Okay party people I need some insight here...I have my last consultation with my Nutritionist this Friday and I would like to know what lies ahead. Patience has never been my forte so I need to know what I'm up against so I don't get my hopes up for a huge let down (really hate those). Any who, is there anyone out there in the Chicagoland area that had or is having their banding done at Day One?? With BCBS insurance?? If so how long was your process?? Was it 6 mos or less?? At your last appointment did your get your date or did you have to be approved first?? How long did it take to be approved?? I will greatly appreciate any and all input or insight. Thanks so much for your comments! Oh and if you like we can be band buddies! Lol Did that sound creepy? I'm not a creeper, lol. Honest! Just want to be one step ahead of where I currently am and a friend that understands would be nice for the journey as well :0)

I am not from the chicago area but u had bcbs when I had my surgery, the whole process only took me about 3 months total, my papers were sent to insurance and not even a week later I got approved. I did not get my surgery date til I got approved but my surgery was only 3 weeks after I was approved.

good things happen to those who are patient...

hang in there okay

Hi there, there are definitely some Chicago peeps on here and I've heard your facility mentioned -- you may want to check the November Bandster's thread. Good luck with all. I started in June and learned so much here over the summer, etc. Asking questions and reading threads. And now I'm getting banded next week. Very excited! I felt so impatient at first but now this feels like the right time. Look forward to chatting with you on the forum!

Alot of it depends on their requirements. I have health advantage BCBS of Arkansas and mine required monthly appts with my pcp and after that, it went really fast. Like weeks. Of course during that 6 months, I had my psych eval and met all of the other requirements. So, it really depends alot on you. Good luck, stay on top of it. I also heard, that if I had missed any of the 6 month appts with pcp, I'd have to start all over. Again, it depends on your insurance requirements and how fast you get everything pulled together.

Thanks ALL for your comments and words of encouragement! I had my psych eval back in September and this Friday is my 6th apptmt with my nutritionist. I had a consult with my surgeon at my very first apptmt so I'm not sure if I will or am supposed to have another before everything is said and done. I thank you all again because your reassurance has kinda calmed my nerves...oh God what a mess I'll be the night before surgery! LOL Many congrats to all of you that actually have dates set or have been banded!!! I've waited 6mos, heck what's a few more weeks right?! LOL

Thanks ALL for your comments and words of encouragement! I had my psych eval back in September and this Friday is my 6th apptmt with my nutritionist. I had a consult with my surgeon at my very first apptmt so I'm not sure if I will or am supposed to have another before everything is said and done. I thank you all again because your reassurance has kinda calmed my nerves...oh God what a mess I'll be the night before surgery! LOL Many congrats to all of you that actually have dates set or have been banded!!! I've waited 6mos' date=' heck what's a few more weeks right?! LOL [/quote']

I jumped through hoops for 4mo everything was submitted to ins and they denied me because of a 1.8lb gain from may to aug. So I had to do 2 more monts of weight loss but finally was approved and I'm set for Nov 8!

Hang in there! I wanted to give up and was avoiding this forum like it was a plague. I got to the point I didn't even care if I was approved or not(major depression). Now I know that was horrible thinking on my part! I am ecstatic the ins finally seen all my hard work and decided to let me get this tool so I can better my life!

You will get there! I am here if you need to talk or vent!

Irishflower78 Who did you have for ins??? (Biting nails) Did your ins require you to lose weight??

Irishflower78 Who did you have for ins??? (Biting nails) Did your ins require you to lose weight??

I have Aetna and they changed their policy 5 days before my first last weigh-in in Aug 18. the new policy states can't gain more than the initial weight. On my 5th weigh-in I lost 10lbs so the office sent an appeal and I didn't get the approval letter until the day I went for my second last weigh-in Oct 21st.

I have Aetna and they changed their policy 5 days before my first last weigh-in in Aug 18. the new policy states can't gain more than the initial weight. On my 5th weigh-in I lost 10lbs so the office sent an appeal and I didn't get the approval letter until the day I went for my second last weigh-in Oct 21st.

I also have Aetna, and like Irishflower, I had to do the stupid four month, keep your weight around the same, within about... five-ish pounds, do a psych eval hoop jump fun house. Ten days before my last appointment in September, I was informed that Aetna had changed the rules and that we had to be at least one pound UNDER our starting weight. Gah! So, I dieted like a madwoman and just squeaked it out at that appointment. After that, I had a four to six week wait for approval. I just found out, this afternoon that I am approved and my surgery date is November 20th. I can start my pre-op diet in a few days and I can finally breathe!

The point to all of this nattering is, all insurance companies are different, some make you go four months, some six, some a year... Some you start the process and your ass is in the OR in a few weeks! Just stay on top of it and go with the flow. From start to approval and getting my surgery date, it took from June 22nd to today. It felt like forever but now that I am through it, and looking back, it wasn't so bad, after all.

I also have Aetna' date=' and like Irishflower, I had to do the stupid four month, keep your weight around the same, within about... five-ish pounds, do a psych eval hoop jump fun house. Ten days before my last appointment in September, I was informed that Aetna had changed the rules and that we had to be at least one pound UNDER our starting weight. Gah! So, I dieted like a madwoman and just squeaked it out at that appointment. After that, I had a four to six week wait for approval. I just found out, this afternoon that I am approved and my surgery date is November 20th. I can start my pre-op diet in a few days and I can finally breathe!

The point to all of this nattering is, all insurance companies are different, some make you go four months, some six, some a year... Some you start the process and your ass is in the OR in a few weeks! Just stay on top of it and go with the flow. From start to approval and getting my surgery date, it took from June 22nd to today. It felt like forever but now that I am through it, and looking back, it wasn't so bad, after all. [/quote']

Omg! So I went to meet the surgeon today and all went well then he decided "oh well you need to have cardio clearance before your surgery!" WHAT?! You couldn't tell me this 6mo ago? Lol

I called around to different cardiologist and finally stopped at one and I think my frantic pleading face did the trick! I h e my cardio appt tomorrow at 415... Now to get off work in time! >.<

So many hoops! So frustrating! I am oh so close but it seems to be just out of reach!

Well today I went and met the surgeon and all seemed week them BLAM "you need to get cardiac clearance before surgery!" Surgery is November 8th! They couldn't have told me this 6mo ago!!

I was lucky I called a bunch of cardiologist and of course no one can get me in that soon so I dropped by an office and I think my frantic pleading face made them feel bad for me! I have my cardio clearance appt tomorrow at 415!

So many hoops! So frustrating! Oh so close to let it slip out of my grasp now!

Got the call it is officially a green light for next Friday the 8th of November!

Got the call it is officially a green light for next Friday the 8th of November!

I'm so glad that you got your cardiac clearance and you are a go. Woo hoo! You'll be a pro by the time I go in.

I was really surprised that I didn't require additional testing. I just did the usual, blood tests, a respiration test and an EKG. Easy-peasy. No sleep study, I don't even need a chest X-Ray prior to surgery. Probably because I just had one in March. Weird how that works out. I'm starting to get that racehorse in the gate feeling, I'm ready to do this. 20 days to go.

they had me do all my pre-OP testing while in for approval, cardiac clearance scared me half to death because I had an abnormal EKG they made me do a stress test which was normal thank you Jesus. Got my clearance and my surgery is November 22. I had to jump thru all the crazy hoops to a it is I just found out this morning that the insurance company approved it. I'm in the Chicagoland area too good luck and speedy recovery