Ok here's my story:

36 years old, about 350 lbs plus Tax :ph34r: ..Almost 5'-11"

• I haven't been to a doctor in years
  
• I have been overweight for most my life i'd say since 15 years old.
  
• Despite being overweight, i was pretty active. Never had a problem participating in sports games or walking. Then i just stopped doing things and gained more weight.
  
• NOW i get winded / out of breath walking up stairs at home.
  
• The worst part is i have very active kids, in sports always, and walking across these big fields (100 - 200 yards) is hard. My lower back and legs burn when i do it.
  
• Obviously, its the weight. I know if i can drop say 25 lbs i can at least be more active and start to exercise more, problem is i have never in my life dropped more than 10 lbs. i feel i need the surgery.
  

PLEASE ADVISE ME:

- i want to get Lap-Band, but i am currently un-employed on Medi-Cal Insurance (Health Net) and not sure if they will cover it?

- do i go to my doctor and tell him i want to get the Lap-Band?

- do i go to a Lap-Band center FIRST? and start there....

- i want to get a complete physical, and this may seem stupid, but am terrified of being the only fat patient he has and him and staff looking at me like i'm a freak!!!

- Can you recommend a good doctor in Southern California area?

Sincerely,

I would first find a lapband center you like. I am using TrueResults. They have centers all over. Thier aftercare program is great, you get a patient advocate that is there for you all along the way and it was the first time I have been to a Dr where they did not look down at me or make me feel ashamed. It was a great expirence and I am still in the process. Most of the lapband centers will assist with the medical insurance verification. You just sit back and wait for them to tell you what to do next. They will contact your Dr as well and get your medical records.

As for me, I am employed with state insurance. I thought that would be great. However, BCBS of Texas for State Employees is horrible for lapband. I cannot get it approved and I am self pay. There are great self pay methods as well and it covers everything even the entire year of aftercare (which is costly if not included). I will just have relatively low payments to make. The even better thing about self pay is that I did not have to go through all of the waiting for rejection letters from insurance. I just got to finally set my surgery date when I want to do it! What a releif! I have been looking into this proceedure and others for years and struggling with insurance. I decided to go for my dreams and let go of the insurance deal.

i am like you, I have active kids and I am tired of struggling to practice baseball with them, or becoming a sweaty mess at their games! I want to be one of hte parents out their coaching! I hope in one year, that will be me!

Best of luck for you.

Thanks Kbliss78,

good info.

Sounds like your on your way, keep up the good work!

The first thing you should do is to contact your insurance company and see if they cover the surgery. If they do, then I would choose a primary care doctor and make an appointment. Actually, you should do that anyway, even if they don't cover the surgery because it sounds like you should get a physical. Talk to your doctor about the surgery and see what he says. Since he won't know you yet, he may ask to see you again before he will refer you to a surgeon. Mine did that because I had only been to her once about 2 years prior because I hurt my shoulder in a car accident. So she wanted to see me in 6 weeks, then 12 weeks, to see how I was doing and show that I was committed to life style changes (because you will be making a LOT of lifestyle changes with this surgery).

The hospital my doc referred me to does seminars about the surgery and you must attend two before starting the process. You can watch the "webinar" that will count as one. There is some good info on it if you want to watch... www.bidmc.org/wls. Click on "webinar on weight loss surgery" on the left side bar.

You should do as much research as you can before you decide this is the surgery for you. Good luck!

The first thing you should do is to contact your insurance company and see if they cover the surgery. If they do, then I would choose a primary care doctor and make an appointment. Actually, you should do that anyway, even if they don't cover the surgery because it sounds like you should get a physical. Talk to your doctor about the surgery and see what he says. Since he won't know you yet, he may ask to see you again before he will refer you to a surgeon. Mine did that because I had only been to her once about 2 years prior because I hurt my shoulder in a car accident. So she wanted to see me in 6 weeks, then 12 weeks, to see how I was doing and show that I was committed to life style changes (because you will be making a LOT of lifestyle changes with this surgery).

The hospital my doc referred me to does seminars about the surgery and you must attend two before starting the process. You can watch the "webinar" that will count as one. There is some good info on it if you want to watch... www.bidmc.org/wls. Click on "webinar on weight loss surgery" on the left side bar.

You should do as much research as you can before you decide this is the surgery for you. Good luck!

Also, I meant those were just the requirements for that particular hospital. Every hospital is different. But that webinar is great anyway.. I recommend you watch!

Contact your insurance first and try to go through whatever hoops they are going to require of you. Insurance has gotten so much better about allowing weight loss surgery than when I went through 3 years ago... I had to do self pay.. ouch!~ but I dont regret it at all.. I figure I saved that much money in the food I was consuming without the band... I would also attend all your local seminars and see what doctor's group you like the best, look at their certificaiton and how long they have been practicing.. all that! Take the time to do your research before you jump in!