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You pose a great question. How do we go about developing new and healthier habits so that our surgeries and weight loss are successful long term? I used to get a low blood sugar feeling every few hours and would seek out the closest sugary substance I could find. I was incorrigible. This fed into my food addiction and at some points, gave me the excuse to stuff my face. I started counseling a few years ago for food addiction and it really helped me a lot. My social worker taught me cognitive behavioral therapy techniques and mindfulness. I also changed my diet to higher Protein lower carb. Slowly the low blood sugar feeling started to go away and when I looked at sweets I didn't reach out for them subconsciously like I used to. I think both the CBT and the diet change helped me physically and mentally. I did still like to eat sweet things but the pull wasn't so complete as before. Then I started the pre-surgery liquid diet. After 2 weeks I really started to detest sweet tasting things since I was drinking [artificially] sweet Protein shakes all day. To this day I will reach for savory over sweet. The spell has been broken. If it happened for me it can happen for you too! Here's a great book I read when I started therapy. The great thing about CBT and mindfulness is most people can learn to do it themselves: http://www.amazon.com/Mindful-Eating-Rediscovering-Relationship-Food--/dp/1590305310/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375367684&sr=8-1&keywords=food+addiction+mindfulness I wish you best of luck!!

I have the band, but not restriction. I am not much of a "dieter" as I don't want to feel deprived. Stay away from carbs except for that one night a week to allow yourself to drink. Lapband diet is easy....protein protein protein. I've lost 30 lbs so far by just doing this. I don't feel deprived bc there are alot of foods you can eat. You actually sound like you have a good head on your shoulders. Most people are not honest with themselves, and tell themselves they are ready for the surgery when they're not ready to follow everything that goes with it.

I'm scheduled for my procedure on July 23rd. It's a Friday. I was told that I will fly into San Diego early, be picked up and taken to Hospital BC and have my procedure that same day. I will stay that night and Saturday night at the hospital and Sunday I will be at the hotel. Monday I will check out of the Hotel and be driven back to the airport in San Diego and then fly home. Everything taking only 4 days. I'm worried that I'm not giving myself enough time to rest. Is this time line realistic? I don't want to be in excruciating pain or hurting myself trying to do to much to soon. Any feedback?? Sent from my moto g stylus using BariatricPal mobile app

I also went to Mexico, and while I was there I observed noting but over cleanliness...the people came every 2-3 hours to empy garbages that had nothing in them still from the last time, And to mop the floors when I hadn't even walked on them since tha last time they were in there. I did see however alot of common sence from my doctor and his team....Yes there is NO HIPA laws that apply...they pulled all of us women in one room and gave the dr. speech ONCE, and the Nutricianist speech ONCE, and the anastesia speech ONCE.... and questions from all at once...if the docs each had taken the time individually...they could of milked another day of money outta all of us...nope getter' done is there motto... I was treated like a queen my 3 day stay at the Mexicall Almater Hospital...if you look in my gallery there are photo's of the hospital and how clean it really was. Funny thing about USA is there are so many law suits the docs have to carry an ungodly amount of malpractice insr. Mexico not so much....We can reap the benefit of them not having so much political BS to climb over. I would go back to Mexico 1000 times over again....NO HESITATION Good Luck don't let your PCP Bully you....My doc emails me regularly and has support either email or telephone. He was awesome, Dr. Aceves, Mexicalli MX

My surgeon's office was wrong, said I had a 6 month wait BC I was UHC. They didn't understand that UHC just administrated my husband's company's self-funded health care plan. I asked them to pls call and check. No wait. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Hi there, I am from the lower mainland here in BC. I just turned 40 in November and I am 5'4" tall and my weight currently fluctuates between 195 and 198. This is the highest I have ever been and I am scared too death that I will get bigger if I don't do something. Getting this surgery is my last resort. I am considering getting the Lap Band Surgery and was excited to see that there are options in Vancouver with the SWLC group and had my consultation with Dr Coburn over the phone today. He was very nice and patient with my questions. He did say that due to the regulations of the College of Physicans in BC, they will not consider someone with less then a BMI of 35 in their Vancouver clinic. I am at 33 BMI currently. I laughed because I thought it was funny that they wanted me to be 'more fat'. He agreed and said that it doesn't make sense but did say that I can always go to their clinic in Ontario and the Vancouver clinic can do my after care. Has anyone had any experiences with the SWLC Ontario clinic or any problems with doing their surgery elsewhere and their after-care in another province? Also has anyone used the financing option by the clinics? Is it easy? I have tried WW, Jenny Craig, numerous of other fad diets and the last one I tried was Dr Bernstein. Although I lost weight on Dr B very fast, I gained it right back even faster. I can kick myself for all the money I spent on Dr B and wished I just used the money towards the Lap Band Surgery. Thank you in advance for any comments, advice and input that can help me with my decision and journey.

those kinds of posts b52 will make me successful bc its positive/to the point and just what i need as a pre-bander to be

I have $25 but since I'm revision I got very used to all my old vitamins and supplements. I'm willing to give it a month but pretty much know I will go back to my old stuff. Not big on the B12 nasal spray or taste of new ones Sent from my XT1254 using the BariatricPal App I have $25 but since I'm revision I got very used to all my old vitamins and supplements. I'm willing to give it a month but pretty much know I will go back to my old stuff. Not big on the B12 nasal spray or taste of new ones Sent from my XT1254 using the BariatricPal App Sorry $25 copay not sure what insurance pays BC do not know total Sent from my XT1254 using the BariatricPal App

Disputing health insurance companies is a little bit like talking to a brick wall. Even when the words are in black and white in the policy, they deny claims. But if you have the time and patience and want to give it a go, then by all means try. It sounds like you have 2 disputes. One is with Active Health. They required that you lose 5% of your weight before you qualify. But you failed to do this (with the consent of your surgeon). The reason you gave is that you would fall below the 35 BMI requirement. Many insurance companies require that you try and lose weight and that your qualification to the BMI requirement is determined at the initial weight officailly taken when you first apply for the surgery. So if you had lost the 5% of your weight you might not have been penalized for it. The area that I would explore is why your surgeon did not push you to lose weight during the pre-op period. Was there some medical issues that would make this weight loss a problem. If so can you surgeon's office articulate this in a letter to your insurance. The second dispute might be with BC/BS, that appears to be out of network. The cost incurred generally includes the hospital, the anesthesiologist, the surgeon, and a secondary surgeon. It is difficult to ensure that all of these are within network before surgery. Maybe impossible. I believe BC/BS offers fairly good policies and I suspect that most hospitals are within network. So anyways I would check to see what is in network and out of network for each of these elements. This is probably accessible over the internet. During my second round of pre-op testing, one of my specialist clearly showed up as being in network (that is why I chose him) but when I received the bill I was charged as an out of network. His name was clearly listed on the latest in-network doctors. When I talked to the insurance they claimed he was out of network. I told them that their website clearly showed him as in-network. But they still disputed the charges. I met with the specialist staff, they said the specialist was in-network and that they would handle it. And they did. I never received that bill. Also even though I made sure that my hospital, surgeon, anesthesologist were all in network prior to the operation. I received a large bill for the assistant surgeon. I didn't even know there would be an assistant surgeon. It turns out that this assistant had not yet submitted the paperwork for becoming qualified for in network. I asked the surgeons office to reconsider and they said they would take care of it. Again, this charge disappeared. So I had better luck working the problems out with the surgeons, hospital and other doctors than with the insurance companies.

@@BIGBRAND0105 _ have BCBS fed employees and they did answer relatively quickly! keeping my fingers crossed that you are 'good to go' soon!

So, I have Highmark BC/BS and my policy has the bariatric and reconstructive surgery riders, so I just found out I was approved for both a panniculectomy and abdominoplasty, which is AWESOME!!! But they denied my request for the brachioplasty, and I have medical documentation of the same issues on my arms as on my stomach. The stomach was approved but not the arms. The surgeon's office said I would receive my denial letter for the arm lift and it would include an appeal process. I will definitely appeal. I'm just wondering if anyone has had any success with appealing for a brachioplasty or really appealing a denial for anything. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

@@OKCPirate thank you! I was so excited bc I didn't have to pay anything out of pocket due to my deductible and max oop being met. I'm going to cross my fingers and say that if it doesn't go through, there was a reason for it. Then keep on trucking along for the next few months.

@@bigbit Congrats. Can you tell me the process? Did you have to have to follow a doctor supervised weight loss plan for a specific amount of time, or did you have to involve a primary care physician? My daughter has an appointment today with a surgeon, but this is her first step since leaving Kaiser and her new insurance being Anthem BC.

WOW! It looks like BCBS Fed covers all ranges, 3 days to 4 weeks for approval. Well my surgeon's office is "swamped" with insurance authorization requests to send out. My appt was Jan 24 and they havent sent my stuff to BCBS yet so .... I'm waiting for them to catch up. I guess I'll call at the end of next week and hope to know something from BCBS Fed sometime in March or earlier.

Medicare doesn't require prior auth Medicaid which differs by state is a different conversation http://www.cms.gov/medicare-coverage-database/details/ncd-details.aspx?NCDId=57&bc=AgAAgAAAAAAA&ncdver=3

I have CA BLue Shield through my employer. I am in the last 3 days of my 6 month supervised diet. I have completed all of the tests. I am battling BS about one test that my surgeon required and BS does not want to pay for because they say that I did not have pre approval for tests required for Barbaric Surgery. I believe once I am approved they will pay. We submit Wednesday for approval. I will post when/if I am approved .

@@kimdlawson06 It sounds about right I have BCBS Fed to and I had to pay $355.00 for the anesthesia when I had my EDG done to I was piss My insurance company told me that my actually Dr was in network but the anesthetic Dr wasn't so

There are tons of positive reviews on this and other forums of Dr Elias Ortiz. In 5 weeks post op and he still checks up on me. I had absolutely no side effects. A lighter me will baby you in TJ. Abraham and Orlando are always available and they plan outings to local shops. Dr Ortiz and Dr Hernandes check on you every day. Multiple times in The hospital and multiple times in The hotel. I would not choose another surgeon in The US even if the cost were the same. Eventually he will have a leak bc they just happen but as of now he has never had one. Also, read up on the various forums. Most of the problems come from the US. I keep touch with many alighterme patients and we all feel great. None of us had complications and are able to eat and drink comfortably. I feel so lucky to have used them. And like I stated, Dr Ortiz still keeps in touch and answers questions. They also have a post op care c coordinator, Ronda, that calls once a week to discuss the different stages of diet. All around first class service and surgery. Bob

Nope I have a band that I am getting removed and being sleeved tomorrow. I have trouble absorbing Vitamins unrelated to WLS. My body is just weird. I had to have an Iron infusion almost two months ago bc my iron got so low. I was commenting on why I chose the sleeve over gastric bypass. I don't want to have my intestines rerouted and have malnutrition problems more than you would have with the sleeve.

You don't want to get me started... This entire thing is BS, it's all to discourage people... The insurance company rather see you dead, it's cheaper or maybe not depends on the cause of death lol Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Anyone with highnark bc vs? How strict are they about 2 yr history? The insurance policy reads 2 yr history of severe obesity. My bmi is just now 40. Last five years its been in the 35-39.5 range. Anyone have a similar experience with this? And I have no çomorbidities

I just had to have a statement from my Dr. that I had made previous attempts at weight loss and they failed. She typed up a statement showing dates I had come in to see her and that I had tried diet pills, phentermine, and was unsuccessful. I have BC/BS TX. It was a simple, brief statement.

well, my snacks are sf pudding, sf popsicles....2oz cheese (protein)....i small hard boiled egg....but if i am hungry, i eat. but i make sure its not head hunger but bc i am really hungry.

Well after visiting with the surgeon she recommended the sleeve because I have no other ailments ..like diabetes or high cholesterol etc...she said sleeve has less risk so after thinking about it and talking to my husband I've decided on sleeve. It does Co cern me bc the stomach is bigger....but I'm really going to give it my all and hopefully it'll work.

Hi all. I am wondering about the drug test requirement under the Federal BCBS plan. Did you just have your pcp order it?