Is it me or is it close to impossible to find other Lapbanded people in our area?

I've met others with the band, but they are from California, Florida, Indiana and Michigan. My surgeon's support group for WLS are all gastric bypass folks. Our needs and experiences are so vastly different, I want to meet up with other people going through the same stuff!

I know I can NOT be the only person in the nation's 15th largest city to have had this procedure.

Reply if you're local!

Juli

http://www.TickerFactory.com/weight-loss/wOoTcHD/

Ginnee--

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Hi there,

My name is Angie and I am just starting the insurance dance to get my lap band. I have started the process and am going to Dr. Ramos at the groveport barix clinic. Would be great to meet and talk to others from the area.

Welcome Angie -- There is another Angie that goes by Thinner Me on this forum. Check out her posts under the NE 1 Been Banded at Mt. Carmel - she is working to get banded at Barix also and she's close to gettting there. Also see the Columbus get together planned for February at Polaris mall.

Good luck and hang in there. Its taken me since October 2007 to get through all the paperwork things and medical clearances insurance requires and they are trying to submit to insurance for me this week.

Welcome Angie!! How exciting, I'm going to Dr. Ramos @ Barix, and my name is Angie too. I have one more visit with the dietician, Katie, and then I'm ready to submit to insurance. Its been about 10 months, and I am finally seeing an end in sight. I usually post on the NE one been banded at Mt. Carmel thread. Feel free to join us over there, everyone is very supportive.

Thinner me,

Hi, I have not started the program with Katie. I had to cancel my first apt with her now I am having trouble reaching her to make another.

I have aetna hmo so I have to do the 12 week program. I also need to get a psych apt. Any reason it is taking you 10 months? I am so impatient I want this done yesterday. I also got a call and they said I would have to pay for the surgery upfront and then get reinbursed by the insurance company if aproved. Anyone else have this?

thanks!

Hey Angie~ I am feeling your pain in wanting to get it over NOW. Once I made the decision to go forward with the surgery I wanted it done right that second. After I did 4 months of PCP weigh-ins, my insurance (Principal Life) said they also needed 6 months dietician visits...... I couldn't find anyone willing to do a 6 month class. Thank God Katie was willing to extend hers to once a month. Oh well, I guess things work out the way they are supposed to. I am praying that my insurance just approves me and I get a date, SOON!

I don't know what I would do if I had to pay up front. I guess I would just have to take out a loan..... that really sucks. I know there's an insurance thread on the main board, maybe someone else has the same insurance and could answer those questions.

Hello, I don't live far from the Groveport Barix so lets stay in touch. I'm actually going to OSU because the Groveport office doesn't accept my insurance. Go Bucks...oops I guess it's too late for this season :rolleyes2:

Hi Angelsma~ My sister is planning on being banded at OSU for the same reasons. :biggrin:

I was done at OSU with Dr. Mikami and it ws a fantastic experience. :biggrin:

:wink2: I wish I had found this board sooner.

I chose barix because they do accept my insurance. But if I dont get approved by ins. I am thinking I might want to go somewhere else? I am really starting to feel overwhelmed by the process. When I first started with Barix it wasthe begining of Oct. I did the seminar with dr. Ramos and decided to go for it. Then I got a call from them saying he was not in my hmo yet but would be by Dec. I decided to wait so that I would not have to pay upfront and then be reinbursed by ins. So in Dec. I went and had my first apt. I got the list of test I needed and have since been working on all those dr. apts. Last week someone from Barix ins. dept called and said that "if" my ins. approves the surgery they would only pay up to $5000 of the total $16500. I started to wonder about weather it was worth all this or should I just self pay (somehow?) somewhere else. Well i did talk to someone at the groveport clinic and he said that my ins. will pay up to $10,000 but I have to pay upfront? Now I am just frustrated? I start my 12 week nutrition program today. Hopefully while there I can talk to someone and get some answers. :Dancing_biggrin:

Hippiegirl - what kind of insurance do you have? That would be out of possibility for me to pay upfront and then wait until insurance reimbursed me.

I know it is crazy. I Have no idea how I will be able to that. Then if I do figure out how to get the money and if I do get approved by the ins. how long will it take for the ins. company to reinburse me? ... I doubt they will be in any big hurry.

oh I have aetna hmo

This helped me to print off about the first 6 or so pages and read them carefully sentence by sentence to see what it indicated I had to do.

I had Aetna HMO also so I've been through those hoops and now waiting to see if I get approved once I know the surgeon's office has sent in what they had. See my other posts on what all I had to do.

Clinical Policy Bulletin.doc

Hey ladies...I have Aetna also. I guess I was just lucky, but they approved me within a week of the office submitting the forms...I guess it just depends on the actual policy you have within Aetna.