foodstampchamp

I have completed my psych evaluation, nutritional assessment, and my consultation appointment. (all of those just last week). I also paid my surgeon for the complete surgery. I am just waiting for them to call me, hopefully sometime this week, to give me my surgery date. Apparently the lady who scheduled the surgery only does so on Mon, Wed, Thurs. And then she does them in the order she received the completed packets. Mine was completed and given to her last Thursday so I'm hoping tomorrow or Thursday of this week I will at least get my surgery date so I can start my countdown and put in for vacation if necessary. My doctor is Watson. How far are you?

Welcome to LBT. I am also in the same boat as you. I have finished my pre-op testing and I'm just waiting to get my surgery date also.

Who is your surgeon if I may ask?

That last question is something I've been wondering too.

My brother (5'6") weighed in at 350 pounds. He decieded to hit the gym and go on a diet a few years back. He learned so much from his girlfriend who is a personal trainer and looks great by the way. She says, (and my brother is living proof) that if you eat less (which we all are after being banded) and just doing cardio while you will loose weight, you will still be the same shape. Be it a smaller shape. For instance, he was very pair shaped. If he just ate less calories and did 2 hours of cardio a day, he would still be pair shaped, just a smaller pair. When he added resistance training he changed the way his body was "shaped". You would never be able to tell it was the same person. Muscle burns fat. Even if you are not moving. Even when you are sleeping. So the more muscle you have, the more fat you burn while you are not moving. Trust me gals and guys, you want to do resistance training. You will not regret it.

LOL, I totally know what you mean. I have a twin brother and I want to tell him sooooo bad. I can't though because his live in girlfriend is the daughter of a co-worker. I'm afraid if I tell him, he will tell her, and she will tell my co-worker. (if that made any sense :nervous ). And about WLS being the "easy way out". Just the pre-banding classes, testing, waiting for insurance approval, etc, alone are worth 100 lbs worth of weight loss. Don't ya think? That is harder than any diet I ever went on!

I am from a very tiny mining town in Nevada. I also have friends who I know won't be supportive. I got up the nerve to tell one friend (also skinny) and she just thinks I'm lazy and taking the easy way out. Did I mention she has never had a weight problem in her life!!! Because of this, I have pretty much been a closet-bandster so far. Even though Im not banded yet. I have to do what is right for me. And you have to do what is right for you. Since you feel like you are making the correct decision then you are. Good Luck to you.

:eek:--- I have alot of these same questions. I'm about where you are. You will be very glad you came to this message board.

I know that these people are "helping us out" medically. But we are helping them too. Medical personnel are nothing if they don't have patients to pay their way. You paid your money. They are working for YOU. Don't put up with that. You should definately have your patient coordinator changed. That is my opinion anyways. Hope things get better for you.

Same here, my insurace would pay 50%, but not for at least 12-24 months. And then I heard they usually deny you on a technicality or just make you do so much stuff you just give up. That is why I have decided to self pay.

Fellow Newbies- This is where I'm at in the ongoing struggle to be half my size! I have completed the support group meetings in order to gain approval for surgery. I have gotten my medical records from 1999-present. I have gotten my primary care physician to write me a letter of support. I have appt with my surgeon on Monday at 2:45 I have nutritional assessment on Monday at 8:15 I have my psych eval on Tuesday at 10:00 Hopefully by the end of this little section of appts. I will be closer to finding out when my surgery can happen. Seems like the hardest part is getting the surgery date. I'm a self pay so hopefully that will speed things up since I don't have to wait for insurance approvals and such. I'm so impatient.

Fellow Newbies- This is where I'm at in the ongoing struggle to be half my size! I have completed the support group meetings in order to gain approval for surgery. I have gotten my medical records from 1999-present. I have gotten my primary care physician to write me a letter of support. I have appt with my surgeon on Monday at 2:45 I have nutritional assessment on Monday at 8:15 I have my psych eval on Tuesday at 10:00 Hopefully by the end of this little section of appts. I will be closer to finding out when my surgery can happen. Seems like the hardest part is getting the surgery date. I'm a self pay so hopefully that will speed things up since I don't have to wait for insurance approvals and such. I'm so impatient.

I am very nervous about bieng able to stick to the liquid diet both pre and post op. Seems hard. Especially pre op. What kind of things are they letting you eat or drink rather.

sunny-looks like we are in the same boat. My consultation appt is next monday (26th). do you think your insurance will pay for it? This is a great board, I had ZERO questions when I went to my seminar because of this board. So much first hand knowledge here. If it can happen, it has happened to somone here.

I'm a self pay and my consult appt, psych eval, and nutritional assessment are all on Monday June 26th. I have all the money to pay for it right now. If that is the case, will they usually give you the surgery date right away? I know all dr. are different.

I'm the only girl on an 80 man crew. I feel your pain sparkey. I'm the open pit mine maintenance coordinator for Barrick Goldstrike. Yes sir, it is literally a gold mine. You should see the big pit I work in. You can see a picture of it at www.bgmi.com . :boxing:

Do different dr's want different tests ie: psych eval, nutritional assesment, etc for everyone or is it mostly a case by case basis? I am "auditioning for the band" myself and my surgeon wants 1 psych eval, 1 nutritional assesment, 1 pre-op support group meeting. I guess I will do labs based on what paperwork he gives me.

I went to my seminar last night in Reno with Dr. Watson instructing it. It was very informative and answered 100% of my questions. And by the way, what a hottie! Hopefully I will be getting banded by august 1st.

:help: This is the insurance I have. Anyone else have this insurance? If so, what has been your expieriences with this insurance and WLS. :help:

I have Great West One Health insurance. It seems if you get approved they pay 50%.

I'm looking into getting the lap band surgery in reno. I am going to the free seminar on June 9th. Most likely, my insurance isn't going to cover it, but I have a huge savings account. Can anyone tell me what their surgery cost was before insurance paid?