I just found out my surgery will be in July (granted my pre-op testing goes okay) SOOOOOOOOO

Here's a thread for everyone getting banded in July 07!

Does anyone have any good ideas for a neat name we could call ourselves?

OMG I had to come tell you guys this. I got a callfrom my surgeons office telling me I needed to contact my PCP because my insurance company was requesting the 6 month supervised diet info, documentation of medical neccessity and etc. I said but they had all of that and I had prior approval. Kimm at the office said 'they are saying if they do not receive all needed documentation by the 22nd your claim could be denied. I said WHAT!!! I thought when you were prior approved you were approved. I have both letters, 1 I was approved for Rouxen Y and 1 I was approved for lapband and another letter stating that my out of pocket expense for my surgery was $0.00. So I was all freaked out. Got ahold of my PCP and they said they would get on it and fax the things but they couldn't do it until Tuesday because the lady that takes care of this is off until then. I said this is not acceptable because when we sent my info in to get approved it took them 2 days to 'screen' the paperwork in. I get off the phone and call DH at work about crying and freaked out. Thinking what the hell am I going to do if it isn't approved now?!?! :faint:

Decided to call my insurance myself. The lady gets on the phone I explain all this to her and tell her that I don't understand because they gave me prior approval and I have the letters to prove it in my hand as I am speaking to her. She says why is your physicians office concerning you with this. I said because if you don't pay I HAVE TOO. She then looks everything up and says 'I don't understand either because it says right here in black and white that you are pre approved. I said well what do I need to do to get this taken care of. She tells me not to worry about it at this point because they did receive the info from my PCP yesterday and it was scanned in so they have what they were asking for. (bless my PCP heart. THey got right on it and took care of it even though they didn't think they could until Tuesday when the insurance women came back).

Anyway I get off the phone with this women from my insurance and go on into the Y and get on the treadmill totally freaking out and worried senseless. My cell phone rings and it is the women from insurance calling me back to let me know that she went to her superviser with this and they both say there is nothing to worry about because I did have the prior approval and my PCP did get all the info in (again). They thought the person who was handling my claim did not see the prior approval on the claim (in which this women said she didn't know how they couldn't see it because it was right on top). She said that she had emailed the person handling my claim and asked them to relook at the claim and note the prior approval. I thanked her over and over for calling me back and keeping on top of this. Then I asked her how much was the claim for just in case they don't pay for it. She said 29,900.00 Here my head goes swirrling again thinking OMG OMG OMG where will I ever come up with that kind of money. This whole time I am still on the treadmill walking away. Get off the phone and about 10 minutes later the phone rings again. Same women from the insurance telling me she has resolved the issue and that it was a mistake on their end. THe women handling my claim is new and did not see the prior approval. WHEWWWWWWWW what a relief. :faint: The trauma was over. It will be covered by insurance. I picked up my pace and walked 10 extra minutes on the treadmill. Everything is ok now. Feel lots better. Just had to share.

Wow Jackie! :omg: What a nightmare that must have been. I'm glad things were sorted out. Make sure to take note of the times, discussions and with whom you spoke though. You just never know when something like this can turn around and bite you, only to discover it was an administrative error on someone else's part. Document, document, document was something I got used to very quickly. The stress is enough to give you a heart condition on top of everything else.

Isnt that amazing. $29,000 for surgery? I have not seen my bills yet, but thats not the first time I heard of that. Was that the Surgeons bill only or Hospital and Anesthesia?

I have a grandson who was 9 this past July. My daughter and her husband have been trying for 8 years to have another baby but were not able to due to my daughters size. She had the gastric bypass 2 years ago this past April. She lost about 100 pounds. She became pregnant! Her due date is Dec. 23rd. As a matter of fact she is seeing a Perintologist today. The pregnancy is considered a high risk pregnancy. She will also find out today what she will be having. I'm excited about that! She did have an ultrasound a couple of weeks ago but they were not 100% as to the sex so they wouldn't confirm it. Looks like a girl though and my daughter is 100% convinced that it is. We shall see in a few hours. :-) I hope that it is a girl for her sake but my grandson would love to have a baby brother. lol A girl would be named Brooklynn Nichol and a boy would be Aiden Christopher.

I had my physician send a letter to the surgeon with all the attempts for weight loss. I've pretty much been dieting on and off since I was about 13 years old. Hopefully the page long list of attempts will justify the surgery. Fingers crossed. Dianne

How exciting! I wish you the best! Try not to get discouraged, I was received 3 denials before it finally went through, so there is always hope and look at Lynette's surprise with being self pay and all of the sudden, it was paid!!! Hang in there! Let us know if it is a boy or girl!!

Jeanie- It truly was a joke, especially after paying for all of the testing to be done, now the stupid ins company had to pay my primary care dr every month for 6 mos. So stupid, a waste of their money and my time.

DLW- my ins company did not accept the letter from my physician. They required me to go, for him to fill out the form and fax it in monthly- Trust me, my physician was pissed and didnt even want to see me for the 6 mos-He was not very supportive of the surgery either. Needless to say, I switched Drs

I know, it is a shame that there have to be so many ifs and whens, but then there are people that would have it done and really not need it and in that case, it is a different ballgame!!!

OMG I had to come tell you guys this. I got a callfrom my surgeons office telling me I needed to contact my PCP because my insurance company was requesting the 6 month supervised diet info, documentation of medical neccessity and etc. I said but they had all of that and I had prior approval. Kimm at the office said 'they are saying if they do not receive all needed documentation by the 22nd your claim could be denied. I said WHAT!!! I thought when you were prior approved you were approved. I have both letters, 1 I was approved for Rouxen Y and 1 I was approved for lapband and another letter stating that my out of pocket expense for my surgery was $0.00. So I was all freaked out. Got ahold of my PCP and they said they would get on it and fax the things but they couldn't do it until Tuesday because the lady that takes care of this is off until then. I said this is not acceptable because when we sent my info in to get approved it took them 2 days to 'screen' the paperwork in. I get off the phone and call DH at work about crying and freaked out. Thinking what the hell am I going to do if it isn't approved now?!?! :faint:

Decided to call my insurance myself. The lady gets on the phone I explain all this to her and tell her that I don't understand because they gave me prior approval and I have the letters to prove it in my hand as I am speaking to her. She says why is your physicians office concerning you with this. I said because if you don't pay I HAVE TOO. She then looks everything up and says 'I don't understand either because it says right here in black and white that you are pre approved. I said well what do I need to do to get this taken care of. She tells me not to worry about it at this point because they did receive the info from my PCP yesterday and it was scanned in so they have what they were asking for. (bless my PCP heart. THey got right on it and took care of it even though they didn't think they could until Tuesday when the insurance women came back).

Anyway I get off the phone with this women from my insurance and go on into the Y and get on the treadmill totally freaking out and worried senseless. My cell phone rings and it is the women from insurance calling me back to let me know that she went to her superviser with this and they both say there is nothing to worry about because I did have the prior approval and my PCP did get all the info in (again). They thought the person who was handling my claim did not see the prior approval on the claim (in which this women said she didn't know how they couldn't see it because it was right on top). She said that she had emailed the person handling my claim and asked them to relook at the claim and note the prior approval. I thanked her over and over for calling me back and keeping on top of this. Then I asked her how much was the claim for just in case they don't pay for it. She said 29,900.00 Here my head goes swirrling again thinking OMG OMG OMG where will I ever come up with that kind of money. This whole time I am still on the treadmill walking away. Get off the phone and about 10 minutes later the phone rings again. Same women from the insurance telling me she has resolved the issue and that it was a mistake on their end. THe women handling my claim is new and did not see the prior approval. WHEWWWWWWWW what a relief. :faint: The trauma was over. It will be covered by insurance. I picked up my pace and walked 10 extra minutes on the treadmill. Everything is ok now. Feel lots better. Just had to share.

Congrats, Jackie! What a shame you had to deal with that, when it was taken care of the whole time!!! But I am sure you are relieved it is over and now you KNOW it is okay!!!:scared:

OMG I had to come tell you guys this. I got a callfrom my surgeons office telling me I needed to contact my PCP because my insurance company was requesting the 6 month supervised diet info, documentation of medical neccessity and etc.

OMG - How can they try and come back at you after the fact - that right there should have told you something. But thankfully it all worked out... I am happy for you....:clap2:

Hello everyone...

I wanted to check in. I was banded on July 23rd and am still on mushies until next week. I am getting my appetite back. I am having cravings again and am very uncomfortable with them. it is so hard to not resort to food when I am stressed. Truthfully, I am dying for some steak tips. I don't eat mashed potatoes, but I have been eating them this week so I can feel like I am eating something substantial instead of cottage cheese or yogurt. I am sure I am not the only one, but wanted to see if anyone had any suggestions on how to get through these weeks not being able to eat normally.

Eileen - EatBeater (Southwestern style) with cheese, yellow squash, zuccine, spaghette sauce with riccotta cheese, creamed soups (healthy request kind w/skim milk) creamed spinach (low fat) - califlower over cooked and mashed - cat fish baked (or any kind that can be mushed up) and mushed up real good, refried beans, take the steak tips and run them thru a blender or magic bullett.

These are all the items i ate on mushie stage - but they were allowed by my doctor...

Hunger is hunger and I still have it even with regular food - last night i was FULL but still wanted to eat to taste the food - Our food issues will be with us ALWAYS!!!! Well as long as we have a brain - cuz that's our problem - to bad they don't have a band for that

Had my surgery done on 7/25/07 in Texarkana Texas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Had my surgery done on 7/25/07 in Texarkana Texas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congrats & Welcome

Hi all.

Remember how I was complalining about all the food events? Well inspite of it all, I did manage to lose 5 pounds last week! And better yet, I got my first fill this morning and was able to talk the doctor into 2 mls instead of 1 1/2 ml. I'm feeling good and tight now--can't get down more than a couple of sips of water without burping and hiccupping for a 1/2 hour afterwards. I don't feel a bit hungry now! I know it's pretty aggressive, but at $300/fill + traveling over an hour one way, I don't have the time or the money to keep going back. Hope things settle down over the weekend.

I did learn something new at the doctor's and am wondering if anyone else has heard of this. My doctor said that about 60% of his patients have the bacteria H. Pyloris in their stomachs, and he doesn't do surgery on them until he has treated that with three different medications. H. Pyloris is the bacteria that is associated with stomach ulcers and he said that it can cause erosion around the band if he doesn't treat it. The bacteria is detected by testing your breath for the presence of amonia. Did anyone have a breath test before surgery?

Hi all.

Remember how I was complalining about all the food events? Well inspite of it all, I did manage to lose 5 pounds last week! And better yet, I got my first fill this morning and was able to talk the doctor into 2 mls instead of 1 1/2 ml. I'm feeling good and tight now--can't get down more than a couple of sips of water without burping and hiccupping for a 1/2 hour afterwards. I don't feel a bit hungry now! I know it's pretty aggressive, but at $300/fill + traveling over an hour one way, I don't have the time or the money to keep going back. Hope things settle down over the weekend.

I did learn something new at the doctor's and am wondering if anyone else has heard of this. My doctor said that about 60% of his patients have the bacteria H. Pyloris in their stomachs, and he doesn't do surgery on them until he has treated that with three different medications. H. Pyloris is the bacteria that is associated with stomach ulcers and he said that it can cause erosion around the band if he doesn't treat it. The bacteria is detected by testing your breath for the presence of amonia. Did anyone have a breath test before surgery?

Linda - CONGRATS ON THE 5 POUNDS :whoo::whoo: That's GREAT:clap2:

No i didn't have any breath test - but did take some kind of pencillen the day before surgery...

You are doing fantastic - Keep up the good work - I don't get a fill until 9/5 - i could use one right now:)

Had my surgery done on 7/25/07 in Texarkana Texas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congratulations and hope you are doing well! Welcome to our group!

Hi all.

Remember how I was complalining about all the food events? Well inspite of it all, I did manage to lose 5 pounds last week! And better yet, I got my first fill this morning and was able to talk the doctor into 2 mls instead of 1 1/2 ml. I'm feeling good and tight now--can't get down more than a couple of sips of water without burping and hiccupping for a 1/2 hour afterwards. I don't feel a bit hungry now! I know it's pretty aggressive, but at $300/fill + traveling over an hour one way, I don't have the time or the money to keep going back. Hope things settle down over the weekend.

I did learn something new at the doctor's and am wondering if anyone else has heard of this. My doctor said that about 60% of his patients have the bacteria H. Pyloris in their stomachs, and he doesn't do surgery on them until he has treated that with three different medications. H. Pyloris is the bacteria that is associated with stomach ulcers and he said that it can cause erosion around the band if he doesn't treat it. The bacteria is detected by testing your breath for the presence of amonia. Did anyone have a breath test before surgery?

Linda, No, this is the first I heard of this, but I will be sure to ask about it!!!

Hi all.

Remember how I was complalining about all the food events? Well inspite of it all, I did manage to lose 5 pounds last week! And better yet, I got my first fill this morning and was able to talk the doctor into 2 mls instead of 1 1/2 ml. I'm feeling good and tight now--can't get down more than a couple of sips of Water without burping and hiccupping for a 1/2 hour afterwards. I don't feel a bit hungry now! I know it's pretty aggressive, but at $300/fill + traveling over an hour one way, I don't have the time or the money to keep going back. Hope things settle down over the weekend.

I did learn something new at the doctor's and am wondering if anyone else has heard of this. My doctor said that about 60% of his patients have the bacteria H. Pyloris in their stomachs, and he doesn't do surgery on them until he has treated that with three different medications. H. Pyloris is the bacteria that is associated with stomach ulcers and he said that it can cause erosion around the band if he doesn't treat it. The bacteria is detected by testing your breath for the presence of amonia. Did anyone have a breath test before surgery?

Linda, that's awesome! 5 lbs in a week! Congratulations :clap2:

I can't wait until my fill, it sounds like what I need. I never heard of this other test, will ask my dr. next Wed.