and they say they will pay for it! :thumbup: No additional info on the letter re: requirements, so I guess there are none.

I've actually been going back and forth on whether to have the surgery or not. I'm "only" 185 but my acceptable weight range is 89-119 (due to me being so short! There are 10 year olds my height)

But after this weekend - gall bladder problems - I am just ready to get "everything fixed." So scheduled my GB surgery for within the week, and my doc says I have to wait at least 6 weeks for LB surgery.

Oh, the gall bladder attacks were good for one thing - they made me realize I CAN find other things to do besides eat. It's like I'm on a pre-op diet already... can barely eat more than an apple! :tt2: That was one of my concerns - that I wouldn't be able to find something to do since I'm such a eat-when-I'm-bored-or-emotional person! That fear gone! :thumbup:

Hey, that's great news 39 (about the insurance approval.....not the gallbladder, lol)!!

that's great about your approval!! CONGRATS!

I too am very short AND doubted that i should do this. The process for me went very quick and in that 2 weeks betweeing submitting approval and surgery date, i doubted it too.

i went back and looked at the before pics i had taken and cried. YES, THIS IS what i need to do, and i should have done it sooner!

sorry about your gallbladder! too bad they can't do it all at once instead of 2 surgeries...and having to wait to get the band!

I hope your surgery and recovery is quick and easy...and you'll be banded before you know it!!

I had heard that some surgeons do both operations at once but my doctor said that would risk complications and infection and would be grounds for malpractice, and they would not do it that way. I suppose if I was having open surgery and not laproscopic, they'd do it all at once??

I've having a few more doubts as I read some of the sections of this forum (the failed LBs or the ones that needed to have theirs removed or converted!)

But anyway, one step at a time, gotta get this dumb gall bladder taken care of first. :ohmy:

gallbladder can be done laproscopic, that's why i mentioned the 2 done at the same time.

i completely understand why they said they wouldn't want to do both together though. this way you will know if you have trouble, which one is causing the problems!

i read the good and the bad. it's a risk that comes with just about anything you do. The day i called to make my appointment to find out if i was a canidate for the band, i had gone with a friend to get diet pills and some kind of shot that suppose to help with weightloss. Had i done that, i probably would have had a reaction to the meds they were going to give me because little did i know, my B/P was SKY HIGH and i had to go on B/P meds (which in the end, helped me qualify for the band since my BMI wasn't high enough). so, i could have harmed myself by that....

i figured yes, there are risk, but being overwieght, and dare i say obese....and closer to morbidly obese than i would like to admit there are many many risk also.

I have babies...4 of them... one about to be considered an adult, all the way down to a 1 yr old! i want to live long enough to see my youngest baby grow up, i want to live to play with my GRANDbaby's. i don't just want to WATCH them do it either...i want to run and play with them, i want to ENJOY them!

i guess it just depends on how bad the weight is affecting your life and what changes you want to make.

getting the band isn't a magic device that makes the weight just melt away. you still have to make changes and follow the rules. Some people don't do that, and then complain that they don't have success.

the band HELPS...it doesn't do the work FOR us!

I'm sure you will come to the decision that is right for you and you will be at peace with it!!

Yes, I've overcome the mental thing, I believe I can follow the rules. I am talking about the other "horror" stories on the board where the people lost weight on the band but it eroded, or caused other problems, they needed it removed, or caused reflux or something like that.

The reasons you stated for the band are my own... my children are 4 and 2 (and I want one more, even though I am old!) and my real driving factor for this surgery is to be able to be active in their lives and not just be fat-momma sitting on the sidelines. :ohmy:

I currently do not have any co-morbidities or even problems they ask in the survey regarding can't getting dressed, can't get out of my chair, can't walk. I am lucky in that respect but trying to prevent any of these problems by getting the weight off.