stateofzen

I was approved with BCBS AL in 15 minutes, not kidding. Just this morning, actually! I got a call from my docs office with a question about my insurance and she said she was going to call it in for approval-- called me back 15 minutes later and said she got it and they'd get back to me Monday to schedule the surgery.

It's a little surreal. This time last year I was one month away from finishing my 6 month diet and I found out that my workplace insurance excluded bariatric surgery. I was pretty crushed, and mad at myself for not knowing it sooner but it was probably a blessing in disguise because I got to build some confidence that I could make the changes I needed to succeed. I switched to my husband's insurance, which does cover it, and after procrastinating for another 6 months on finishing the final things (my psych eval, faxing records), I got it in and I'm now approved.

Wee!

I found out at month 6 of my 7 month pre-op diet that my particular BCBS plan (AL) does not cover any bariatric surgery. Wow did I feel stupid for assuming it would.

After a little emotional breakdown, my husband and I started looking at options and found that his insurance plan BCBS (AL) does cover the band. So, things are pushed back while we wait for open enrollment with my new insurance going into effect in January.

My question is if anyone has ever done this, and what happened? I'm going to keep up my doctor's supervision so that I'll have had continual dr supervised diet well over the requirement. Do you guys think they'll make me start all over on the new plan? Have a waiting period? I'm just really curious and even though this may seem silly, I don't want to call BCBS because I'm irrationally afraid it will prompt them to change their policy if they know beforehand. Yes, that's so irrational, but I can't help it.

As someone who has approximately your pre-band measurements (5'7", 260), you are definitely an inspiration. Congrats on the payoff for all of your hard work.

No diet, alone, is successful at long term weight loss (for 98% of people, anyway). That's why we're all getting/have gotten bands. I think we need to keep this in mind as we bicker about low carb.

Atkins-based induction led me to lose 15 lbs in 2 weeks in May. After 2 weeks, I started to eat in more moderation and took off an additional 5 pounds. Now I'm kick-starting myself with another 2 weeks because I found myself starting down the fast-food, ice cream road again and though I hadn't gained any yet, we all know that was just around the corner. Since I want to make some real changes in how I look at food before I get the band so as not to go through the process only to fail, I'm trying to find this elusive land of moderation and low-carb is helping me do that. That's me-- it won't work for everyone. I just hate all of the tearing down that goes on about what the right diet is when there is no one right way of eating.

Funny aside-- when I tell people I'm doing low-carb, I get lectures about how unhealthy that is (seriously, I have). But when I tell people I'm doing "no sugar, no starch", they pat me on the back for my healthy decisions.

Thanks for the reply- I appreciate hearing from people with a similar issue.

The morbidity/mortality comparison makes me really like the band, as does its versatility. Even though my OB says he's had patients with bypass have successful pregnancies, I just worry about the "what if I need more room" issue to provide adequate nutrition. And frankly, when I get right down to it, because of my job (college professor), I can't really easily take off at least 2 weeks for post-surgery recovery unless I want to wait another year for next summer when I don't have any classes. I don't get "vacation" or "sick days" like most people do because of the different nature of our work calendar.

My name is Maren and I live in Alabama. I'm 34, with a high weight of 293 and a BMI of 47 (starting). I have BCBS and am in my third month of the 6 month supervised weight loss. My doc has me doing a controlled carb diet, mostly to get me in the mindset of putting Protein first and carbs last for my post-surgery lifestyle and I'm down to 278 after only a few weeks of *really* trying. Believe me, I've done the calculations and know that to be safe in terms of insurance coverage, I shouldn't get below 260. I think I'll have to add back in a few carbs over the next few months and then once I'm approved, get back on track. That's sad, considering I've been morbidly obese for about a decade, but I'll play the games just like everyone else.

For a long time I've thought casually about surgery, but I haven't gotten serious until recently. I actually don't have any major health concerns yet but I've had three miscarriages (no successful pregnancies) and even though there is no clear reason why weight would have anything to do with it, my OB specialist recommended I put off any more attempts until I lose weight.

My doctor (primary) and my OB-GYN think I should do the full bypass because of my weight, but I have thought a lot about it and think I prefer the band. I'll hold off final decision until I talk with my surgeon, but in the meantime I'll be preparing for the LapBand procedure.

I look forward to learning from you all and journeying with you.

-Maren