I am new to this board. Is there a group that is specific to the Hampton Roads/Peninsula area? I'm going through the process at the WLSC in Newport News and would love to talk with some local people who have used the same doctors.

Thanks!:biggrin:

That is wonderful news and your right it does make it worth while....

Congrat's -- that is wonderful for you!

Hey girls, just wanted to update you on my progress. I went yesterday for my pre-op appointment and I feel in love with Dr. T. He was so supportive and made me feel so much more at ease. I can't wait for Feb. 3 I'm ready to move forward....He said he doesn't use a pre-op diet but I put myself on a liquid protein diet and have lost 12 lbs since Saturday....Wish me luck.....and good luck to all of you....

Hi everyone! I've read through all 15 pgs and learned a lot from you all. I've got some questions and it looks like you all are who I've been looking for! I've researched Lapband for about a year. Read many boards and feel good about proceeding. I attended the seminar, and have an appt with Dr. Fontana Feb 5th. My insurance covers this, with documented weight loss failed attempts, which I can provide. Here's the catch, I will no longer have my current insurance BCBS effective April because my husband's employer is changing. His new insurance optima does not cover it. So my question is, do you think with my first surgical appt being Feb 5th, that I might actually get scheduled for surgery by March 31st when my insurance runs out? Will the surgery date be much longer b/c its Dr. Fontana? I don't have a Dr preference - he just is the one who did the seminar. BCBS only requires failed documented weight loss attemp which I cleary have through my dr which extends over the past 8 years and they sugg the LB to me. Will it take a long time to do the psyc, nutritionist appt, and the surgical classes? I'd really love your insight/opinions. Thank you!

It is possible, you may want to call the doctors office and ask whoever handles their insurance. They are pretty knowledgeable about these things. They also have a pretty clear understanding the the different insurance companies they deal with. I would also call your new insurance and find out that if you have any complications if they cover it. Even though they don't cover the program. Most companies you can continue to get the insurance coverable for 18 months with a fee after ending employment. I know Anthem BCBS does this you may want to check your BCBS about that. Just some suggestions...

What a great idea, JimmieLou!!! It would probably be cheaper to extend the insurance coverage a few months than to pay the 16-17K self pay! I'm going to call tomorrow and find out! Thank you!!

I think I'm going to try calling to get the appts for the psyc, nutritionist, etc. now - since it sounds like those are what cause most of the delays if I'm reading things on this thread right. I saw a Kathy Lynch mentioned and will try to call her tomorrow at least to get the appointments rolling. Does anyone know the names of some nutritionists I can just set up appts with and save myself a week or two by calling now?

I also read from someone else that they needed to bring copies of last pap smear, mammogram, chest xray and some blood tests. I can get the first to pretty easily from by OBGYN, and the dr supervised diet very easily as well.

I was so excited about your idea I forgot to say that I don't have any of the co-morbidities. I have high cholesterol. I will call the insurance girls tomorrow as well and ask about the turn around expectations with my BCBS. Thank you again for the great ideas and your thoughts. I appreciate that.

Call your docs office and ask what steps to take all doctors are different. Some of those are provided through them. You want to also check with the insurance to find out what all they require. Do those first and get your insurance approved. You don't what to pay a lot of out of pocket expenses if for some reason you don't get approved. Good luck . These other ladies have a whole lot more knowledge than I do, I will not be banded until one week from now. They will be able to help you out a lot.

Thanks again for the great info. So you can get your insurance approved before you do all those visits? I didn't know that - good to know. My insurance is BCBS - and all they require is a 1 yr dr supervised diet and a bmi of >40. I also double checked with the sentara norfolk weight loss group - and they confirmed. So maybe all I need to do is bring my documents to them now and they can submit for the ins approval. I'm so confused about this portion of the process and don't want to waste time when I can be getting things moving along. Any advice is greatly appreicated!

rhc, good luck, you shouldn't have too much trouble with BCBS. As long as all your paperwork is together and all info provided, it should go pretty smooth.

Jimmilou... You're getting close. I'm thinking of you. Good luck Thursday with your surgery. You'll be in bandland soon enough!

As for me, yesterday was my 3rd fill. Dr. T added 1.1cc for a total of 8.1 in my Realize band. I think I'm actually finally where I need to be with full restriction. I can tell a difference with just a little bit to eat. Plus... last night I was a little hungry before dinner, so I tried to eat a tsp of Peanut Butter. Never had a problem with it before. It was NOT a pretty sight. It got stuck and I couldnt' get it up. It took about 4 heaves before It finally came flying out. This was the first time I have ever thrown up eating anything. hahahahah Sorry for too much info. No more peanut butter for me. It's Protein shakes only for me today. I'm definitely going to give it my 2 days of liquid, and two days of mushys before trying anything solid. I'm nut hungry at all today. Anyway, who would have thunk peanut butter would bother you. Geez!

sorry to hear about throwing up. yuck - I'm sure it wasn't fun at all. I can't believe you've lost 49lbs already since 9/11. That's amazing! really! I can't even wrap my head around that right now trying to imagine that happening to me. If I lost 50lbs, I'd weigh 180 which I haven't seen since I got married! What is your energy like if you go on 2 days of liquids? I have a high stress job - I worry I won't be as mentally sharp - remembering things or solving the technical problems I do for a living - as well and it would show in my job performance. How is that for you? Also, do you ever have concerns about not eating until 11am? I heard Fontana say that is normal. Won't that negatively impact your metabolism long term?

Hi Rh, what do you mean by not eating until 11 am? That seems late in the day. Who said you can't eat until 11 am? As far as the liquids, right after surgery you really don't get too hungry, as your stomach is swollen. Do you mean the two days after your fill. To be honest, this is the first fill I've gotten where really had any restriction, so I stayed on mushys after the last couple fills, and not quite liquids. I was hungry, and didn't have restriction, so I wasn't so great with the liquid thing. This time I am. But... the difference now is I have restriction. I've been staying on Protein shakes, etc.. and I'm really not hungry at all. It's pretty easy now that I have proper restriction!! HOORAY

You will get there with the 50 lbs too. You'll do great!! My weight came off really fast at first. Over the last couple months, it has really slowed down a lot. To about a pound or 1 1/2 a week. It was starting to get a little frustrating, as I was eating right, and exercising like crazy. I know they say the lb a week is great, but when you are a daily weigher like I am, 1 lb seemed like nothing. lol Anyway, the first 30 dropped off like Water. You will see.... Right after the surgery, you're on liquids for like 2 weeks. That's hard, but you'll see the weight come pouring off. After you get on regular foods, it slows down a little. Especially if your restriction is limited. Some have it right off the bat. I really didn't have it until this last (3rd) fill, now I definitely have it. And.. my what a difference! I felt like before it was mostly will power and obsessive exercise. Don't worry, you'll see that 50 lbs gone in no time. It doesn't sound like you have a lot to lose, if 50 lbs will get you to 180. It's taking me 75 lbs to get to 180 hahahahha But... I'm just about half way to goal since 9/11. That is great! I worked for every lb. It has been a real struggle for me from about the first month or so...until yesterday's fill. I'm so glad it's going to get a little easier.

RH, also, I think high cholesterol is considered on of the items you can list from being obese. You should be ok with bcbs if your bmi is 40 and you have high cholesterol.

Thanks for the encouragement. When I went to the seminar, Dr. Fontana said he recommends his patients eat only when hungry in the am and preferably 11am. The person who gave the testimonial said the same thing.

Also - I learned that high cholesterol isn't considered one of the co-morbidities - can you believe that? The lady in the ins dept said only diabetes, high blood pressure, and one other i can't remember right now. I appreciate the vote of confidence re: the insurance. Its going to be really tight, I think. I went ahead and signed up for 2 support group meetings - both in Feb b/c I think that is another requirement. I just have to learn how you go about requesting the psych eval and nutritionist appt. I assume they give a referral list. I read on another board it took someone a month to get in to see the psych eval so I'm concerned that could put me into late Feb. I just have to figure out if they move forward with the ins approval before the psych eval and nutritionist or after. If anyone knows what Norfolk Sentara WLC does - please share! If only to help me sort out this timeline!

Good for you on the exercise!!! How much and what are you doing per week in that department?

I never heard of such a thing, eating at 11 am. My surgeons office does not do that. He doesn't say what time we should eat. I wonder what reason he has for that? Did he say? That sounds weird to me.

Has anyone else reading this heard of that?

High cholesterol probably isn't considered a co-morbidity because it's controllable with medication. Who knows... So is high blood pressure. What is your bmi again? Did you say 40. I know a bmi of over 40 is a co morbidity, and that may be enough for insurance to give the ok. Do you have any other issues your Dr. can list, like bad knees, arthritis. Whatever he puts on your medical records will help.

Your surgeons office should be able to set up your nutrition appt. and your psych eval for you. WLSC does it all for you. You really don't have to do a thing. They file the insurance and everything.

I exercise basically every day. I try to switch things around, so I don't get bored, but sometimes I have to force myself cause I don't feel like it. lol. I got an elliptical for Christmas, so I try to do either 30-45 minutes on my elliptical, or I do my aerobics tape. I hape a couple tapes called turbo jam from beachbody.com. They are fabulous. If it's nice out, I walk. I just came back from a 50 minute walk. I try to do at least 45 minutes of exercise everyday. I get bored, so can't do much more than that. hee hee But.. I do it every day. Once in a while, I'll skip Sunday. But.. some girls dont do it at all, and still lose the weight, so... The scale does not move for me if I don't exercise. But... like I said, up until now I didn't have much restriction, so the exercise got me where I needed to be. I figure if I eat 1200 calories in a day, and burn off 400 then that's not so bad, and and I'll lose weight. I'm looking forward to the warmer weather so I can do more outside stuff, like biking, etc... I'm going to pm you, and give you my private e-mail address. You can e-mail me anytime if you want. Where do you live?