hey! so i'm getting some info about the whole banding thing and i found out that every doctor around me that does it requires a 6 month diet with meetings to make sure the patients can handle the diet i guess. makes sense. but my problem is my bmi is like 41.5 and i'm afraid that if i lose too much weight i won't be able to get the band. eek! anyone have any experience with this kind of thing?:help:

When I had my first visit with the surgeon, she weighed me and said that I would not get weighed again before the surgery. That was the weight that was submitted to the Insurance Co.

Good luck! :biggrin1:

Trish5713 - I am exactly in your position. BMI was 41.5 and I have been asking the same question. I lost 7 pounds the first month of my supervised diet and if I keep losing I will fall below 40. But my ins. says that they need to see that I can follow a diet program. So, ??????

When I went to my surgical consult if I was paying for my surgery myself I could have had my surgery as soon as I finished my pre-op testing required by my surgeon. My insurance required 6 months of supervised weight management with my primary care physician before they would grant approval for my surgery. This just consisted of going to my PCP each month and weighing. I did actually lose 12 pounds. Not a huge amount but every little bit helps. If you have insurance - the six months may be for approval purposes. Check back with your surgeon for clarification.

In my intact with the surgeon I only had to prove to them and for the insurance company that I have a history of serious dieting (obviously unsuccessful dieting). Things like Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Nutri-system, etc. In my case they just wanted to make certain that all non-surgical options had been attempted. My surgeon did not require any diet at all. Well except for the liquid diet I am on today to get ready for surgery tomorrow.

Good Luck!

thanks for such quick replies everyone! hopefully my weight when i start the program will be the one submitted. even though i won't be getting banded till like july at this point, i still get all nervous over stuff like this. reading the replies calmed me down though. thanks again!

hajohnson1 - OMG, good luck tomorrow!!!!!!!! Keep us posted.

My surgeon did not require any diet at all. Well except for the liquid diet I am on today to get ready for surgery tomorrow.

good luck tomorrow! how exciting!

Good luck tomorrow hajohnson1! We will be waiting to hear all the details!

hajohnson1 - Hope you have a great experience tomorrow. Please keep us posted!!

Yes - most insurance companies require you to undergo a 6 month diet with your PCP. I have CIGNA and they require you to do this, and commercial programs don't count (no WW, Jenny Craig, etc). I was put on the weight loss medication Meridia for 9 months last year so I thought that would "count" -- my PCP wrote a letter to CIGNA showing them that I was on Meridida and did not lose much weight (13 lbs) and gained it back once taken off. She also wrote that I did Weight Watchers during this time, and my body was not responsive to these non-surgical weight loss measures. CIGNA did not count either of those, individually or together, as a "Doctor Supervised Weight Loss Plan" -- and CIGNA told me I needed to have doctor's notes every 30 days of the supervised plan recording my weight loss, or lack thereof. When you undergo the Doc Supervised Weight Loss, make sure you do it *right* so you don't have to start all over again!

Also, many of the BCBS plans determine your BMI as the weight you have when you START the doc supervised program.

Check with your insurance company, read the details of your ins plan, call your insurance company -- don't just rely on what your surgeon tells you. Be proactive and make this happen FOR YOU!!!

haven,t got a date yet hope to be banded in oct-nov of 08 got to do 6 months dietian classes, hope time flys by quick. good luck everyone.