Hi everyone! My name is Kerri, I am 24 years old and I live in a small town in central Maine. Just to share a bit about myself and my situation... I have been overweight since I started grade school, and have been put on numerous diets and exercise plans to lose weight. I graduated high school in 2001, and shortly there after I gained 60lbs. I have a huge family history of heart attack, diabetes, arthritis, hypertension, and so on... I have tried several diets through my adult years, some successful, but the pounds eventually creep back on.

I have been waiting for full time status with my job for over 2 years now so I could sign up for insurance and try to get the lap band. This is something I have been looking into for a long time, and at this point I feel is the best option for me. So far I have been to the mandatory seminar put on by Maine General Hospital. Also my PCP has agreed to the referral. (yay!!) Before the referral would be accepted, we learned that I needed a current physical and blood lab done. I have my appt. for the blood lab Monday Sept. 17th, then the physical on Monday Sept. 24th. I was really frustrated to get appointments for September, as my previous appointment to get the referral was August 13.. I feel like now the ball is rolling (slowly.. but it is rolling:), and I am soooo excited the appointments are here so I can have my referral sent out. The surgeon that I will be meeting with is Dr. Huy Trieu MD, from Maine General Hospital in Augusta, Maine. Hopefully things go smoothly from here on out *crossing my fingers* and I can get in soon with the bariatric center, and get things going!!

I am on here often, and look forward to meeting you all, I think this site is wonderful!

~Kerri

Do you know for sure that your insurance will pay for your band and what things are required (I paid for mine outright because my insurance did not pay for any type of weight loss surgery regardless of your health situation)? My friend is having surgery next week and she has good insurance and they were supposed to pay about 50% of the surgery costs and supposedly all they wanted was 5 different clinic notes from 5 different years so she could "prove" she had been overweight for at least 5 years (ok...obese...but I hate that word). Well, she did that but they denied her anyway, so now she has to either sue them (which could take forever) or she has to just pay out of her pocket. I don't want to be a bummer, so don't get depressed about it. Hopefully your insurance company will come through without too much hassle! Good luck!

I have talked with 2 representatives from my insurance company (Harvard Pilgrim) and also talked with the doctors and office staff at the seminar about my insurance. They said that so far they have had good luck with my insurance except for one situation when they approved the surgery, but not the fills. I also work with a lady who had the lap band covered through our company insurance, in which case they covered 90% of her surgery itself. At this point, if I were to be denied by insurance, I would be willing to refinance my house and pay out of pocket.. (Which obviously is not my first choice, but if it came down to it:) Thanks you much for your input!

P.S. I HATE the word "obese" as well... I have always felt like I carry my weight fairly well (if that is at all possible with a 43 BMI..) and my (very small) doctor kind of burst my bubble when she referred to me as "morbidly obese".. I could have crawled under a rock..

Thanks again for your input! :)Kerri