**My story so far with getting the Lapband**

(By no way am I trying to make any one feel sorry for me with telling my story but this is just a way to let out some of my feelings and possibly help someone else going through this journey:smile2:)

I have Tricare Prime with Triwest and this is my process so far...

I went in to my primary care giver and asked him about getting the lapband surgery in mid January 09, he told me to wait 3-4 months and exercise 5 days a week and eat lower calories. Which being overweight my whole life I would think he would understand I’ve tried everything and the reason I was asking him for this is because I have tried all of those things and this was my last resort but I walked out feeling embarrassed for even asking and went home and was thinking I would never go back and ask about the lapband again! :huh2:

About a month later my husband and I decided after 5 years together that it would be a nice time to try for a baby. We both always wanted to have kids so I agreed and I came off the Birth Control pill. After 4-5 months with no periods and no ovulation I went in to talk with my OB-GYN and told her I had no periods and I would like to know if she could help me regain my periods so I can try to conceive. I also thought that I could have PCOS. Most of you know if you have no periods you’re not ovulating and ultimately can’t get pregnant. Well she told me that I would have to lose weight before she would help me try for a baby and that if I don’t lose at least 100lbs that there was no hope of her sending me to a fertility doctor to help me get pregnant or find out if I had PCOS. She had read my chart from the previous doctor visit with my primary care giver about me asking about lap band and she advised me to get the surgery, lose weight and come back to see her. I was devastated! I still till this day feel disgusted with myself. I feel so at fault for not being able to conceive. I thought having a baby would kind of take my mind off of the first visit with my primary care giver and make me feel better about myself, cause I thought having a baby is at least something I can do right, but obviously obese women are off limits to having babies, according to my OBGYN.:sad:

So on July 1st, 2009 on my birthday (that was the only day they had available at the time) I went to talk with NEW primary care giver and he told me that I've done my time with waiting and was completely upset and disgusted about what my OBGYN told me so he personally walked me down to the referral desk and gave me the ok to go to the surgeon. I know a lot of people ask why am I getting the surgery and not fighting back with my OBGYN. Well I’ve told myself, I’m not doing this for her, I’m doing it for myself. I’ve struggled with weight all my life and I don’t want my weight to be a discrimtory thing I’ll have to deal again and later on in my life.

Well on to what I’ve done so far, on July 1st my new primary care giver wrote the referral to see the surgeon and I checked online with triwest that night and I found out I was approved for my first consult. :lol:I couldn’t have been happier because it was my birthday and that was the best birthday gift anyone could have given me. On July 8th I went to see the nutritionist, physical therapist (he told me how to exercise) and I saw the psychiatrist. On July 14th I go to see the lapbanding surgeon for my first consult and after that I have to wait to see if Tricare approves me then I’ll be able to schedule my appt for the surgery. I’m hoping for a beginning of August date.

Well there is my long story, I hope this helps someone else that is going through some tough times with lapband and life. Thanks for reading....I’ll keep yall updated on my progress, wish me luck!!

Edited July 13, 200917 yr by chrystinaw

*Update*AM

I've waited all week to call my surgeon's office I couldn't wait till Monday (today) to talk to the nurse at my surgeon's office. Well as yall know I got my blood work done last Monday (July 20th) and the lab told me it was going to be 10 business days but I waited till today to call just to check to see if they were done cause 10 business days would have been this Friday. Well the lab told me that the blood work was done on last Wednesday, so it only took 2 days to get it done and faxed to my surgeon's office and the nurse didn't even call me to tell me she received it and if she needed anything else from me! Urgh, I know they are busy but she had the whole rest of the week to do so and she didn't. Anyway my surgeon's office nurse got the fax from the lab and I asked her if she needed anything else from me. She told me it was sitting on her desk and she was going to get to it later, me being nice just said "ok" but in my head I'm thinking "when is later?":cursing:. She said that she would call me if she needs anything else from me. Well I can almost guarantee that she will NOT call me so I plan on calling her on Thursday to see if she sent it or not. The reason I'm calling Thursday is because it is not the end of the week and if she does need something I will still have an open day of the week (Friday) to get it for her. Well that is where I'm at on this process so far, I'm just waiting for her to fax my paperwork to Tricare. My paperwork is just sitting on her desk waiting to be faxed... I almost wish I could just walk in there and fax it myself, lol :crying:.

Oh well that’s my rant of an update, sorry if this is negative...I'm trying to stay positive! :thumbup: TTYL

Edited July 27, 200917 yr by chrystinaw

*Update* PM

I just got a call from the nurse and she is faxing off my paperwork to tricare right now! I was worried for nothing! I'm really happy. She gave me a projected date for my surgery because she said she doesn't see any reason why they will not approve me. My projected date is August 10th and I'm starting my pre surgery diet tomorrow. OMG, I really don't know what to do with my self, I'm sooooo happy:lol:. BUT, I am still not approved with tricare even though she told me that she doesn't see a reason why I could be denied I still gotta be

cautious because for some reason I could be denied so I'm going to try not to be too excited but its so hard not to :crying:.

Does anybody have examples of what pre surgery diet they did? The nurse told me to do the Unjury diet but my nurtitionist told me that I could do another brand if I wanted to because she said Unjury can get costly. Any suggestions? Wish me luck and much love and luck to all for their approvals!!!

Edited July 27, 200917 yr by chrystinaw

*Update*PM

OMG today has been the most eventful day ever! I've been giving you guys updates all day since this morning and this will be the last one for today. So as you guys know from my last update that the nurse at my surgeon's office finally faxed off my paper work to Tricare today and she gave me a projected surgery date just as long as Tricare approved me, which she was almost 100% sure they would approve me. Well not even 2 hours after she faxed it off I got a call from Tricare saying I'm APPROVED!!! OMG, I'm crying but its happy tears :drool:. I feel like I'm dreaming a wonderful dream and I'm going to wake up any min. :crying: I couldn't be happier at this moment! Words can't explain what this surgery and approval mean to me, its the start of a new life for me! Thanks for all the good thoughts and blessings that were put my way, good luck to all for their approvals!!! :thumbup:

Edited July 27, 200917 yr by chrystinaw

Chrystina, Congrats on the approval!. All dr.'s are different on what pre op diet they want you to follow. I had to do low carb for 1 week. Others have to do liquids. Ask your dr. what he wants you to do. Follow his orders to a T. Read these threads. Old post, new post, just anything on here to help you to be prepared for what to ask the dr. and what to have on hand post op. There is a mountain of info here for your reading pleasure! Just remember that no it is not ok to eat chicken/ hamburgers or anything else 2 days after surgery. Some people will say oh but I did and I am alright. Maybe for right now. Let your body heal. Don't worry about maybe gaining at first, this is natural. You will experience bandster hell. You will most likely have gas pains, walk and take Gas-X strips. You won't be able to get all your fluids in at first. You are swollen from banding. As you heal you will be able to drink more. read the liquid and mushie stage recipes.

Good luck and keep posting hon.:smile2:

Congrats that is wounderful they approved you so quickly...:smile2:

WOW! Im so happy for you!!!! i go for my psyph apt on the 11th! cant wait then after that it will get sent off to tricare for approvel. hope it comes back good. so yeah the surgeon said it was a go. now i just have to wait and wait lol. good luck to you

karen

Gone 4 ever wrote: Chrystina, Congrats on the approval!. All dr.'s are different on what pre op diet they want you to follow. I had to do low carb for 1 week. Others have to do liquids. Ask your dr. what he wants you to do. Follow his orders to a T. Read these threads. Old post, new post, just anything on here to help you to be prepared for what to ask the dr. and what to have on hand post op. There is a mountain of info here for your reading pleasure! Just remember that no it is not ok to eat chicken/ hamburgers or anything else 2 days after surgery. Some people will say oh but I did and I am alright. Maybe for right now. Let your body heal. Don't worry about maybe gaining at first, this is natural. You will experience bandster hell. You will most likely have gas pains, walk and take Gas-X strips. You won't be able to get all your fluids in at first. You are swollen from banding. As you heal you will be able to drink more. read the liquid and mushie stage recipes.

Good luck and keep posting hon.

Thanks Gone 4 ever for all your advise and ecourageing words. :blushing:

abingdongirl wrote: Congrats that is wounderful they approved you so quickly...:crying:

Thanks!!!:smile2:

Babyka16 wrote: WOW! Im so happy for you!!!! i go for my psyph apt on the 11th! cant wait then after that it will get sent off to tricare for approvel. hope it comes back good. so yeah the surgeon said it was a go. now i just have to wait and wait lol. good luck to you

karen

Thanks!!! I hope everything goes fast for you. Good Luck!!!

Your very welcome Chrystine. Make sure you keep us posted hon.:smile2:

Hey there! Congrats!! I'm hoping for the same outcome with Tricare. My LAST appointment is this thursday and I can't wait!!! All my appointments will be done and most were paid by my primary insurance which won't pay for the surgery (I have Aetna at work and Tricare Standard through my husband). I started out at the end of April and it just seems to take forever to get through this process. But then, I could have pushed harder to get all appts done sooner. I just didn't know how to coordinate all of it to get it done. I've never used Tricare before because I always carried and used my primary insurance. I sure hope they approve me as quickly!!! I don't think they'll have any reason not to :smile2:. Anyway, maybe I'll be joining the August groupies!! Woohoo!! I can sure relate to how excited you must be! I'll probably cry with happiness just to be done with the hoops. Liquid diet? BRING IT ON BABY!!! (please don't remind me that I said this when I'm whining that I'm hungry later...LOL!)

Edited July 28, 200917 yr by hope2bthinr

Hey hope2bthinr, Thanks for the Congrats!!! I hope this process goes fast for you as well. I think the reason I got it so fast is because I just didn't take no for an answer. I'm sure the nurse at my surgeon's office thought I was a nut for calling so much but hey it got me here so I'm happy.

I've just started the liquid diet today and I'm the same way 'Bring it on baby!!" but I have a feeling I'ma have to keep my self busy so I don't look at the refrigerator. I'm kinda glad now becuse my hubby is on TTY and he is not eating around me and I'm not cooking for him so that is going to help at least until he gets back. Wish me luck on this liquid diet! Hoping for the best for you all to get your approvals and surgery!!!:biggrin:

Ok so I'm not going to lie this liquid diet is kicking my butt, lol...I want fooood :biggrin:, lol. BUT, Every time I think about my goal I snap myself back in place and just don't think about food as much. But I had two funny things to share that happened to me today as far as food goes. I go and check the mail, just trying to do anything to keep my mind off of food, which by the way I didn't realize how much I thought about food until I wasn't allowed to have any, lol. Anyways, there is an ad in the mail box for Papa John’s, everything looked so darn good, lol I was walking back to the house and was thinking oh I guess I'll order pizza and wings tonight instead of cooking dinner, then I walked in and saw my protein drink on the coffee table and remembered, Oh yeah I can't eat regular food!, lol, I thought it was funny because I totally forgot I was on the liquid diet. The other funny thing is I was watching TV today and I saw a commercial for KFC. I'm not a big fan of KFC but today it looked like heaven, lol...I guess food does have a big impact on my mind and I just don't realize it because I always have it when I want it, need it, etc. Anyways I thought I’d share my stories, I wonder if anyone else has gone through this. I just thought it was weird that I totally forgot I was on the liquid diet and was so planning on picking up the phone to call Papa John’s when I walked in the house :sad:. It’s ok though, I'll get through it. Honestly, it’s not as hard as I really thought it would be, its hard but not impossible (I hope that makes sense). I think I'm not really "hungry" I think I just miss the fact of chewing food. I made protein jello shots and protein pudding and I have those for snacks, I really look forward to snack time:tt2:. Ok I'm done rambbling. If anyone has some stories to tell about their liquid diet, please feel free, I love a funny story. Talk to you guys later.

I am so happy for you... everything has gone so fast for you! That is awesome. I have 2 more things to do and that is a sleep study on Monday and my nutritionist appt next friday. I did all my blood work the day after I met the surgeon for my consult. It has been 3 weeks and no one has called me so I guess they dont bother you with the results, guess i will hear about my results at my next appt? I just had to do a lipid test and the full metabolic profile ...

Take care and keep us informed

Tory... :juggle:

Hey Tory09, Thanks!

I hope things go fast for you as well. Wow your doctor didn't require as much blood work as mine, good for you, lol. I'm still in shock about how fast it when through but hey with all the complaining and ranting I did I guess it paid off, lol. Good luck with your journey, you too keep me posted! :juggle:

Edited July 30, 200917 yr by chrystinaw

Ok, I guess mine is going to be strung out a little longer....what I thought was my LAST TEST today, is actually a consult (uuuggghhh!! more money for nothing!! ok excuse me...money for the doctor for a 10 minute visit to tell me he's going to do this or that, then another appointment so another fee can be collected to maximize the wallet weight for the same dr.) and then the test is "scheduled" sometime in the next two weeks. One more delay. My surgeon's paperwork said she wanted the blood tests, Echocardiogram and endoscopic thing within two weeks of the actual surgery but won't file for insurance approval til they are all done. How is that possible if 1. the referrals to these test have to go through my primary to guarantee ins will pay for them just in case, 2. each referral for the test seems to take a week or to to get scheduled, then it's out a week or more 3. and all this is assumng my insurance will move on it fast. I'm sure Tricare will but it has to be filed with my primary insurance first and denied so that Tricare will then give the approval. So that depends on my Primary insurance acting on it quickly too. But again, the surgeon won't submit till all the tests are done...it's like a catch 22!! I'm hanging in there, trying not to get wound up about it but ggeeeezzzzz!! What a royal pain in the butt. Guess that's the price I pay for having extra insurance coverage.... When they told me yesterday that my appointment today was for a consult, not the test, I just want to scream and throw something. I guess because I don't have as much control over just getting the job done quickly and efficiently without big chunks of time going by. BBIIIGGG GGGGRRRROOOOAAANNNNN!!!!!

I'm sure six months from now I'll be glad I can say I thought about this 8 months before asking for referral, then waited another 5 months through all the appointments so I had over a year to think about it and definitely didn't rush, BUT THAT'S NOT BY CHOICE!!! LOL

Hey hope2bthinr, Sorry you have to go through all of this I know it must be annoying beyond belief! Just hang in there it will all be wroth the wait in the end!! I hope things go faster for you!!! Keep me updated on your progress! Hugs :juggle: