btrieger

My paperwork was supposed to be submitted to Aetna on January 6th but my cardiologist did not indicate that I could stop taking my blood thinners for a couple of weeks prior to surgery.

My surgeon's office said they would call him the next day; get the ok and submit the paperwork.

I called Aetna on the 13th to see how things were progressing and they said that they haven't seen the request. I figured, "oh well, maybe they couldn't reach my cardiologist."

I called Aetna again on the 20th and they still haven't seen the request. So, I call my surgeon's office and explain my concern. The receptionist tells me that the insurance specialist is out of the office "today" and that she was transferring me to her voice mail. Well, I left a message on Wednesday and it is Friday night. I still haven't heard from them.

I was in no hurry to get banded because I have been doing great on my own. However, my roommate just told me that he is moving back to nasty, disgusting, frigid, tax-you-to-death Boston in February and he is my ride to and from surgery.

I need to get this over with before he leaves.

I am self sufficient to a fault and it kills me to have to ask anybody else for a favor.

Apparently it doesn't hurt me to whine though.

What everyone else said plus:

You have to take supplements for the rest of your life with bypass.

Bypass is not reversible.

The fatality rate, although small is more than times greater with bypass.

You can always have bypass later if the band doesn't work for you.

Good luck and remember the final decision is yours, not some doctor.

I don't know why but I feel compelled to say, "the bubbles mean it's working."

Just sing and whistle a lot and nobody else will hear it.

Congrats!

If I had a 14 year old, they'd be doing the cooking to earn their keep so when I got home I could eat and relax.

Send him/her here: BariatricEating.com Health & Nutrition - Bariatric Recipes

Good luck and thanks for the ideas LDS!

Then fill half of your freezer with Lean Cuisine and the other half with Kid Cuisine dinners.

You don't have to be a chef to nuke a frozen dinner; it's cheaper than eating out and you can teach the kids to nuke their own at an early age. :thumbup:

If worse comes to worst, fill your freezer with weight watchers and smart ones meals.

They take 3.5 minutes from freezer to mouth.

You don't have to look on the side of packages to count calories like in the old days.

There are websites that you just enter what you ate and it automatically counts the calories.

Blogging is a great place to get it out of your system. Therapy is $85 or more to do the same thing and bartenders just don't care any more.

It's too late for the "what have I done to myself" attitude. You've already started undoing it. Reh, rah, keep it up :thumbup:

I have a feeling we will be seeing those pictures sooner or later. The ugly, fat pictures always make the best before pictures and the thin, beautiful ones the best afters.

Shonette,

I am in a similar situation and not letting it get me down. I should have had my surgery date a couple of days ago. This is not a race. We have the rest of our lives to get it done.

I should have had my date 2 days ago but my cardiologist left something off of his release. Hopefully that will be cleared up by next week.

This morning the scale said 300. Not only do I love round numbers but that means even without the band I have lost 1/3 of the 195 pounds I had to lose.

Last week I was having second thoughts but I am gung ho to get my band now and it better keep me from ever seeing 300 again. I am figuring I will be 285-290 by the time I get it and around 265 for my first fill.

I found the numbers once but haven't been able to locate them recently.

The fatality rate from lapband surgery is like 1 in 2,600

Great!! What are your plans for the extra $3,000?

Have you already looked here? LapBandTalk.com - LapBand Surgeon Search

If you are looking to ask people from Wisconsin for referrals, you'd should ask here as well: Wisconsin - LAP-BAND

Good luck!

Next time you come back from Canada, LEAVE THE COLD AIR UP THERE!

Keep on reading and you are bound to commit one of my peeves.

This week's peeve is adults that think they have to explain themselves to their young children as if they were equal.

Was supposed to get my date today but nothing ever works out for me. I'm used to it after 45+ years.

No major setback at all, I just have to wait for my surgeon's office to contact my cardiologist and get his ok for me to stop taking Plavex for 2 weeks prior to surgery.

I hope he is ok with it. I had stents placed in my coronary arteries after the heart attack 3 months ago and you are supposed to take Plavex for 6 months after.

It just gives me more time to research and think.

Congrats!!

Welcome!

I wish I had your restraint to stay off of the scale for more than a day

Great story and congrats on your weight loss to date.

Keep and eye on everybody because that contagious stuff works in both directions. One person slipping can trigger an avalanche.

Janet,

None of my advice is medical at all. Only a doctor should advise people on how to lose weight? What are you talking about and what does me not being banded have to do with anything?

oops, that was meant for your first post.

Welcome!

I'm in Keller, northeast of Fort Worth.

The minimum requirements will be

- The supervised diet. Rumor has it that BSBC is only 3 months now.

- A psychiatric evaluation.

- A sleep study.

Below is something I posted today to somebody else new. I am getting too lazy to keep typing.

I don't mean for this to sound negative but if you are seeking an easy out or a magic pill, turn back before you have too much invested.

You'll probably have a 3 to 6 month supervised diet prior to surgery. Use this time wisely and do as much research as possible.

The LAP-BAND® doesn't make you lose weight. It is a tool that makes you feel full/satisfied faster if you eat the right foods but YOU must work with it to lose the weight. You have to be ready to change your lifestyle and the way you think about food.

Read the forums here and see what the successful bandsters have done but also read of the many failures and try to steer clear of their mistakes.

Good luck and keep us informed.

Good luck and keep us up to date on your progress.

I'm about a month behind you and unfortunately, I do have the 2 week pre op diet coming fast.

Welcome and you are worth 100% but if they'll pay 90%, that's great!

I don't mean for this to sound negative but if you are seeking an easy out or a magic pill, turn back before you have too much invested.

You'll probably have a 3 to 6 month supervised diet prior to surgery. Use this time wisely and do as much research as possible.

The lapband doesn't make you lose weight. It is a tool that makes you feel full/satisfied faster if you eat the right foods but YOU must work with it to lose the weight. You have to be ready to change your lifestyle and the way you think about food.

Read the forums here and see what the successful bandsters have done but also read of the many failures and try to steer clear of their mistakes.

Good luck and keep us informed.

Having the band installed and getting fills does NOT make you lose weight.

You have to change your lifestyle and burn more calories than you eat in order to lose weight.

Have you been logging everything you eat? If not, start doing that. It will help you and your doctor/nutritionist see where the problem may be. It may also surprise you. You may be eating more than you thought.

Eat only 3 meals a day and space them out 5 hours.

Try to eat more meat and vegetables than you do grains. If you have trouble here, eat the meat first, then the vegetables then the grains.

Chew each mouthful long and hard. Not only will this keep the food from getting stuck, it will give your stomach time to tell you when it is full.

Stop eating when you are full. You do NOT have to clear your plate.

Do not drink with your meals. This only helps the food slide through to your real stomach and defeats the purpose of the LAP-BAND®.

Drink at least 64 ounces of water a day. None within 30 minutes of a meal.

Didn't your surgeon go over all of this? If not, call him on it next time you see him and ask him why not. If you have questions feel free to ask them here but don't forget that your surgeon made a bundle off of you and it was for more than just an install.

I've heard it all 4 times from my surgeon and I'm not even banded. I have to hear it again on January 11th.

You can do this!

Keep reading the forums and blogs here. Read what the successful people have done and try to follow their examples. Read what the failures have or haven't done and try to steer clear of their mistakes.

* forgive me but this is a cut and paste from a reply I posted on the forum to a similar question this morning.