Search the Community

Hi !!! I have Anthem BC/BS. I did my six months sent in Friday the 17th & received my approval today! The docs office said a week or so! I was a low BMI, but doctor did great write up & had my primary do a letter to! Mine was 6 appts not 6 months! I hope you get good news! Keep us updated. I get my surgery date tomorrow...it will be June sometime:)

Well, I've been reading up on Lap Band for the last 6 months, so I guess it's about time to start talking to people about it! :eek: I have a little over 200 pounds to lose, which I know is a huge amount, but there is no way I'm having my insides chopped into pieces (if I can prevent it), plus I'm only 27 and I plan on having a family someday (if the good Lord is willing)... the least invasive I think is the best way for me. Sooooooooooooooooo, I'm just gathering info right now. My insurance doesn't kick in until January 1st and I have BC/BS, which covers WLS after the 6 months supervised diet. I plan on seeing my PCP shortly after the insurance kicks in so I can get the ball rolling. The nice thing is that the nurse practioner (who I usually see) had WLS surgery many years ago, so I'm thinking she'll be a great help to me. So here's the question, for all of you that were at the stage I am now - the information gathering stage - is there anything you wished someone had told you before starting the insurance process and the doctor visits? Any tips? pointers? things I should be doing right now? Thanks! I can't wait to get to know as many of you as possible!!!! -FireDust

Yeah I called on yesterday and the nurse that handles it said with my insurance its 3 months supervised visits with the surgeon. Getting my dr to do the referral to him the psych evaluation and meeting with dietitian. I was told to gain a little weight bc my bmi was 38. So when I went to my dr it is over 40 now. N the surgeon wants me to be 40 by the time I go to him. With the bmi of 40 you are automatically qualified. With or without co morbidities. That's for everything from what she said so I guess i would be looking at surgery around December or January. I guess it will be a fast process with getting everything done. My Insurance covers it all I assume. I have two insurance.

Just in case. Lean cuisine recall bc of glass fragments. They have a best before date of December 2013. It's for the mushroom mezzaluna ravioli. Target and Wal-mart state they didn't sell that particular tray.

So I haven't had any sugar for at least two Weeks BC I am preparing for my pre op...then t the cursed cheer Danish taunted me. Don't fall for it people. The Danish only wants to give u monkey-butt! I've spent more time in the bathroom than out. Screw sugar. It ain't worth it... Now to locate the desitin....

I have been married 2 years and the first 6months to a year was really rough and I dragged him to counseling where he reveled the only problem he has with our marriage is my weight. Shocker to me since I weighed less than we he met me and also when he married me. It put a big strang on our relationship. I feel like he doesn't desire me or he is going to leave me bc I'm fat. I'm not planning on the Lapband bc of him. I thought abou the lap band long before him. I told him during that counseling session that ie I'll never get over that comment because if I stay heavy I will know he hates it and if I become thin and he loves me more I will hate him for being so shallow. I want to do this for me but how do I get over that feeling. Have any of you lost alot of weight and your significant other desires you more and that offends you? Thanks for the advice

I was sleeved 5/30 and on 6/21 they removed my gallbladder. I went to my doctor on 6/17 bc I was dehydrated, constant nausea and dry heaving, he admitted me into hospital... After many X-rays, blood work, ultrasound - I had pancretits and sludge in my gallbladder so they removed my gallbladder. I lost ten pounds while I was in the hospital and I continue to lose even though I'm not exercising.

I was sleeved April 17th and my daughter is 23lbs and 18 months. My surgeon told me I was to lift nothing over 10lbs for 6 weeks. The first 3 days home (I'm a single parent) my dad kept her the first night I got home and my sister the next night and I had my mom stay with me for a week. For the first 3 days there was no way I could have taken care of her. My dad and sister live close by so they would help with getting her up and down for bed. I'm 4 weeks out now so I do lift her into her crib for bed time and up in the mornings. I'm lucky she can climb into her carseat and onto the couch. The first 10 days I had a drain and that was also a nightmare bc she would see it and want to pull it and one time she fell asleep on my side while I was on the couch. I got up to answer the door not realizing she was on my drain and I held tight to the tube so it wouldn't be pulled out but the the bulb popped off!! Thank goodness the fluids were contained but that was a nightmare. With help you'll be fine. Good luck on your surgery : )

I agree, definitely tell them you have FMS and that your pain isn't managed well right now and tell them what you have tried BUT be open to trying those again bc it's likely it can work on yor surgery pain and not the fibro pain. I take 15mg Roxicodone 4x day and Methadone 10mg 4x day for Chronic pain and my Dr is just switching mine to liquids BUT these work for me fairly well. Just remember to always be open to trying things when it comes to pain management. I REALLY hope they find you something, I know how it is to hurt so bad. Good luck! Johnathan

I had a fill not long ago that I felt was to tight.i had very little taken out not long after.my weight is stuck at 230 from 277 and I had surgery in sept. I workout every day and have been eating pretty healthy! I'm scared to get a fill again bc I don't want to be sick all the time again. Any tips?? I'm slowly giving up bc in getting so down over it.

New type of WLS for patients who have never had WLS. The stomach is folded in on itself, similar to gastric plication. However, surgery is done endoscopically through the mouth, so no incisions. Minimally invasive. No scars. BMI of 27-35+ My surgeon in New Orleans is conducting trials on this procedure now. No long term studies yet. JUST WANTED TO SHARE THIS WITH EVERYBODY, BC IT'S THE FIRST I'VE HEARD OF IT.

Yes. A store like Walmart Supercenter will not have them because there is no butcher shop. Their meat is trucked in. If you can find a market with a fresh meat butcher, they will have the bones. I have found packaged beef bones shrink-wrapped and displayed with other meat. What my mother used to do was buy beef with the bone still in, like a round steak, and just carve out the bone for Soup. Requiring organic or grass-fed will make your search harder and more expensive.

Hi, new here... I am wanting to obtain the gastric sleeve. I was wondering if anyone had the same insurance as myself and lived in Missouri that has gone through the sleeve process, who they used, and would they recommend them again? Thank you so much in advance. Congratulations to all of those that have been successful undergoing this procedure. I hope it works for me! 5"10.5 CW 286 Sent from my SM-N910V using the BariatricPal App

OH WOW - 7/17/07 !!!!!!!! I am so excited !!!!! Dr's Office called right now and wanted to know how i was on my appointments - Told them where i was at and she said all she needed was my shrink visit which is tomorrow and she would submit adn should have approval within a week (BC CA covers WLS as long as it's at a Bariatric Center of Excellent which Desert Regonial is) Tenative Date (Gotta pass the shrink exam tomorrow) But it's a date YEAH YEAH YEAH - :clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2:

I honestly have been floating all day because I'm in such shock that I've been approved, if you have seen my previous postings about BS/CA then you know why. Needless to say, while I'm ecstatic about this, my nerves are on an all time high! I don't know what's come over me, I just suddenly feel nervous almost to a point where I want to back out. I'm asking myself "Are you SURE you want to do this???" Will I be another successful story? or will I fail? I am also afraid to tell my family (mom, dad, sisters) because I know they are against any wls as they live, GF, fat free, sugar free, vegetarian, lives....so they wonder why I cant as well. While my goal is to use this tool to eat better and get to a somewhat healthy weight, they don't get it. Also I still haven't gotten down to the final weight my Surgeon set my goal for before surgery. I explained to them on today that I was concerned about that and felt that I needed more time before scheduling the surgery but I was assured that I am fine as long as I haven't gained weight, they wont turn me away on surgery day. My date is set for June 16th, pre-op June 8th. Has anyone felt like this before, prior to surgery? I'm shaking as I typed this lol

They should grandfather you in. That's BS.

I to take bc, except I have a low dose pill. My doctor said it shouldn't cause any problems. Now the Paxel I am on may be another story. So far I am a month out and down 20lbs.

Does anyone know any docotrs in Central FL that take Anthem BC/BS PPO?

So I'm laying here in my hospital bed not able to sleep one bit so I figured I'd get on here.. I had surgery yesterday morning around 8:30am in NY I had a 9 day liquid diet where I lost about 10lbs. Surgery went great! I was so worried about a few things. One being that anesthesia always makes me throw up and my anesthesiologist assured me he'd do everything he possibly could so I wouldn't throw up esp bring stomach the odds were already against me and although I don't want to jinx myself to this very minute I have not gotten sick. Whenever I felt nauseous the nurses were right on top of it with zofran. Another thing I was scared of was having a drain tube left in that didn't happen either! I was also worried about needing a catheter but I have has no problem urinating on my own. One thing I was scared if was the Lovenox shot in my tummy even though the shot itself didn't hurt I had really intense burning afterwards whatever you do, don't rub it!!! Thank god I work at a hospital and my co workers made it clear not to rub it. The burning lasted at least 20mins and I have to start them back up this morning. I have not had any pain in my shoulders or chest from gas pains so far. They had me start swallowing my normal medications and that has seemed to leave quite a bit of discomfort each time. I normally have high blood pressure which sky rocketed while I was under and they hit under control until about 6pm tonight and it's been elevated and needed some meds. I also ended up with a terrible terrible migraine that they had to call my dr to get an order so I could take my Imitrex.i believe it as caused from taking Vicodin so the nurses got it switched to Percocet for me and dilaudid. My dr has been a,aging such great bedside manner and my 2 nurses I've had so fa have been wonderful. I was inky back in my room about an hour and started walking. I actually just did another lap around the hospital since I can't sleep. I have been able to have water and ice chips thank god bc my mouth throat are beyond dry. Today (Thursday) for lunch the dr will advance it to clear liquids crystal light jello etc and if I do ok for dinner I will be able to start on shakes and yogurt again. I'm just praying my new stomach tolerates it all ok and I will be able to go home Friday morning. All in all I believe the surgery for he has went very well and I'm not regretting it ow bit! Obviously everyone us different but I wanted to share my experience bc it helped me reading others experience from the surgery before giving mine. Sorry it's so long I wanted to explain it as best I could.

<p>My 14 yr old has been studying art history at school. He and a friend were so inspired by the "Group of Seven" (Canadian artists) that they wanted to emulate them. They decided to "go into the wilderness and paint".</p> <p> </p> <p>The "wilderness" is a little island just out in front of where we live. The problem is, is that we're on an estuary, right at the end of one of those mud bottomed fingers and are very dependent on tides. We can only get out to (and back again for that matter) the main Water at high tide. It's a very narrow window of opportunity.</p> <p> </p> <p>They couldn't get out to the island until 8:00 pm last night, and so they went, with the boat laden with camping supplies, art supplies and enough food to feed an army.</p> <p> </p> <p>It lasted until 5 am when I heard them coming into the house. </p> <p>It turns out that they got a bit creeped out by all the drumming that was going on nearby. There is a First Nations' longhouse on the other side of the bay where all night ceremonies are sometimes held. When we're at home, going out in the middle of the night and hearing the drumming is kind of nice, but I guess when you're kids sleeping out alone it can be a bit unnerving.</p> <p>Then they looked and thought they observed the tide going out and figured they had better get back. They loaded up just a few things and headed home, but couldn't make it all the way because there was not enough water. So they hauled the boat up on the estuary grass and walked the rest of the way.</p> <p> </p> <p>I had shown the knuckleheads the tide tables and I thought they understood that 6 am was the time they had to come home. They crashed out into bed and slept through the high tide. There won't be another one until 11pm tonight.</p> <p> </p> <p>So my husband helped them bring everything home. It involved some wading and mud and he said it was the continuation of the adventure for them.</p> <p> </p> <p>So they're home, dry, happy and fed and consider their adventure a success in that they stayed up most of the night and have some wonderful artwork to show for it.</p> <p> </p> <p>I love kids!</p>

And then you remember how my MaMa, may her rest be peaceful, force fed my 7 pound 12 ounce newborn body into 36 inches ,35 pounds on my 1st birthday, what % would that be? OMG in Heaven it's Scaredy scare when you think about it.😬😟

Yes! I had RNY on 12/22 and I have some burning. My surgeon said it probably bc I pulled a muscle too much on my right side and it's nothing to worry about.

I am also a BC survivor. I am now 50 but, have been cancer free for 15 years. I found my BC during a routine baseline mammogram at 35. I was diagnosed with DCIS in both breasts. Following four lumpectomies, where they were not able to find clean borders, I tested at UCLA and was accepted into their program where a study was being done on women under 40 was being conducted with Dr. Susan Love. Hallelujah... I opted for the full treatement, a bilateral mastectomy, 8 weeks of bilater radiation and 20 weeks of chemo. I did saline implants and had four sets of plastic surgeries. Here, is the good news. I am well. I have not had any problems in more than 12 years...I am also fat. I don't want to be fat. I worked hard at surviving did that, and worked hard at dieting and exercise.....did not do that. How was I able to survive the most horrific time of my life but not one of the seemingly simple things... I have felt like a failure over the yesrs for the extra weight and made myself totally feeling guilty of not TRYING hard enough. So, guess what. I am not weak, I am a survivor, I am strong. I am week six following lapband surgery. I have my first fill on Tuesday and am thrilled with everything. Your strength is regained once you get enough Protein, drink lots of liquids throughout the process. Walk to get rid of any gas pains and following your Dr.'s orders ALWAYS. The pre-op diet was worse than anything in the whole six weeks so far. So far, I have lost a total of 20 lbs. I am so excited that I can hardly stand it. I am a little nervous however, abou the fill. So, all together I have had little or no hunger, I have had no problems with swallowing, no problems with food sticking and just a whole new level of feeling good about myself. So there, you have it. You are going to do great and, you are going to be a whole new person, with a whole new outlook. Can't wait to hear about your success. D

idk about the pill... i have the implant (nexplanon) and have had no problems losing weight. i have PCOS and hypothyroidism, so bcp or SOME kind of bc is necessary for me and weight loss has always been super hard.

Where my IV was in my hand is super sore, can barely even touch it. It is also super hard. Any advice? It hurts to even just lay down & put my hand under the pillow. I know at one time they had to flush the IV out bc it stopped running (omg ouch!!). Robyn