Veggestyle

Carol--even though your PCP did not support your decision, was he still willing to send in the needed paperwork to your lapband doctor??

http://www.myspace.com/slaytera28 Here is my link! Check it out!

I love myspace. If anyone needs any help with it just let me know, I am pretty knowledgable about it, especially with "pimpin" your page! :Banane56: My link is attached to my signature everytime I post here. Nana, I belly dance too! You look beautiful in your pictures! Bensmum, I Love fairies and especially Amy Brown, also check out Nene Thomas, beautiful fairy art as well! thinking about getting a tattoo from each artists' work!

Hello! I am curious about others' experiences in regards to what role your general doctor played in you getting banded and the whole insurance struggle. In my case, my insurance company and the bariatric program at the hospital need about 5-10 years of medical records showing my weight struggles, which i doubt is uncommon. I called up my doctor and explained to her about the surgery, and then talked to their medical records person about sending the needed info. to the insurance company. They called the insurance for me and found out the specific info. they needed. I told the medical records lady all the personal info. she needed to send off to the insurance company and all seemed to be going smoothly. Then a few hours later, i got a call back from the doctor's office saying that my doctor needed to speak to me before she could write the letter to the insurance company, they did not specify exactly why..... Well, with that all being explained I am wondering what you all think of this, and what was your general doctor's role in your band journey???? Thank you!!!! :Banane56:

The surgeon does not require an overnight stay. They check for certain things, such as your ability to walk and go to the bathroom, once you are able to do that you can leave. So really it depends on your body after the surgery.

Yesterday, I attended the mandatory seminar about WLS at the hospital I will have my surgery at. The seminar was rather uneventful and was two hours long! Thanks to this board and other literature, I already knew most of what was presented! However, the interesting part of the seminar is actually where it was located! Now call this irony, but they had us "heard" through the hospital's cafeteria to the meeting room! What is this a sick joke? ha ha, I doubt it, but I found the placement of the meeting rather humurous. :mad:

Yesterday, I attended the mandatory seminar about WLS at the hospital I will have my surgery at. The seminar was rather uneventful and was two hours long! Thanks to this board and other literature, I already knew most of what was presented! However, the interesting part of the seminar is actually where it was located! Now call this irony, but they had us "heard" through the hospital's cafeteria to the meeting room! What is this a sick joke? ha ha, I doubt it, but I found the placement of the meeting rather humurous.

I really appreciate this thread. It is interesting to see how everyone is so different with the band.

I spoke with my insurance company again yesterday...I have a feeling I will be talking with them quite a lot! I was told that whether or not the hospital is "in-network" if the procedure is considering "out-patient" it will be covered 100%!!! The difference lies in if for some reason I have to say at the hospital at soon the "out-patient" procedures becomes an "in-patient" procedures, my insurance will only cover 65% as opposed to 80% if it were in network. At this point, my hospital considers the lapband to be an "out-patient." I guess I just better make sure I get to go home!

I really hope that everything gets better for you. You deserve to have the weightloss success just as much as everyone else. Do you think it was your lapband surgeon that was the cause of all of this? Take care...

Perhaps, I am misunderstanding something, but I think that I need my general doctor to send documents to the insurance company showing that I have been overweight for a extended amount of time. In my position, it seems to me that she is just a "paper-link" to the insurance company. I suppose that I did not have to actually call her and speak to her about it, but I did want to see what she thought. She wasn't unsupportive, per se, I think that she was ignorant to the lapband surgery.

Wow! Thank you for all of the comments! I was feeling discouraged after speaking with her and you all have lifted my spirits so much...Thank you! :hippie:

Thank you for all of your suggestions and advice! I am also curious about how the pre-op diet goes while at work as well. I know that every pre-op diet differs amongst doctors, but it seems that for most it is strictly liquids for at least 10 tens. How did that work out for all of you? :tea:

Thank you for the advice! I appreciate it!

Hello Arcael! Congratulations on your lapband surgery!!! I am just in the beginning stages of preparing for the surgery. What made you decide to do it? :tea:

:help: Hello All! I need your advice and opinions!!!:jaw: I just called my regular doctor yesterday to talk with her about me considering having the lapband surgery done. I trust her professional advice and opinions...however I do feel that she lacks experience with the band, considering the fact that she told me she NEVER has had a patient go through the procedure. She told me that she feels that the RISKS of the surgery outweigh *no pun intended* the LONG-TERM weightloss experience from this surgery. She said that more than likely the stomach will just stretch to compensate and you will be right were you where before... She also said that she would hate to see "someone so young" *I am 23* to go through this "drastic" procedure in order to try and lose weight... What do you all think of that? Are there any LONG-TERM bandsters that can give me some inspiration??

I think it would be interesting to add to the weight loss numbers, the day of their surgery so we could see those statistics as well. Awesome job everyone!!! :clap2: Also...what does it mean for a post to be a sticky?

Yesterday I called my general doctor of whom I have been seeing for about 10 years now. She was kind enough to speak with me over the phone about me considering the lapband. Unfortunately, she has not had ONE patient that has had the procedure. The receptionist that I left the message with had never even heard of it before! Must be nice not to have to worry about WLS and be oblivious to what it is...:mad: My doctor understood my feelings about being overweight at my age and getting ready to have babies in a few years and wanting to be at a healthy weight. However, I found it very interesting what she said to me..."I would hate to see someone so young go through something so drastic." Aren't doctors usually all about you losing weight and being at that right height/weight that their little charts show? She actually wants me to see an endocronologist before further considering the lapband. My sister just won a battle with thyroid cancer :clap2: and she is only 29! The doctor wants to make sure that everything there is ok and that nothing with my glands is causing this weight problem...i kind of doubt that, but we will see...:straight

Yesterday I called my general doctor of whom I have been seeing for about 10 years now. She was kind enough to speak with me over the phone about me considering the lapband. Unfortunately, she has not had ONE patient that has had the procedure. The receptionist that I left the message with had never even heard of it before! Must be nice not to have to worry about WLS and be oblivious to what it is...:mad: My doctor understood my feelings about being overweight at my age and getting ready to have babies in a few years and wanting to be at a healthy weight. However, I found it very interesting what she said to me..."I would hate to see someone so young go through something so drastic." Aren't doctors usually all about you losing weight and being at that right height/weight that their little charts show? She actually wants me to see an endocronologist before further considering the lapband. My sister just won a battle with thyroid cancer :clap2: and she is only 29! The doctor wants to make sure that everything there is ok and that nothing with my glands is causing this weight problem...i kind of doubt that, but we will see...:straight

Quick question...I just found out that the hospital I am planning to have my surgery is "not in my network." What does that mean for me?

I finally got up the courage...and the patience to call my insurance company and see if they cover the lapband surgery. After waiting on hold for about fifteen minutes, surprisingly, a very friendly voice answered...I get very discouraged when I am calling about such personal information and the person on the other line sounds like they cannot be bothered. However, unfortunately, the insurance representative said that my insurance company shows that it neither includes or excludes the procedure. After all that I have read and researched (mostly on this board, thank you!) I am assuming that means that it depends on my medical history, current stats. and weight loss attempts. So that answer is in limbo, which I guess is better than just a "no" it does not. :mad: As soon as I got off the phone with the insurance company, I called up my doctor who I have been seeing for about seven years now. The hang up there is that I recently moved about 1 hour and a half away from her location...I left a message with the receptionist, hoping that the doc. would consider discussing this with me over the phone....Well, we'll see. ...It is therapeutic for me to write about it in this journal and I hope that detailing my journey is helping someone out there

I finally got up the courage...and the patience to call my insurance company and see if they cover the lapband surgery. After waiting on hold for about fifteen minutes, surprisingly, a very friendly voice answered...I get very discouraged when I am calling about such personal information and the person on the other line sounds like they cannot be bothered. However, unfortunately, the insurance representative said that my insurance company shows that it neither includes or excludes the procedure. After all that I have read and researched (mostly on this board, thank you!) I am assuming that means that it depends on my medical history, current stats. and weight loss attempts. So that answer is in limbo, which I guess is better than just a "no" it does not. :mad: As soon as I got off the phone with the insurance company, I called up my doctor who I have been seeing for about seven years now. The hang up there is that I recently moved about 1 hour and a half away from her location...I left a message with the receptionist, hoping that the doc. would consider discussing this with me over the phone....Well, we'll see. ...It is therapeutic for me to write about it in this journal and I hope that detailing my journey is helping someone out there

Do the doctors suggest that you chew everything 30 times before swallowing? If you dont mind me asking, do you use baby utensils, as I have heard suggested...?

Thank you for the advice! I can have drinks at my desk too, and even a snack if the kids are working on something. I teach 8th graders and always need to have an eagle eye on them no matter what! Oh dear...those teacher's lounge Snacks...they truly have not helped me out at all! Worst of all, we have a "snack table" that is located in the office were my desk is!!! And of coarse it is always loaded with chocolate, krispy kreme, and other devilish delights...:evil:

Hello! I am wondering what is it like to work full time with the band? Considering that you have to be very careful about how, when, what you eat...has PBing, or any other type of *minor complications with the band have gotten in your way of working? As a teacher I am really wondering about this...:cry