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Congrats Katie! I'm very happy and excited for you! Hope you'll being feeling like your old self soon! Write again when you feel up to it. I'm dying to hear about the whole surgical & hospital experience you had! Priscilla

Congratulations Butterfly! Handy to have those wings to help you fly though your new life! LOL Priscilla

Hello Everyone, I am feeling conflicted about getting the LAP-BAND® instead of the Laproscopic Gastric Bypass. Let me tell you what recently happened to my 66 yr old sister (BMI 36 or 37) regarding her recently diagnosed Type II diabetes and ongoing GERD. She had been prediabetic for several years but maintaining a constant fasting # of 117 and her A1c's (??) were always within a good range. She went through a bariatric program in AZ and had a surgery date scheduled for the LAP-BAND® on May 12, 2010. She did her preop on May 5th and had her 1st surgeon visit on May 6th at which time she found out the results of her fasting preop blood work. Unfortunately she finally crossed the line into diabetes with a 130, whereas just 2 months earlier she was a 117! She had a 2 hr glucose tolerance test the next day to verify and started the medication May 10th. Her surgeon now refuses to do a LAP-BAND® on her and said that she now definitely needed the GBP due to her Type II diabetes. She said even if my sister were still prediabetic, she would have still recommended the GBP due to her severe GERD. Her Dr said she has been doing these surgeries for so long (she's also on some board of bariatric surgeons) that she now knows that mostly all Type II diabetics or those with severe GERD who get the LAP-BAND® continue to struggle with both, whereas her Type II diabetic patients who get the GBP actually get it reversed to the point where medication is no longer required! She also said those with severe GERD do much better with the GBP and it very often gets totally resolved. After much discussion with her family, she became comfortable with GBP now being her best option and is now in a waiting mode for her insurance to approve the GBP instead of the LAP-BAND®. I can't help to now question my own decision to have the LAP-BAND® instead of GBP since I have severe GERD too. I also have a hiatal hernia that my surgeon is going to repair at the same time but there is a poll here on another thread where the majority of Lap Banders who voted, continue to have GERD! My sister doesn't even have a hiatal hernia with her GERD. BTW, my BMI is 36 and I was denied by insurance so now I have to appeal it which gives me more time to sort this out for myself. The bad news is that my surgeon's practice does Lap Bands only, so if I want to switch to the GBP I would have to enter another program and start all over again. I need to hear from others any comments or experiences you may have had like my sister's but your surgeon still allowed the LAP-BAND® and your diabetes and GERD resolved or didn't resolve??? So sorry for the long post! Priscilla PS. My 44 yr old niece in VA who is in excellent health but needed to lose over 90 lbs just had a GBP on May 10th instead of the LAP-BAND® on the advice of her surgeon because he said he has found that his patients that have over 70lbs to lose (I have 60 to lose, I'm only 4'10") are much more successful with the Laproscopic Gastric Bypass.

Thank you and best of luck to you! Priscilla

Mrs Plimpy - See my update today on my bandster 'MY STORY". Anthem lied about making things right if they gave me incorrect info. Arrrgh! Priscilla

Hi Mrs Plimpy (love that id), I have an update on my bandster. Go to Golferette's story at the bottom and see the 5/3 update. Priscilla

I still think you could win if you had the help of your DR's atty. I'd give it a shot but I can understand where you now have a date you just want to get it behind you. Good luck! Priscilla

[QUOTE=Mrs. Plumpy;1445514]On 6/18/2009 I called my insurance and was told that the LAP-BAND® was covered, she even walked me through finding the papers to print out about it. I went through all the hoops of a six month diet and everything, had all my papers filled out and was ready for my surgery. The LAP-BAND® doctor turned in all my papers to the insurance for approval and it came back denied and said that they didn't cover it. I called up my insurance again today and the lady looked back through my files and said that it was never covered and she could see when I made the phone call on 6/18/2009 and she could see that the lady told me that I was covered. But all she said that I could do was make an appeal and she didn't sound like my chances were good. This is so unfair, I was so close, should I get a lawyer to write the appeal or what else can I do? Please help. Hi Mrs Plumpy, I have a very similar situation. My ins is Anthem bc/bs of Ohio who has a contract with Verizon. Verizon has overridden some of the Anthem benefits so it's not exactly the same. I'm a verizon retiree. I called the member # on the back of my ID card 4 times giving them all my info to verify I'm covered w/ a 36 BMI. Each time I was told yes. I also sent an E-mail and received a positive reply again. My ID # automatically identifies me as a Verizon retiree subscriber. Allergan also has info on the benefits of a lot of ins co's and their website showed it was covered w/ 36 BMI and one co-morbidity and even includes Verizon. Anthem says that info is no good because it comes from a 3rd party. The mistakes that Anthem kept making with me is that their reps never checked the Verizon contract to make sure VZ's policy was the same. I went through all the necessay steps required by my surgeon and was given a pre-op date (5/12) and surgery date (5/20) by my DR pending ins approval. No problems were anticipated since we checked in advance and I met the guidelines. Well, this past thurs, Anthem called me and said I did not qualify because VZ's contract overrode Anthem's policy (ok for 36 BMI) on Bariatric surgery - VZ required a BMI of at least 40. Anthem's stance was that VZ makes their own rules and they have to abide by them so they were going to send me a denial letter. I have since provided them the E-mail stating I qualified (w/36 BMI) from one of their cust svc reps. Their Medical Director is now reviewing my E-mail. They said if they gave me incorrect info, they would approve the surgery anyway to make things right. Allergan will help to appeal if necessary and I'll have an atty which might cost a very small fee. Let me know how you make out and I'll do the same. Priscilla

[QUOTE=acp1974;1455220]Just wanted to join the parade. My date is May 19th. I'm getting banded at Beth Israel in Boston, MA by Dr. Schneider. Any other Massachusetts folks with a May date out there? I'm excited for everyone, and also a bit anxious for myself. Which I suppose is normal. The reality really hits you once you have a date, eh? Good luck all and keep updating this thread so we can see how those of you with early May dates are doing post-surgery. Also any tips/encouragement on sticking to the pre-op diet are always welcome as well. Mine starts May 4th.... Al My date is May 20th at Norwood Hosp by Dr Adam Glasgow. I live in NH but after investigating 3 places, this one is the best fit for me. However, I got a call 2 days ago from my ins co saying they were going to send me a denial letter because my BMI is only 36, and you had to have at least a 40. I had an E-mail showing that they answered me in writing that 35-40 is ok if you have at least 1 co-morbidity which I do. So their medical director is looking over that E-mail and hopefully will get back to me by the middle of next week. They did tell me if they made a mistake, they would make it right and approve the surgery anyway. I think I'm safe in presenting the E-mail. Otherwise, if they deny me Allergan said they will help me with the appeal process with an attorney. My dr's office is so great, the scheduling coordinator is going to keep my dates until we hear back from the ins co. It's very aggravating because I called 4 times just to make sure I would qualify. My mistake was never getting the names and dates when I got those confirmations. There is a name in the E-mail though. Thanks for letting me rant! Priscilla

Welcome and remember April showers bring May flowers! Priscilla

Hi, I just got my surgery date of May 20th! My pre-op is scheduled for May 12th. This is all pending insurance approval...I hope I get approved but I'm worried since my BMI is only 36. I have co-morbidities though. Everything went pretty quickly for me. Consult with surgeon was on April 16th and I have a surgical date already. I didn't need a sleep study because I just had one in 2007. Glad to be here on this forum! Priscilla

czynth...thanks for your encouragement to not worry about the distance...to go with who I feel most comfortable with. You're doing great!

Thebanded girl...thank you for your input. I did check out that website...what a fun blog! I wish you continued success with your weight loss.

Hello Everyone, I'm new here. I'm just in the beginning process of attending seminars at 2 or 3 locations. I've been to one and will be attending my 2nd tomorrow night. The one I think I'm going to like the best is the 3rd one but it's about 1 to 1.5 hrs away. Has anyone traveled that far for the surgery and all the followup appts? Did you find that it worked out OK or is it best to stay closer to home? Looking forward to my membership here. Thanks