I have made the decision to have the lap band procedure done. :thumbup:Unfortunately the doctor my family doctor referred me too does not take any new referrals until June of every year. And he only takes a certain number. I had also decided that if my referral is not accepted this year then I will be getting the procedure done elsewhere.

I want to get a head start on whatever it is I need to do before the surgery can take place. Do I need to be a certain BMI? My BMI is currently 42.3. Is there a particular diet I am to follow? If anyone can give me a "shove" in the right direction I would greatly appreciate. I congradulate all of you in your success. :thumbs_up:

Different insurance companies may have slightly different requirements, but I will share mine with you. You can probably get a good head start (I would also look around and see who else is out there while waiting to see this guy). First I would call your insurance company and find out (in writing if you can) what their criteria is for acceptance. I have Blue Choice HMO through my employer. If your insurance is through your employer, they have a manual of what is covered. You may have to share that you are investigating bariatric sugery because the manual is usually large and they won't copy the whole thing. I got the pages covering my surgery so I knew exactly what I had to do. Calling them is next best, but when I did that they told me only bypass was covered, and that was not accurate.

My insurance says you need a BMI of 40 or more and be 100 lbs overweight, or if your BMI was 35-39 you had to have one or more co-morbidity (weight related health issues) such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, reflux (GERD), joint arthritis, sleep apnea, and the like. My surgeon told me I had metabolic syndrom, all but diabetes, meaning I had everything else I listed except for diabetes. My BMI was like 38-39, and I was a good 100 pounds over where I wanted to be.

Another requirement for my insurance (many insurances but not all are doing this, and it is something you could do now while waiting to see the surgeon) is a 6 month DOCUMENTED weight loss attempt. Many will accept receipts from Weight Watchers, Nutrisystem and the like. You just have to have some documentation. I didn't so I had to wait and do the 6 months before I could have surgery. I got the dietician on the bariatric team to set it up for me. Only cost me $35. Again that will vary, depending on what your insurance company wants. If you need to do it, your PCP could monitor it or refer you to a dietician and you have time just about to have it completed if you start now. While I was doing the 6 month diet, I decided to learn everything I could, good, bad and ugly. I started coming here last November. I also went to obesity help.com and read all their info about all the surgeries. My sister had gastric bypass, and I was interested in the vertical sleeve, but my insurance only covered the band and bypass, so I went with the band. See my signature line for the results.

Also check and make sure your surgery will be done in a Bariatric Center of Excellence. To get that rating the hospital has to have done a large number of surgeries with a low complication rate (means they have lots of experience).

Also most places that do surgery offer group support that meets once or twice a month. I started going to that after making my decision to have the surgery, and I have been going since last July. Pre-op, recent post-op, people out several years, people just thinking about it, all come and share stories, and issues, and basically share the struggle. You can learn a lot there, and here.

There are several magazines that are helpful too. OH, which is obesityhelp.com's magazine, is very good. There is another one called WLS Lifestyles, a little more technical, but also very good. OH can be subscribed from their website, and I thin WLS either has their own site or bariatriceating.com may have a link.

You can investigate Protein shakes in the meatime, and find out what you like. Look for low fat, low carb, low sugar. I use Woldwide Protein Shakes, available at Trader Joe's and Vitamin Shoppe. GNC has them but are the priciest ($2.99 a can). Cheapest is TJ and Vitamin Shoppe drops the per can price ($2.79) to about $2.38 if you buy a 12 pack. That is for 35g protein shakes. TJ has 21g($1.69) and 35g($2.29) but just in vanilla and chocolate. VS has just 35g but in all flavors, including strawberry, banana Cream, and Cookies n Cream(tastes like Oreos). unjury is another good brand. It comes in powder that you mix in milk or maybe Water. You can check that out at unjury.com

As for Vitamins and Calcium you are put on chewables after surgery. Bariatric Advantage has a whole website of supplements and I think they still sell a sampler pack you can get to try them. Centrum makes chewables, even in Silver for old folks like me. I get my Calcium (get citrate not carbonate--better absorbed) from vitacost.com. The brand is Twin Labs calcium citrate with Magnesium and D(D should be D3 or cholocalciferol--not sure if I spelled it right). They come in 60 wafer bottles for around $8.00. Vitacost charges $4.99 for any size order, so I order as much as I can afford at a time. Cheaper then any store I have seen it in.

By now you are probably cross-eyed, so I will shut up. I hope this has helped and not overwhelmed you. As you can see there is a lot you can do between now and June, and taking the initiative may help you become one of those select few people the surgeon accepts. Good luck on your journey.

Thank you so much for the information. I really appreciate your advice. If I get the procedure done here in our province everything is covered through our health care system, but if I go outside of our province/country I will have to cover cost. I had contacted my insurance company and they do not cover the lap band but will cover stay in the hospital. Irregardless of the cost I will be still having the lap band done.

I have complete one course regarding nutrition, and will be looking for anything that will help me with my goal to become healthy.

Congradulations on your success with your weight loss. I am so excited, I cannot wait until the pounds start melting off.

Edited January 9, 200917 yr by Jenn100