Ok, my doc sent my referral to my insurance last week. Today week I see on their website the bolded word APPROVED. I am in shock. I have my consult appt with Dr. Mitch Roslin on Wed and I am now freaked. I didnt actually expect to get approval without a fight. I was warned I would prob have to appeal because my BMI is only 43.

All I have to say is HIPUSA you are my new heroes! Wed I will be at Lenox Hill NY Hospital 1st thing in the morning. Next week starts my new life. I am scared, thrilled and i feel like a deer in headlights.

Wish me luck!

congratulations. Usually a bmi of 40 will get it done. Some require 6 months some not. Mine was very quick. The surgery was a piece of cake.

Greg

Thanks greg. Can I ask since you just got banded. Have you been able to go back to work yet? I was hoping to go in on a thurs and get back in on Monday since its the end of they year and time off is limited. I would hate if I had to wait til Jan to get more sick/vacation time. :scared2:

Congrats! I had my surgery on Thursday and was back to work on Tuesday. Of course we are all different do you have a sit down job?

HI.. I also have a BMI of 43 and i was also in shock when i found out my Ins approved the surgery...for some reason in the back of my head i thought that since i did not have diabetes, HB, sleep apnea that i was not going to pass. SO now my surgery in coming up on Sept 30th.. Im very nervous but like you said iti si a start of a new life!! Good luck to you may the weight melt away

Bristlecone... I have about an hour commute via subway and I have a desk job with no lifting. I have stairs going up and down for my subways.

I drive an hour each way also have stairs at work and did ok. My only issue was pain where the port was placed, so I went to the pharmacy and bought a rib support to hold the area in place it worked wonders. If you take it easy you will probibly do just fine and I you wish a great journey I LUV MY BAND!

I am scheduled for surgery on Oct 23rd. Can I ask what insurance companies you all have. My surgeons office said my insurance United Healthcare will take approx 5 weeks to give approval. I think I should be covered since my BMI is 62 and have done the 6 mths of medically supervised diet counseling, my BMI was 65 or 66 when I started. I also have sleep apnea, but I am still nervous that I will have to go through appeals. Any thoughts?:seeya:

That is wonderful!! Congratulations on getting approved -- and Lennox Hill is a great hospital!

Best wishes,

Catherine

Corrinne -- I just saw your question about going back to work. You are going to want to take that Monday off too. I have a desk job also (here in NYC) and that would have worked out just fine.

Catherine

Rats. I dont very much time off to spare. is it the sitting all day that is gonna hurt me? Or the stress?

hi everyone. I am a stay @ home mom with a weekend desk job. I plan to take it easy for a week with the help of my mother since i was told not to lift anything over 10lbs and my twin boys weight 3 times as much.

My surgeon told me not to go to my desk job for the first weekend cuz the insicions site will be tender and sitting 8 hours at a desk would be uncomfortable and he does not want me driving while on meds.

Im going under the knife on WED!!! i was told to loose 10lbs but i have only lost 2...they would not cancel the surgery for that??????

Congrats on the approval.

Congratulations!!!

My husband was also just approved, but it was a fight in our case. CIGNA originally denied the surgery. It took about a year to get it all in order and we just received word he is approved!

Congrats!!!

so far you are the only other person i see on here that has HIP. i have HIP Prime HMO.. i checked the website medical guidelines and apparently all you need is a BMI over 40% to be approved without 1 additional comorbidities.. i am 47 YIKES! I didn't submit anything yet. but i'm sure it will approved...

good luck on your journey!!

Hi there! I was recently approved and SHOCKED. My BMI is low (35) for this surgery and I don't have any co-morbid conditions. Everything happened so fast, I was approved and they wanted to do surgery the beginning of the next week. I had to take a min. to sit down and think it all through (because I honestly thought there was no way that I would get approved), so I am planning on having the surgery in December. For those of you that this is happening really fast, I would recommend taking some time to think about it. It allows you to get organized at work and really think about the lifestyle changes. I feel much better about it now and am really excited to join all of you on your journey to health!