beedo

Had all my blood work, chest xray, ekg(again?), and my consult with the surgeon yesterday. 24th is my big day!!!

I have AETNA POS and I had my first visit for my nutrtition consult and have a surgery date of Feb. 24th(next week!!!!) Good luck, the journey is kinda stressful but hopefully worth it.

Thanks Jack, I have tried to explain to her that I am not going to that bad off. I also agree that sitting around the house for a couple days alone would be nice as well, but she thinks she will need to be there which is great but I dont think its needed. She is very supportive of this and wants me to be happy but like I was saying before she doesnt know how much of a pita this is and I want to be done with it all. I will have to have the talk when I get home and hopefully get her on board!

I was approved for lap band the middle of Jan. and could of had the operation the 28th but my wife and I were going to Vegas on the 11th and I didnt want to rune here trip if I was in pain or not in the best of moods from the surgery. So the 11th rolls around and our entire trip was cancelled because of the snow, and now I am pissed that I didnt have the OP done. Not really pissed just upset that I didnt get it done, so I had rescheduled the op for March 17th because that was the soonest that I could get in and it was over spring break and the wife and kids will be home. Anyway, today I decided I was going to call the office and ask a few questions and before we hung up I told her I was available if they had anyone cancel or had to move there date. Well she laughed and said hmmmmmm how about Wednesday! I mean NEXT WEEK WEDNESDAY! Well I was excited and called the wifey and I was then let down AGAIN, she wants me to wait until the 17th of march so the kids are home and she is off work and what not, I dont think she understands how tired of this entire process I am and I am ready for it to be over, so should I give in or should I try and talk her into letting me have it done next week? Help, I really want to have it done next week but she thinks I should wait......What to do? I can talk her into if I really try!:thumbup::biggrin:

March 17th HERE!!!! I just scheduled it today. I could of had it done last week but my wife and I are leaving for Vegas on Thursday, but good luck to everyone!

I decided to try the Liquid diet today and see how I am gonna do on it, how is everyone here making it on it?

Have you tried the stop smoking pill chantix yet? I have been smoke free for 2 years now and I also smoked 2 packs a day.

I am going to try and speek with him before I commit to having it done by him or not, I just hope I didnt wait to long and I am locked in.

My concern is that I see on here people needing multiple fills to get the restriction they need but at that fill rate it may take a year to get where "I" need to be. I may only need one fill or two who knows, but I do not want to have to wait months to get a fill when I know that it isnt right. My good friend recomended me to him for his bed side mannor and said overall he is a great surgeon, but NOW he wishes he would have chose a different dr because of the lack of fills. I may be overly concerned about the fills but after going through so many months of stress and dr visits ect. I do not want to have to keep waiting. All of my paperwork was submitted 01-08-10 so I should hear something soon I hope, the girl that does all of that said that Aetna takes 7-10 Days and I am getting a little nervous!

Well I am not going to do anything dreastic until I speak with him, I am concerned with all of the people I know that have had it done through him and what I have read here. But this is the FAQ off of his site and from what I hear he follows it pretty close Question: When should I expect the first band adjustment? Answer: The first adjustment is 3 months after surgery, the second is 1 month after that, and the third is 2 months after the second adjustment. I see people on here getting them more often than that and at the slow rate I think you could get extremely discourged, I have seen my friend go through the same thing.

You TOO!! Wow I cannot wait till I get a "date"

"Again" I feel your pain there, I have been in the 400's and I really dont know how heavy I was but Low carbed it all the way to 285 in 10 months. I was soooo burned out by that time there was no way I could stay on it, so the yoyo dieting begain and before I know it I was at 385 again. I dropped back down to 280 from jan. to sept. of last year and I am at 325 right now. I changed shift at work and never could getback into a schedule or routine with the family and all of the sporting events and then the holidays. I am getting back on track i think.

I have lost over 130 but as of now I am only down 90, I changed from second to first shift and BOOM instant 40lbs since september. I am back on track and dropping again but I have done this up and down crap for the last 10 years:thumbdown:. Enough about me, who is your doctor and how long have you been waiting on the ins. company? I chose Dr Carter but I have been reading about the way he does his fills and I think that it will take a year just to get enough in the band to make a difference, I also turned all of the paperwork about 1.5 weeks ago, so I am getting anxious. I am all for the race, now what are we gonna put on it to make it good?!

I have been doing some research and I need help from some of the experenced bandsters. I have completed all of my required visits, nutritionalist, cardio stuff, stress test, ect and I am waiting on approveal. My question is the doctor I have chosen has a great reputation as a surgeon and has great "personal" rep as well, but the more I read the more concerned I am about his fill practice, I see that the first fill is 3 months after surgery and second fill is 2 moths after first and then a month after 2nd for the third. I have also read he is super conservative with the fills as well. I have a friend that had the lapband procedure done by this dr and he has lost no weight and I think he is gained some over the last year, and he blames it on the lack of fills, so I guess my question is if this is normal and is it too late to choose another Dr. while I am awaiting for approval and if I am approved am I tied to THIS one doctor. Just worried because I am getting really close to having it done and I figured it will be within the next 30 days and I am worried I picked the wrong Dr.

Hello all, I have been on here for awhile but mainly just to get some reading information and answers to a few of my million questions! I am currently wainting for the insurance to approve me as I have completed all of the requirement that they had set, so wish me luck and hello to ALL!

Well I recieved a call from carters office and was told they were wrong about the sleeve, aetna believes it is dangerous and too new so they don't cover it. Sucks for me because I am not looking forward to getting the band, I mEan I will be content and do everything I can with it but really hoping for the sleeve. But like you said, it has to be a psycological thing withthe weight gain because I cannot diet nor get to the gym, every time I try i cannot stay on it and I too eat like it is my last meal. If you don't mind can you let me know the cash price for the surgery, you can send in pm if you like but I wonder because dr Carter charges 12,000 for th sleeve and I don't want to pay that much. Good luck and please keep us all informed on your surgery and be safe!

Wingrider I am sorry to hear that. I turned everything in an they now want another month of supervised dieting, having a really hard time with it and have gained weight every time I have gone in to weigh. I have decided to go through all of this at the wrong time of the year for sure.

Everyone says that pasta will expand but I am confused why we don't feel it expand when we are not sleeved, I am just wondering cause I am not sleeved yet and doing as much research as possible. Just trying to learn what to expect

They turned all of my info in on Friday and said it takes 7-10 days for a responce. Kinda nervous but ready for an answer!

I will get you the phone number tomorrow if you need it, I am in San Antonio visiting the wifes family right now. Thank god for cell phones! No internet here just my phone

Well you have me worried now about my coverage, I do know that I had choice between aetna pos,hmo, or ppo and the only one of them that covered lap band was pos. I an hoping that she didn't enter the wrong code or something when she called but she did tell me that most insurance do not cover it when I asked about it the first time. But look up carterlapband.com and I have been talking to Mia here and she has been very nice ( nice looking too)! He does the sleeve And the band and after reading up he is an excellent dr

Bill, I don't know where you are located but I am in dfw. I had my dr.'s office call for me, a few days later she said all is covered! I have aetna pos and it is based out of El Paso, but I also work at Lockheed Martin and we have damn good insurance. The last company I worked for had bcbs and they covered it but my company did not "add" that to the cxoverage so that may be your case, but I have not contacted aetna personally, I have let ther nurse do it all for me. How long has it been since you contacted them? I am going through dr richard carter in arlington. I can get his number and the girls will call your insurance and verify it for you.

It is not the insurance that is pushing me, they will cover either one that I decide. My main concern is the dr and how many he has done but I guess he just just stating that lap band is a great surgery and that the sleeve there is not really enough information on the long term results. He did say that we can sit down and discuss both options and I can choose which ever one that I want but what if I go through all of this for the last couple months and the dr does not have enough experience with the sleeve, wonder if I will have to start all over again with another doctor

I really don't know if my insurance will cover the dr in mexico and honestly I don't think I can get a passport and all that bs done right now. I am somewhat concerned about my dr, I initially went to him for lap band and he is one of the best in dfw area but I have no idea about the skleeve, b ut I do know that he is a bariatric surgeon for a long time. Ij spoke with him and he was really pushing me towards the band and giving me all of the side effects and what not on the sleeve. I am thinking of calling around but since I have done all of my nutritionalist and all of the other required tests in his office I don't know if I will be able to switch. I still have time, but I still have to make sure I am not the first few sleeves that he has done.

That sounds really good, I am hoping not to have to take more than about 5 days off work. Thinking if I can have it done on a Monday I can return the next Monday, hoping! How are you liking it so far? Anything that you wish you knew before you had it done, how uis the pain. Thanks for the insight, good luck on making it to your goals