sweetsagi

Congratulations!! Im jealous! (lol)

Congrats!! I cant wait to be in onederland!

Congratulations!!! Best of luck on your journey!

My two faves are my fitness pal and spark people. Spark people's food data base is pretty large and has ever food u can imagine as well as it counts calories burnt during exercise as well it gives the option to provide you with a menu and a work out routine. there is also livestrong which i hear is great and loseit.com

spark people is really great too. I love it and you can also down load the app.

Hello! I'm feeling really good. I have United Health Care and my insurance plan did not cover my surgery at all so consider yourself LUCKY even if all the evaluations seem to take a lot of time! I would do it again though-even as expensive as it was. In terms of what to say to insurance-as detailed and heartfelt as possible is what works best from what I am told.

Best of luck!!!

Hi Jessie44

I'm going in for a revision on Oct 18th and I'm scared out of my mind. I have the band which slipped so my doctor is going to revise it with the sleeve. How are you doing so far? Is it anything like the band in terms of the pain and or discomfort? I lost a few pounds with the band but after it slipped gained some back so my doctor thinks ill be better off with the sleeve.

I'm in Jersey as well. I live in Randolph but i spent a lot of time in hackensack. My surgery is scedule for the 18th in teaneck. I have the band and Im gonna be converting to the sleeve. I am so nervous.

I had my band done in July 2010. started out at 277 got as low as 224. Now my band also slipped causing me to throw everything up and really severe heart burn. needless to say I gained some of the weight back. Im now 245. My doctor recommended I get the sleeve. Im not going to lie...the thought of having 2/3 of my stomach removed scares the crap out of me but I cant risk gaining all that weight back. I cant go back!! Im now waiting for ins approval once all goes well Ill be having the sleeve on oct 25th.

Hi all

I was banded on July 1st and i would love to get a buddy as well. I feel so alone in this whole process because unlike most of you my family members arent around. Any one interested please send me a PM so i can give you my email address.

Hi,

My name is bano and I live in the colonia/edison area. I would also like to have a buddy. Mostly to keep me accountable. Maybe the 3 of us can conference call once per week on 3 way or something? Just to keep ourselves motivated? I got my band in march and have only lost about 30 pounds. I know its because of my diet. I am an emotional eater and its a struggle for me everyday. Maybe we can help eachother out??

thanx

hi i also live in jersey, North Jersey, randolph to be exact... i thnk thats an awesome idea for us to conference once a week (kinda lke our own little WW support meeting) I was banded in July and lost 32lbs and i thnk my weight loss has stalled too and its sooo easy to just give up. support from each other might be just what we need.

can any of u tell me what are the usual symtoms of band slipping?

according to my nutritionist as long as you put in your weight on the gym machines the calories burned should be accurate.

I love leslie sansone....her work outs are simple (walking) yet so effective. I really break a sweat!!

Hi Again

I just wanted to add that I too was denied by my ins company but it was because of the 6 months medically supervised diet. I called obesitylaw.com just today (dont know why I waited so long) and I was told that they have a program in place that helps in situation like this when u are denied, and here is the best part... ITS FREE! they will represent you and handle the whole appeal. I was told by the attorny that the program has been in effect for almost four years (sponsered by the makers of LAP-BAND®) but for some reason not a lot of people know about it. So maybe it just might be worth giving them a call.

Let me know how it works out.

Hi Im so sorry that you are having such a difficult time with the insurance.:cool: I read someone's post before that suggested obesitylaw.com. for what its worth i think you should give them a call and explain the situation. Dont give up just yet because thats exactly what the insurance comapny wants you to do. hang in there. Good luck with everything.

Thats what my mom and everyone else is saying but I guess because Im so anxious and really want to get it done it seems sooo far away. I think thats what Im gonna end up doing.

Thanks

So I got the news that i was denied . I have a couple other co workers who had the same procedure done and was approved with out the 6 months supervised diet , 1 of them said she had her doc submit a letter stating that she was under his care and the other only did a 3 month supervised diet. I submited a letter and I did a 3 month supervised diet and I was denied with reason being I needed to be on a 6 month supervised diet which I guess I can go the other 3 months but does anyone know If I could appeal this decision and if so how do I go about it?:Banane20:

It seems kind of unfair that they got through and I didnt using the exact same information but I guess it depends on your case worker and the mood they are in(lol)

Hi Kerri76

I was also denied and plan on appealing. I found this letter that one of the members posted. I plan on using it myself. Hope it helps. good luck!

Dear (insurance Provider contact),

I am appealing your decision for denying my medically needed weight-loss surgery. My ht and wt are __ and __ and my BMI is __. As statistics show and as medical doctors, you must be aware that diet and exercise help, but as a long term resolution to permanent wt-loss only 5% of people succeed. I am well aware of the risks with this surgery, but I believe the risks of being morbidly obesity out weigh the risks of surgery.

I am _ years old and have been over-wt since I was _ years old. I have been on diets my whole life, having some success, but would always gain the wt back I lost, plus more. I will list the diets I have been on, but never kept any documentation because I could not have known at the time the insurance company would require it. Nor did I know that until this fairly new surgery even became an option for me, I would have to document wt loss before getting the surgery.

(list ALL diets, wt- loss products, programs used. If possible, use documentation.)

I have many co-morbid diseases, such as ___. (list meds also). You can also list family history related to obesity here.)

(discuss everything about how morbid obesity affects your life)

Sincerely, (your name)

__________________

Im so sorry to hear that. What insurance do you have? Most insurance dont require that you have 2 co-morbidities if your BMI is over 40.

Hi there

I know with my insurance I can call if I need a specialist that accepts the insurance and they provide me with a list. Maybe you can give them a call and they will be able to give you a list of biriatric surgeons in your area. you might have to go out of your area a little if you can t find any.

good luck!:thumbup:

Hi there

I have a sample refferral letter if you are still interested. You can send me a PM and I can email that to you. let me know and good luck!:scared2:

thats awesome...I cant wait to here the same also!!

Hi there

I read some blogs where some people did theirs in Mexico and other places because it was so expensive out of pocket here in the US. Of course you will have to do some research but thats an alternative.

Good luck!

Congratulation!!

Hi all

IM new to this site and find it to be a great tool. I was wondering if anyone has been approved by BCBS of MN. I had my evals done my letter of medical necessity and I did weight management for almost a year and they will provide them with my information for the medical supervised diet. How long does the actual approval take? Does anyone know?:wink: