Hey there all! I'm a 22 year old mother of a 2 year old special needs/disabled son. My husband is stationed at Fort Lewis. I have no family or friends up here so it would be nice to connect with some other banders in this area...Anyone? lol Hope all is well with eveyone. I also have a whole lot of clothes that I'm getting rid of. Sizes 18-24/26. Shirts, Pants, suits, large bras...lol. All kinds of stuff. Take care!

well im off to see a movie, have a great day

I have recently been thinking about being banded. Looking for a good surgeon and facility. I also have tricare but am not sure if it should cover everything? Any info that you have is greatly appreciated! I live in Spokane but would travel if needed.

I had my surgery at Northwest Weightloss Surgery in Everret, WA. I paid with carecredit. they have online support groups and stuff...also the majority of the people working there have the band as well!

I saw that you did private pay. How much did it cost?

I paid around 16,000. Which includes a year of free fills and appointments. The evals and 2 year fix it guarantee. Which pretty much means if anything happens to the band (erosion, slippage) they will fix it free all I have to pay is the anesthisia (sp). I make payments each month, just like a credit card

Thank you for all of the info! How does the band work for pregnancy? is it safe?

So far I haven't had any problems. I haven't even needed to get an unfill...I'll probably need one eventually, but for now I'm doing okay! You can also go to nwwls.com they have the surgeons one there and everything. My surgeon was Dr. Chock...she was awesome!

How long did it take for you to actually get to band placed from when you started to research it. I would like to get it done ASAP!!! but it kind of sounds like it will take a while until they will actually do the procedure. :confused:

I went to a seminar. Within a few days I went in to have my consult. I then went in about a week later to have my psych eval and my surgeon consult, scheduled my surgery and within that next month I was having the band placed! I was only on the pre op diet for like 4-5 days! Because I was financed/approved through CareCredit I was able to get everything done fast! It would take longer going through insuarance though.

so what determines how long you stay on the pre op diet?

How far in advance your surgery is. My surgery was scheduled for like a week after my surgical consult...it was sooo fast!

Thank you for the wonderful advise and info! you give me hope! I am sure I will have more questions for you soon!

No problem! I am always around if you have any questions :confused:. I also forgot after the year of "free" fills they're $150 I believe!

how is everyone doing in the south end?

Sorry not getting back to you about coffee yet. Things have just been crazy. I just had my tummy tuck yesterday and before that all the tests that go with being in the hospital.