healthy-me-in-Az

Hi everyone! Those of you who had insurance pay for your surgery, did you have to pay your portion to the surgeon before surgery? When they called me friday to tell me I was approved and schedule me, they said I will have to pay my portion when I attend my pre-op class. I know someone will call me and go over all this but what should I expect? I have BCBS of Az. They cover 90%. Thanks!

If there was already a thread on this, I missed it. Thought we could post a little about ourselves. I plan on getting to know you all and leaning on you in the tough times to come! Just the facts: I am 36 years old. I live in Arizona. I have 8 year old twin boys. I have been married for 17 years. I have about a hundred pounds to lose. A little more detail: Let's see, was never overweight as a child. Underweight would have been a better description. Right after I got married, my periods stopped completely and I gained a ton of weight very quickly. I was diagnosed with PCOS. Very difficult to live with. Bad body, bad skin, can't get pregnant. Lost 50 lbs with the help of a trainer and low carb and got pregant with twins. Weight came back with a venegance! I have yo-yo'ed ever since. I can lose a bit, gain it back. I was fairly successful with nutrisystem. I lost 50 lbs but couldn't afford it anymore. Not with a family to feed as well as myself. So I stopped and gained all that back. That is when I decided I needed to stop the yo-yo. I need help to lose weight and KEEP IT OFF! So here I am! Anyone else want to share??

July 10th!!!!

WooHoo! I am a July Jewel!!!! My surgery is scheduled for July 10th. I am sooooooo excited! A little scared, but mostly excited. Oh and I just did this siggy... so let's road-test!

YAY! I got my approval today! Only took my insurance 3 days! My surgery date is July 10th!!! I am so excited, I can't stand it!

Hi Tish! Nice to 'meet' you! Good luck on your journey here.

Hi everyone! I am new here. I am in the beginning stages of WLS. I have had my initial consultation. It included my psych eval, nutritionist, exercise physiologist etc. Basically, we are putting the info together for my insurance company. Anyhoo, I am 36 years old. I was thin all my life. Underweight really. Then when I was 18, my periods just stopped. I had never been regular but they did show up. They stopped completely and then I gained a whole bunch of weight. I went from 130 to 170 in a matter of months. My doctor tentatively diagnosed me with PCOS. Well, 18 years ago, there wasn't a whole lot of information to be found about it. Basically, all I could find out was you went on birth control pills to regulate your periods. Several years went by. My weight went up and up. I tried diets but could never stick to them for very long. Finally, at the age of 25, my husband and I wanted to have a baby. I had never taken any sort of prevention so we knew right away we would need fertility help. We went to a reproductive endocrinologist. She finally confirmed through bloodwork I had PCOS (my gyn was really just guessing). We did an IVF. It failed. I overstimulated on all the drugs. Not fun. It was determined my eggs weren't in very good shape because my insulin was out of control. My endo sent me to an exercise physiologist to reduce my insulin. He put me on a diet and exercise plan. I followed a moderate carb/ low fat plan for 10 months. I worked out with a trainer for 2 hours a day. 4 days a week. I lost 47 lbs. I went from 211 down to 164. But more importantly, my insulin dropped from 37 to 6. My periods had returned, regularly! My skin was better, my ovaries were even less polycystic on an ultrasound. I saw my endo and really wanted to lose more weight but she wanted to cycle then. She was happy with my results. We did an insemination to get the timing down. My twin boys are now 8. So flash forward. My weight is now 239. I can lose weight. I have been successful with nutrisystem in the past. I have been successful with moderate low carb programs on my own. I can't keep it off for any meaningful amount of time. So here I am. I chose the band because I know I can lose weight. And I feel the band will keep me on that right path until I get to my goal and keep me there! I can't wait to get to know all you girls here. I think I am in the right place!

I just had my psych eval this last Wednesday. Basically, I had to take a written test of 350 questions. The questions focused on drugs and alcohol issues, self esteem, suicide etc. Then I had a 40 minute session with the psychologist. He asked me some medical history questions. Asked about my attempts at weight loss. He asked a lot of questions about my family. What kind of relationship I had with my mom, dad, siblings. Then asked about my relationship with my husband. What he thought of my wanting to have WLS. I was robbed at gunpoint at work several years ago so we discussed that. And it was only brought up because on my paperwork I had to disclose that I had been in therapy before. The psychologist is part of the Scottsdale Bariatric Center. His job is to evaluate me to see if I am ready for any WLS or if I have any issues I need to deal with first. His other function is to help my surgeon determine which procedure would be most beneficial with my personality and medical concerns. It was decided by both my NP and the psychologist that I am a perfect band candidate. I think a major part of that is the fact I have done a lot of research (here and on my own) and I have a very realistic expectation. I would say just be honest and don't worry about it!

Hi everyone! I had my initial consult today. I took my psych test. I saw the exercise physiologist, nutritionist, psychologist and the NP. The psychologist and the NP both agreed the band is the right procedure for me. I am glad because I really wouldn't have considered the bypass or sleeve. I have to call my gynecologist and get 5 years of weights so they can submit to my insurance for approval. I am crossing my fingers that my insurance is as good as I think it is and it will sail through. I am really hoping for surgery sometime in July. I found out my surgeon doesn't do a special pre-op diet. They just ask that you lose 10% of your excess weight. For me, that is 10 lbs. They set exercise goals and nutrition goals for me at my appointment today. They are very realistic and do-able. So far, I am really impressed with my surgeon and her staff.

Hi everyone! I am new here. After considering WLS for a few years now, I finally decided I wanted to do this. Something 'clicked' in my head and I just knew this was the right choice. I always held out thinking, 'if only I worked just a little bit harder on my diet'. But, after we being morbidly obese for the vast majority of 15 years, I decided I need some help! I am 36 years old, I have 8 year old twin boys. I was diagnosed with PCOS at the age of 20. I have about 110 lbs to lose. I can lose weight on my own, just can't keep it off for more than a few months at a time. I need help. I need to get off this roller coaster and be healthy. I saw my family doctor May 5th and told her I wanted to do the banding. She supported my decision and wrote me a referral letter. I had already chosen a surgeon, she comes highly recommended by several people I work with. Her name is Robin Blackstone of Scottsdale Bariatric Center. I had my seminar on May 17th. They called me for my 4 hour consultation appointment on the 19th. It is this coming Wednesday. I am very excited, nervous etc. I will see the psychologist, nutritionist, exercise physiologist and the physician's assistant during this appointment. My husband isn't totally on board, but he told me this was my decision and he would support me. I am counting on that because I am going to need it!