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BMI is 39- not a candidate for lap band



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I attended the weight loss seminar today:smile2:. Since my BMI is 39 and i have no other medical conditions my health insurance wont cover the surgery:sad:. The only way my insurance will cover it is if my BMI is 40 or if i have a current medical condition with my BMI @ 39. I felt disappointed but then again I am like 8 lbs away from having a BMI of 40. So i have to gain more weight to get approval from my insurance????? :)

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For me, gaining 8 lbs would be a breeze! I would definitely try and gain those 8 lbs- you gotta do what you gotta do, right?

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that is so true!

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I would to. Do they have any other requirements? Are they going to make you prove that you've been 40 or over for so many months /years? If not I'd gain it.

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thats a good ques!spoiltmom i just need to be at 40 bmi thankfully

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One gallon of Water weighs 8.33 lbs.

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I thought that I had no co-morbidities....but in my letter of medical necessity he included.....urinary incontinence, intertrigo, knee arthritis, low back pain, foot pain and borderline hyper tension. If you tell your doctor that you have some pain due to obesity....he should include it in your letter. But for me, I had no serious morbidities, but these co-morbidities still count!!

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Ice cream heaven!

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I don't fault you for gaining to make the mark, just make sure you have the required co-morbidity before putting on the wt.

Best wishes,

Mimi

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hey don't be upset, the same thing happened to me. My BMI was 37 when I started this process and I just got approved on Wednesday. Look if you are 8lbs away just gain the 8 lbs and then go back to the doctor and weigh yourself again. I knew someone that was a few lbs away and they went to the store and bought some ankle weights and then wore pants and the ankle weights when they went to weight in and the bmi is calculated from the weight that appears on the scale. So if you want to get approved maybe wait a little while and do the same thing get ankle weights like 10 lb ones and wear pants and well go for it and then have them submit the paperwork. GOOD LUCK!!:redface:

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I would say don't just go off what they tell you in the seminar but do some research with your insurance company as well. There may be a disconnect between the two and you may be in easy breazy.

My insurance company was actually more stringent and required a BMI over 40 for the last 5 years, documented. Which I did not have. I ended up doing a sleep study, since I felt it was possible that I had apnea....never been so happy for a diagnosis like that.

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I first looked into the lap-band Nov of last year and my BMI was 37 & I had no co-morbidities. Once again I tried WW and excercise. I started to get headaches and when I went to my primary Dr. My blood pressure was quite high but my weight was also +15lbs. Not only did I know meet the BMI of 40 but know I had High blood pressure. Your sooooooo close & 8 lbs are achievable. enjoy some delicious meals and drinks lots and lots of Water b4 going to weigh in again. Im soooo happy with my Lap-Band. Had surgery july 19th and dont regret it and looking forward to my journey to the healtiher me.

Best of luck and please keep us posted.

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There are simple and tasty ingredients that can be added to meals and Snacks to help with weight gain. Add butter, Use whole fat dairy products. Add dried fruit. Mix in nuts, such as cashews or almonds to salads, trail mixes or cottage cheese. Hope this will help you to gain your 40 BMI.

Cheers

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good ideas will do!

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
      · 0 replies
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