I was denied by the UMASS doctors. The reason was that I did not have a BMI of 40. My BMI was 37 and they did not factor that I have high blood pressure. They refused to listen and had me denied at the first orientation even though I went as far as seeing the nutritionist and physiologist. From what I got from the whole ordeal at UMASS was that I was too young and that I should continue to diet. Gee; why didn't I think of that? I have been dieting since I was thirteen and only got short term results. I felt they thought I was lazy. It was disappointing to get the denial letter.

I did not give up. I did my research on this website and others about the Dr. that denied me and I was not the only one that was denied but approved by other doctors.

I am not given up!!!

The lap band is the tool that will help me succeed with losing weight and keeping it off.

I made a visit to Dr. Glasgow office and he looked at my records and saw that my BMI was 37 but I did have high blood pressure and that my primary care doctor recommends that I have this surgery. After meeting with him I met with the Nutritionist, physiologist and did the sleep lab.

Now I am just waiting for the results to be submitted to Blue Cross Blue Shields for approval.

Waiting is sooooo hard….. :thumbup:

Keep your finger crossed....

MAG:wub:

Lucy sorry for your grief....it's like we are being penaltied for not being heavier! I was turned down with a 39 BMI.....I thought I was loosing my mind when I read your heading though...I thought I wrote it. My only son goes to UMASS and my only daughter attends Norwood School!

Thanks for posting this. I am going through the UMASS program and I'm not enjoying it at all. It seems they expect me to be able to diet well and loose weight at a rate of 2lbs a week! And If I can not prove that I can do this than I'm not a good canditate for Surgery. They talk and talk about how this is a lifestyle change, but want me to drop weight like I was on South Beach.

Anyway, I am over halfway through and I really wanted to work with Umass because I live in Worcester and I'm happy not to have to commute an hour to Boston or Norwood. We'll see...

Good luck to you and I'm glad you are happy with Dr. Glasgow.

It seems they expect me to be able to diet well and loose weight at a rate of 2lbs a week! And If I can not prove that I can do this than I'm not a good canditate for Surgery. They talk and talk about how this is a lifestyle change, but want me to drop weight like I was on South Beach.

OK, maybe I'm delusional, but I thought we were lap band candidates BECAUSE we haven't had much success either losing weight or keeping it off. Two pounds a week is 104 pounds in a year. If I could lose that and KEEP It off, I wouldn't NEED the lap band.

I would have loved to have gone to Umass in Worc., but they seemed to work against me and made me depressed. They left me hanging for so long. Umass was not personal at all. How can I describe my experience-herd in and herded out-just another number. I saw the Umass doctor in Dec. 2007 and in March 2008 they denied me. I have to say that the care I get in Norwood is so much better than Umass. So understanding-I can call the office any time with any questions and they listen and understand how hard it is to be over weight. Umass was not personal at all. I went to Norwood in April 2008 and was approved April 2008 and now I am waiting for my surgery date. I don’t have to go on any crazy diets-only the pre-surgery diet and the normal after surgery liquid diet and so on. Trust me if I could lose the weight by dieting I would. Norwood is not putting me on any diets for approval.

I wish you the best of luck with Umass and keep me posted.

Congratulations on your surgery date. I here ya with the whole diet thing. Norwood is not requiring a south beach diet.

Have you had the lap band yet??? If not give Dr. Glasgow office a call. Trust me once you have talk to the girls in the office and meet both the doctors you will love them and the service they provide. They do realize that I have a commute to Norwood. They helped me schedule everything back to back. I met the Physiologist on a Wednesday on that same Wednesday I did the Sleep lab at Norwood Hospital and in the morning I met with the Nutrionist in the morning. Every thing done. Umass would have never gone out of their way for me like Dr. Glasgow office. Best thing I ever did was to research them out. They have NO Complaints or negative feedback from anywhere that I can see. I did find negative feedback with Umass. Here is the website to check out:

http://www.glasgowandglasgow.com/lap-band-surgery.html

Lucy:

I cannot agree more with your comments about Glasgow and Glasgow LLP. They are terrific. I was banded with them last July after following up on all of the preliminaries between March to end of June.

Maybe I'll catch you at support group, or in the waiting room some time.

Take care and best wishes to you.

Sue

I will be banded on May 29th by Dr. Arthur Glasgow in Norwood, MA.

Lucy12:

They're great over there. I think there's another LBT'er being banded on the same day as you - Allison.

Good luck to both of you. Looks like you live too far away, but maybe some time I'll catch you at support group, or bump into you when I go in for weigh-ins or fills.

Take care.

Sue

My family doctor and I tried for a year to get this weight off. I got sick of the attempts and the failure. He suggested the diet AGAIN when my weight was getting out of control and I blew up at him. I told him I was born to be fat, get over it I have. He suggested looking into a lap band. My BMI was only 39 he told me I needed to get to 40 because I had no health issues. I was just too fat. So, I hit 40 and then went to the doctor that does the lap band and went through all his tests and requirements, sent it off to the insurance and got the approval this week!!! My big day is June 2nd.

So, don't give up. Keep looking for the right answer for you.

Good Luck

I just got banded at UMASS, and I can agree that they are impersonal (I like it that way), but they did not require me to go on South Beach, all they required was some weight loss between the time you saw the doctor and the time you met the surgeon. I was told it could be as little as two pounds. The time between when I met Dr. Gitkind and when I met Dr. C was four months. This is a far cry from requiring someone to lose two pounds a week. According to their scales, in four months I lost 13 pounds (and I lost more than most people in my group who got surgery) This comes to a little over three pounds a month. I did not even really change the way I ate except to eat smaller bites and chew them thoroughly.

My friend is still in the program and she has gained 15 pounds since she started. They are working with her still because she quit smoking and they know that people gain when they quit. Their only weight loss requirement for her is that she lose some of the weight she gained since she quit smoking.

I just wanted people who read this thread to know that everyone's experience at UMASS is different.

good luck

like some other responders, I think you'll love the Glasgows. Definitely worth the drive.

Good luck with getting your approval!

I agree, everyone will have a different experience within the same program. I never intended to dissuade someone from attending the Umass program. I also want clarify that I said It seemed like they expect me to loose 2 pounds a week like someone who was on South Beach. No one in the program ever mentioned South Beach.

I said this because at the second of the 4 weekly required classes I lost 1/2 a pounds. The woman weighing me in said something like "I guess we'll take it" and when a woman weighed in and had lost 2 pounds the group leader said "Now this is what we want to see"

I am also glad to hear that you were told your loss could be as little as 2 pounds. Again my experience has been different. When I called to book my last psychologist appointment. The woman on the phone who gave me an app date looked at my chart, saw I was down exactly 2 pounds from the intake with Dr G and said "Well you better make sure your weight is down by then"

Congratulations on your banding at Umass and I'm glad to hear you would recommend it.