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LapBand needs to approve the insurance??



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I have been approved by my BCBS MI insurance but now I am waiting on LapBand approving my insurance. My doc's office said this is something new for them. Has anyone else had experience with this. I have not heard of a medical supplier needing to approve an individual insurance before.:confused:

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Does your insurance have a network? Is your surgeon IN That network? Most insurance companies have a network of surgeons you may choose from; it's possible your surgeon has applied to be one but the paperwork isn't finalized...

If that isn't it, ask your surgical center what it means and how long it might take.

If your Ins does have a network and your surgeon isn't in it, you might want to switch...?

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My doc is employed by the hospital, is in network for my insurance and has done thousands of LapBands and bypass surgeries. They said this is the first time they had to send in a form to LapBand. It should only take 72 hours for a response. I work in the health field and haven't heard of a medical supplier approving insurance.

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Hey I am from Michigan too. Wondering where in michigan and who is your doc. I am going through grand river surgery. I live in rockford. Always nice to see a fellow michigander

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My doc is employed by the hospital, is in network for my insurance and has done thousands of LapBands and bypass surgeries. They said this is the first time they had to send in a form to LapBand. It should only take 72 hours for a response. I work in the health field and haven't heard of a medical supplier approving insurance.

Wow, that is interesting and nerve racking too! I have never heard of this before.

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Where in Michigan are you from?

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I am from SW Michigan. Dr. Michael Schuhknecht is my doc. He is at Laleland Compreehensive Weight Loss Center in Niles.

LapBand approved my insurance :thumbup:and BCBS approved my surgery:thumbup: so I am scheduled for banding on Mon Feb 2. :bored:

After some investigating on the LapBand website I found that they do the insurance approval to be sure the patient has enough coverage for the surgery. They have a patient assistance program I guess to help if there isn't enough coverage.

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      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. LeighaTR

        I hope your surgery on Wednesday goes well. You will be able to do all sorts of new things as you find your new normal after surgery. I don't know this from experience yet, but I am seeing a lot of positive things from people who have had it done. Best of luck!

    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
      · 0 replies
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