I'm in Conway and had my band done on 7/1/05! 18 lbs gone so far.

No way!!!! I'm in Conway too!! Who did your surgery? Congrats by the way! Welcome to Band Land! Jack, Conway is in Arkansas............Jess

Dr. Wellborn did my surgery. I had my first fill on the 15th, but I'm going back next Wednesday because I didn't get the proper restriction.

You'll get it! Hang in there. It took me 3 fills before I had any noticeable restriction. I think I could use a little more, but I want to give this a try for a while. Good luck! It's nice to know that there is someone close to home going through the same things that I am. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions..........Jess

Dr. Wellborn did my friend's surgery! I live in Texarkana but would drive to Little Rock (2 hour drive). I am self pay and would like to ask what it would cost to use Dr. Wellborn. And BTW...I have family in Conway! I used to spend the summers there when I was growing up

:Bunny I have my first surgeon appt. in Memphis on Sept. 20th. I'm nervous cause I don't know what to expect. I'm wondering do they do all the tests before you get approval from your insurance or do they wait. If my insurance denies.....I don't want to have to pay for a bunch of tests I didn't need. Can you tell me what to expect. I'm going to Memphis because I'm there every 3 weeks at the airport picking up my husband and I can make a convenience out of that.

:Bunny I'm wondering do they do all the tests before you get approval from your insurance or do they wait. If my insurance denies.....I don't want to have to pay for a bunch of tests I didn't need.

You should be able to call your insurance company to find out if the Lap Band is covered. We generally do that for all of our patients so that before they show up for an appointment they know whether or not the insurance company will even potentially pay for it or not.

Some insurance companies still don't seem to understand what the Lap Band is, and only know about the gastric bypass, so it may be easier to ask them about an exclusion for morbid obesity surgical procedures first, then ask about Lap Band specifically.

I did call my insurance company and they told me that my insurance didn't pay for it even if medically necessary but I got my husbands new employee hand book and it states in there that "gastric bypass, stomach stapling and some other procedure WAS covered". Why would they tell me it wasn't if the hand book states it is and this is a new handbook with this insurance company. I go Tuesday the 20th.........now what?

We go right past Conway when headed to see my In laws in Oklahoma. Seems like a nice place. Congratulations on your weight loss!!!

Dr WEllborn is my dr too.. Fabulous man. on July 28th. You might have seen me on channel 11 kthv interview at st vin.

Tisha

I have my history and physical appointment on Monday. I'm excited but scared. Were you? I saw you on T.V. and I had just found out about a co-worker of mine that had it done. I was praying for God to give me a sign and your story came on the t.v. that night. Neat huh?

The books are in general for that insurance company, however employers have the option to have weight loss treatment written out of the policy for one reason or another (usually for cheaper rates). It's called a written exclusion. This is what happened to me also. I had to self pay.

That is really cool. thanks for letting me know. The only reason I agreed to do the interview was in hopes of 2 things, 1. to keep people from having the much more dangerous gastric bypass and 2. Hoping to give people liek me hope and inspiration and let them know THERE is a safer and better way than to have to try to do this on their own. Most of us if we could do it on our own we wouldn't choose to alter our bodies to acheive our goal.

Thanks for lettign me know

Tisha

295/269/250/145

Some of us Arkie Lap Bandsters need to get together..

I agree that we should all get together for a lapband reunion. I hope to have my lapband by Thanksgiving. I'm just really concerned about the liquid diet for 2 weeks. I guess when I go for my appointment on Monday they will answer my questions.

Im in Pine Bluff and havent had the lap band surgery. Im just in the process of finding out about it now. 18 years ago I had a gastric bypass and I lost down from 265 to 98 lbs. The surgery went perfectly and I lost what I needed to but when I got pregnant with my son shortly after, i guess the pouch stretched and I gained all my weight back. Now Im wanting to try lap band, but I have no insurance. Does anyone know of any medical clinic in Arkansas that offers financing or has an experimental program for this type of procedure? I have to do something soon.. Im only 48 and had a heart attack 3 years ago and have high blood pressure. If I dont get this weight off, Im afraid the same thing may happen again!!

Lauren Moore