as this sounds, I'm 2 lbs away from dropping below a BMI of 40 and I'm trying to NOT lose weight. Unless I am at 40, Ins won't cover it. So, it feels very strange to try to not lose weight! LOL. I've never done that in my life! thanks for all the great info you're sharing - i appreciate it. And PS, I live in Va Beach. :tongue2:

Thanks Janine for the info. I'm going to do all that I can to prepare and take your advice and tell them my situation so that perhaps they can move things along. I've been going to a Wellness center for years - and my Dr there (she is a medical doctor) suggested lapband to me. I'm hoping she can help me collect my medical records and write the referral instead of my primary care physician. I think its fantastic that you've lost the weight slowly. As much as I'd like to lose a lot of weight quickly as many have here on these boards, I worry sometimes about the signals and chemical changes that might occur as a result for me personally if I lost weight quickly. I think about the chemical changes your body must go through - and many GREAT changes - but I think a lot about hormonal changes (less progesterone running around b/c less fat tissue) and how my body might respond to it. I am high risk for breast cancer and my father passed away from skin cancer - so I think a lot about how losing this weight is going to help me be at LESS risk for cancer. I want to control the things I can to lower my risk. Anyway - I feel like a gradual loss - gradual changes are always a good thing for lots of reasons! So hats off to you!! I see you've lost 54 lbs - that's phenomenal - what dedication you have! Does living with the band and your dedication get easier over time? Once you've found that proper adjustment with the band - do you always feel the same lack of hunger? Or does that go away over time? Sorry for the long post......just thinking out loud! :tongue2:

Good Luck WendyG!! Monday and your new life begins! I saw those 20g protien shakes at costco today - but I've never tried them. Let me know how you like them.

Great advice - I haven't begun to investigate the Mexico options yet and I hadn't even thought of that possibility. Makes great sense to secure the fill dr first. thanks!!

Congrats on your band and great experiences. I hope all is going great still! How much was airfare and the total cost with Dr Kuri? I may have to go this route and am trying to compare experiences and cost. :redface: thanks! ***edited to add - I found the cost in another thread - looks like the cost is $7500.00. thanks! ****

Good advice - and thanks. I think you're right about the options. If I don't make it with my current ins - it is a PPO in fact - it runs out March 31 and our company is changing to only one option which is cigna and won't cover it unless I am at a bmi of 40 or greater for more than 2 years. Also, my husband's insurance doesn't cover it either so the only other option I think is Mexico. Self pay here is about 18K. Thanks for the info you gave me. I'm just so very happy for you - truly -b/c since you have had to wait so long - I'm sure it is that much more meaningful to you for it to be approved. You go!

Thanks for the encouragement. When I went to the seminar, Dr. Fontana said he recommends his patients eat only when hungry in the am and preferably 11am. The person who gave the testimonial said the same thing. Also - I learned that high cholesterol isn't considered one of the co-morbidities - can you believe that? The lady in the ins dept said only diabetes, high blood pressure, and one other i can't remember right now. I appreciate the vote of confidence re: the insurance. Its going to be really tight, I think. I went ahead and signed up for 2 support group meetings - both in Feb b/c I think that is another requirement. I just have to learn how you go about requesting the psych eval and nutritionist appt. I assume they give a referral list. I read on another board it took someone a month to get in to see the psych eval so I'm concerned that could put me into late Feb. I just have to figure out if they move forward with the ins approval before the psych eval and nutritionist or after. If anyone knows what Norfolk Sentara WLC does - please share! If only to help me sort out this timeline! Good for you on the exercise!!! How much and what are you doing per week in that department?

sorry to hear about throwing up. yuck - I'm sure it wasn't fun at all. I can't believe you've lost 49lbs already since 9/11. That's amazing! really! I can't even wrap my head around that right now trying to imagine that happening to me. If I lost 50lbs, I'd weigh 180 which I haven't seen since I got married! What is your energy like if you go on 2 days of liquids? I have a high stress job - I worry I won't be as mentally sharp - remembering things or solving the technical problems I do for a living - as well and it would show in my job performance. How is that for you? Also, do you ever have concerns about not eating until 11am? I heard Fontana say that is normal. Won't that negatively impact your metabolism long term?

derbin247 - that's awesome. i'm so happy for you. I was hoping to get my ins approved - but I still have some to go. I hope maybe march will happen for me. My ins runs out in March and switches to a new company that won't approve my ins. I sure hope it happens for me like it has for you...

Thanks again for the great info. So you can get your insurance approved before you do all those visits? I didn't know that - good to know. My insurance is BCBS - and all they require is a 1 yr dr supervised diet and a bmi of >40. I also double checked with the sentara norfolk weight loss group - and they confirmed. So maybe all I need to do is bring my documents to them now and they can submit for the ins approval. I'm so confused about this portion of the process and don't want to waste time when I can be getting things moving along. Any advice is greatly appreicated!

Congrats on your insurance approval! that's fantastic for you. I'm sure its a huge relief. I think I'll get approval thru my ins but don't think I'll get my nutritionist and psych evals done in time before my insurance runs out at the end of March. We'll see. If I call before my appt with the dr - will they give me the list of referalls to get nutritionist and psych eval done? Just so I can at least set the appointments? My appt with Dr. Fantana is next Friday. I have all my latest mammograms, cardiac stress tests, and I'll bring with me copies of my dr supervised diet. But, I just don't know enough about the process yet to understand if there is even a snowball's chance. :thumbup:

I was so excited about your idea I forgot to say that I don't have any of the co-morbidities. I have high cholesterol. I will call the insurance girls tomorrow as well and ask about the turn around expectations with my BCBS. Thank you again for the great ideas and your thoughts. I appreciate that.

What a great idea, JimmieLou!!! It would probably be cheaper to extend the insurance coverage a few months than to pay the 16-17K self pay! I'm going to call tomorrow and find out! Thank you!! I think I'm going to try calling to get the appts for the psyc, nutritionist, etc. now - since it sounds like those are what cause most of the delays if I'm reading things on this thread right. I saw a Kathy Lynch mentioned and will try to call her tomorrow at least to get the appointments rolling. Does anyone know the names of some nutritionists I can just set up appts with and save myself a week or two by calling now? I also read from someone else that they needed to bring copies of last pap smear, mammogram, chest xray and some blood tests. I can get the first to pretty easily from by OBGYN, and the dr supervised diet very easily as well.

Hi everyone! I've read through all 15 pgs and learned a lot from you all. I've got some questions and it looks like you all are who I've been looking for! I've researched Lapband for about a year. Read many boards and feel good about proceeding. I attended the seminar, and have an appt with Dr. Fontana Feb 5th. My insurance covers this, with documented weight loss failed attempts, which I can provide. Here's the catch, I will no longer have my current insurance BCBS effective April because my husband's employer is changing. His new insurance optima does not cover it. So my question is, do you think with my first surgical appt being Feb 5th, that I might actually get scheduled for surgery by March 31st when my insurance runs out? Will the surgery date be much longer b/c its Dr. Fontana? I don't have a Dr preference - he just is the one who did the seminar. BCBS only requires failed documented weight loss attemp which I cleary have through my dr which extends over the past 8 years and they sugg the LB to me. Will it take a long time to do the psyc, nutritionist appt, and the surgical classes? I'd really love your insight/opinions. Thank you!