phershey

I was banded on January 13th 2011 and i have lost 45 pounds. everyone is doing such a great job! this site is such a great help

yummy!!! will definitely be trying this! thanx for posting it

fingers crossed! hope it all goes smooth well they kept saying that i didn't meet the requirements.....but i did.... they were a bmi of 35 or higher and 2 co-morbids. then i called to ask what was going on because i had all a bmi over 35 and 2 co-morbids and then they said that my insurance didn't cover the surgery. but i had already got all of the info before going into this so i knew that it was covered. they submitted my appeal again and got a letter saying the same denial letter as the first. i was so upset and i think that is what they want to happen and they think you will just finally give up. but i had gotten this far i was not going to give up! so i wrote an appeal letter the 3rd time and it went to a different place it took about 2 weeks and i got a letter finally saying that they where over turning my denial and that i was approved i was so excited!!! i was shaking, crying, jumping up and down! i had my surgery 1/13/11 and am so happy! keep me posted and if there is anything i can do to help let me know.

hi i have united health care and had a ton of problems with them i had to appeal it 3 times! and the 3rd time it was sent to a different company to determine my out come...it was finally approved and i had my surgery 1/13/11. i hope everything goes well for you! keep us updated and hope you get approved quick! good luck!

weigh-in=2 pounds down last week i was 197 this week 195.

yay! so happy for you keep up the great work!

hi robyn congrats on your surgery! i had my surgery on 1/13/11 my doc gave me a promethegan 25mg suppositories and they helped me a lot for the nausea so you might want to ask your doc for some of those. also for the gas i tried it all and one thing i found that helped me was peppermint tea! it did wonders for me! are you making sure that you are walking plenty? the best thing is to walk,walk,walk. i still get really bad gas pains. but since my last fill i have not had the pains anymore so i am really hoping that they are gone for good! that has been the worst part. keep us posted and good luck!

hello all weigh-in= 3 pounds down! starting weigh in day i was 200 now 197.... happy with that

Name, real or screen~ phershey Age~29 Weight on February 28th~ 200 Goal Weight for March 31st~ 190 Exercise Goal for March~ try to excercise 5 days a week Dietary Goal for March~ drink more water! Personal Goal for March~ go down a size in jeans Date Banded~1/13/11 Total Weight Loss Since Banding~ 25 pounds YAY! this is my first challenge i am soooo excited to do this! so glad to have a team where we can help each other out!

i was the same way and my friend told me about peppermint tea it is an herbal tea so it is safe to drink.....it did WONDERS for me! and i also walked, walked, walked! good luck

are your pills to big? or do you cut them up? maybe your stomach isn't handling them all well at one time maybe try to take some in the morning and some in the afternoon? hope it goes away for ya.

hey there i have the same thing happen to me! i have never thrown up, but i burp a lot and have hiccups as well. i do not drink with a straw or have carbonated beverages either. i was thinking is it maybe because i take in a lot of air without any help form a straw or even when i eat? and when i do burp it feels so good! lol it is such a relief.....but i hate the hiccups! if you find anything out please let me know and i will do the same

i love the muscle milk light! it is really good and it has 20 grams of protien in it. i really enjoy the chocolate i actually like the pre-made drinks because when i am running around i can just put it in my purse and drink it on the go. are you taking your vitamins and calcium? i hope you find something that helps good luck

hi all well i was banded on 1/13/2011 and today is my 5th day post-op. i get to go to first breakfast this thursday! so excited to eat something different besides broth, jello, and popsicles. but since surgery i have lost 7 pounds. my one thing is i have no energy! i can hardly get around my house now but hopefully that will pass as soon as i am able to start eating mushies with protein in them. congrats to all of the new bandsters and good luck to the soon to be bandsters

i was banded on the 13th and today i feel so much better! i am a side sleeper so it has been really hard for me to sleep on my back but last night i was able to sleep on my side and i have not had to take any tylenol today so i am really excited about that. good luck to you all and hope we can keep in touch on here

hi cocoabean! well it has been such a journey the last time i was waiting for my 2nd appeal well they denied it so we appealed it again and with my 3rd appeal it went to an arbitrator. well i got the letter back from them on new years eve and they turned over the denial and i was finally approved! i wanted to tell you earlier but i didn't want to jinks myself so i had my surgery yesterday and am doing pretty good a little sore the worst of it is gas lol but i have been on gas-x strips and am drinking peppermint tea and the i think the peppermint tea works wonders! the 3rd time is a charm

hi well i just got a letter in the mail yesterday saying that they have received my appeal/grievance (we will see what they decide it is) but it was sent in on 9/7 and they just received it on 10/4 uuggghhh!!! so frustrating...it sucks because this is something that i want so bad i have gone through the process did seminars went to see a psych doc have done so much to get to this point and it is in the hands of my insurance company i know it wasn't going to be a walk in the park but man they are truly frustrating! oh well i hope to hear good news my fingers are still crossed and i will continue to fight! do you know how long they have to make a decision once they have received it? it is at the escalations dept now.

i spoke with the nurse at the surgeons office on wed the place where i re-weighed faxed over the new bmi so she was going to get my appeal together and send it in. my stomach has literally been in knots i feel like i have to throw up and my finger and feet get tingly just thinking about this :thumbup: i really am hoping for the best. but i do feel like they try and find anything they possibly can to say no....it really sucks because i feel like i stepped up to the plate to get help and control my weight and health issues before they get even worse go through this long process just for them to want to say no. it's not like this has been a walk in the park. sorry to vent :tongue2: just needed to get it off of my chest. i just hope that they look at the hard facts and see where i am coming from for once.

cocoabean i think you are about the sweetest and most helpful person! thank you so much for all of your advice! it is so nice to have someone who knows what i am going through. well i called and they said that i was denied so i asked why and they said it was because of the bmi that was 34.8 but they didn't even look at the one from the surgeons office on the same day i weighed in it was 35 they where at 2 different offices the 34.8 was from band class and the 35 was from the surgeons office. so i went back to the clinic where i had the lowest bmi to re-weigh and it was 36.4 (when i got the news i was so sad we where camping so i ate anything that i wanted a lot of dutch oven cooking) i just received the denial letter in the mail today and the thing just says that my plan excludes it. but i think they are saying it excludes it due to the 34.8 bmi that they saw. they told me that on the phone. but not in the letter. did you write them a letter? that is what i am having a hard time debating on...or do i just let the doc office do it? they are not going to re-submit it until tomorrow that is when the nurse is in so i am going to talk with her in the a.m.

so i went to get weighed in this am and my bmi was 36.4 so i hope when the surgeons office re-submits my info they approve it! i did wear jeans and a sweater lol. does anyone know how it works when they re-submit the updated info back in? do they just send in the current updated bmi? or all of the medical records again? i just hope that this will be it and they don't try to find anything else.

good luck girls! keep us updated!

i am going to appeal it. the doc office is closed today so i cannot get a hold of them and i have to drive 45 min away to get weighed...but will do it in a heart beat! on my appt day i did not eat anything all day because i had to get up early in the morning and get on the road i know that is no excuse not to eat but i always seem to run late in the mornings specially when i need to be somewhere on time lol also wore a light shirt some capri light weight shorts and sandals but they made me take my sandals off. i really hope that they look at it again and approve it.

hi everyone! well i just found out that on friday i was denied by uhc :thumbup: i am so sad my plan covered 5 year weight history with a bmi of 35 with 2 co-morbids or 40 without any comorbids. on the same day i went to meet with my surgeon and my bmi was 35 ( i have more than 2 co morbids) then an hour later i went to band class and my bmi was 34.8 so when it was submitted to my insurance company the nurse at uhc looked at it she denied it because of the 34.8...i have know idea what to do any help/advice?

hey everyone :smile: well i went out of town for the weekend so i hope everyone had a great one! i called my insurance company on friday and they denied me :smile: at first i asked why and the lady on the phone told me that my insurance didn't cover it...and before i went through this process i made sure that they did and what i needed to do before this process. so i ended up calling back and talking to someone in the claims department and she said it was because of my bmi....on my coverage i have to have a bmi of at least 35 with 2 co-morbids well on the same day i met with my surgeon and my bmi was 35 then right after that i went to band class and it was 34.8 so when it was submitted to my insurance the nurse that was looking my case over looked at the 34.8 and said denied but what about the 35 bmi from the same day at the surgeons office? i am so confused and i would love some help/advice