:thinkAlright I have Cigna and I have my dr. appt tomarrow with my pcp dr. I am reading more and more about having to see a nutritionist and being on a supervised diet for 6 mths. Oh please tell me this is not always the case. I have been on a diet my whole life. I have been on and read the following ww, adkins, 3 hr diet, dr. phil, curves. Bob Greens Best life diet, Biggest Looser. i have been on all of them . I was a member of curves and actully went for a year. I am member of our local gym and actully go three times a week and some weeks more then that. They all help me loose ten or 15 lbs but then it slows down to a pound or two a month and I don't have the will power to stick to it, if I don't see results after a while. Working out helps me with keeping me active and I credit that to why I can be so over wieght but still do the things I do. But I will cry if they ask me to go on another diet for 6 month just to loose 10 of the same pounds in order for me to get banded. I can tell you every thing there is to know about nutrition.

I totally understand Heyhon63 but there is really no getting around the 6 month supervised PCP visits with Cigna. It will be done before you know it. Just make sure your PCP writes down your weight each month and notes regarding your diet & exercise discussions.

Good Luck to you!

Heyhon63: I completely know what you are saying and it's a joke! I too know more about nutrition that any so called expert as well. I've dieted for more than 30 years and took off and kept off 60 lbs till I got prgnant again but not at this age ...just ain't happenen without something like this. I had heard that CIGNA does this as a front...what ever that means...I think it weeds out people who may be able to pay out of pocket or may not be sure they want this surgery. I've been seeing my doc for the past year and I've been complaining about my wieght and he's been making suggestions tho it's not been consistenty for 6 months ,,,I am praying he will just write them up as tho I was doing 6 months back to back.

I was told that CIGNA wants your Dr. to write out a progress report on 6 separate letter headed letters stating your weight, what diets you've been on for that month, how many lbs. you lost, exercise and anything he gave you like a food pyramid or anything pertaining to weight loss. It's silly but it's worth getting covered!

I had heard the same thing about cigna. My Dr. is so behind me. And the same with you she has talked to me for 5 yrs about my weight. And she is the one that really pushed me to do weight watchers. So that is what I have been doing. I wasn't doing it as a part of the band. This was before I even thought about the band. The band just came up maybe two months ago by my sister. So I looked into it. So I am not real sure how detailed her records are on me. When I go back I will talk to her more about it. But she didn't seem to concern about having to be on a Supervised diet for 6 mths as a big deal. So I am hoping that means she has the info. Did you talk to Cigna to find out exactly what you needed. Or did your Dr? This is the part that is confusing me. I really don't know who to go to. I keep track of all my food in a note book (because I count points) so I am hoping that will be helpful. That also keeps track of my exercise because when I exercise I get to add pts back. So I have kept a detail record. Keeping my fingers cross.

When I went to the seminar that was offered at the sugery center where I want to be banded they gave us handouts with pointers on what to do for insurance coverage.

Someone posted here that their insurance co wanted to know WHY the diets failed from the PCP! Geez....I guess I would say for me when I am PMSing I can't stop eating everything in site. Also I could mention injuries obtained by over exercising, or I couldn't control portion size?

Yep I went to the seminar last night. Very got alot of info and Once I call the dr. they will send me a packet to fill out.

Hang in there, six months goes by very quickly.

I began my Quest in April and will have the six month deal complete in October. I have been on my PCP every month to make sure he documents all (weight, diet, discussions) and have them fax it to my surgeon's office. I call the office coordinator every month to confirm the fax and make sure I'm on track.

Meeting the surgeon on 9/18 and the paperwork will be submitted. Hopefully they will approve an October date.

Don't fret and take charge of the process, at the very least you will know things were done properly.

Hang in there, those requirements are not easy to get around, and in most cases, are impossible. To do the required dieting shows the insurance that you are ready to make a change and can follow doctors orders. That is sooooo very important with the Band.

BTW, I had to do 12 months, and then had to do another month because I hadn't lost the required weight in 12 months. so it ended up being 13! Six would have seemed like cake. Though right now it does seem daunting. You CAN do it. In many cases it takes a few months to get through all the required pre-oop testing and appointments with the nutritionist, etc... You can be working on that while your six months is going by. And do NOT miss one month's appointment. You MUST go EVERY month for six months. You miss one and you reset the clock.

How much do they expect you to loose in 6 months.?

there is no expectations as far as weight goes. What they really are wanting to do is to weed out the people who are looking for a quick fix. Someone who is will to stick to a diet for six months isn't looking for the quick fix.

I know how discouraging this is, I just got the same news from my doctor yesterday, I too have been doing this for 30 years, and i dont want to wait another 6 months, it does seem like a long time, but all you can do is hang in there, Right!!?

As I mentioned in my previous post, six months does fly by quickly.

Please wish me luck, my surgeon's office is sending all information to Cigna today. The coordinator says it may take 2-3 weeks for a reply, she has seen it as fast as a week. I'm going to wait 2 weeks and then call.

This entire process has moved alog fairly quickly and if approved in time, my banding date will be 10/11/07.

To all that have to wait, please hang in there.

Thanks to all for your guidance and words of wisdom. I'll let everyone know when I get the approval.

Dear Fred:

Best of luck to you...think positive! Sounds like everything is moving along smoothly. Please keep us posted! I have 4 months under my belt and you are right the months fly by actually. Do you mind if I ask you your BMI...if not that's okay too! :nervous

MJ

in

NY

Sooverit,

Thank you for the kind words.

No problem - my current BMI is 51

Started this quest at 374lbs (BMI 52.2) - Currently 354lbs

I have been trying to post with the ticker tape but haven't quite fiqured it out yet. I'll keep trying.............

Good Luck Big Fred! Let us know as soon as you hear!

thanks for the info, my bmi is 43, is that good or bad? this is all new to me