Hello everyone,

I'm new to the board and haven't been banded yet so thought I'd introduce myself. My name's Amanda, I'm 28 years old, 5'1" (and 1/2. lol) and weigh about 225 lbs. I've struggled with my weight since I was a kid and have steadily been losing the battle since I've had my children. I've watched the seminar video a number of times and had an initial consultation with a banding place here in AZ last year. This is something I've been researching a lot the past couple of years and have made the decision that this is definitely what I want to do. I haven't started the approval process or found a surgeon yet. My husband (who also has a weight problem but is still iffy about this surgery and i'm not pressuring him...much :smile:) has some connections so we're hoping to find the very best surgeon in the area. His insurance also just changed and while LAPBAND is still covered, the requirements have changed so we need to figure all that out again. I just wanted to tell everyone how much I've enjoyed reading through the forum and it really helped me to see that the choice I've made to pursue the band is really the right one. And once I'm banded (hopefully ) I'll be able to provide support to some of you. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Amanda

Chomping at the bit to get started!

Welcome to the boards. Everyone on here helped me alot before and after surgery. Their support helps alot. I hope everything works out for you and you get to have your surgery soon. I am 10½ weeks post op and I am so happy I did it and I was self pay.

Welcome. According to the BMI charts you have a BMI of about 42 which is quite helpful with the Insurance process. Anything over 40 tends to make it much easier than under 40. I just had the surgery last Wednesday and contemplated it for about 6 months. The only thing tough so far is getting my head around the fact that I can eat 4 oz of food and be fine for 3 hours.

Thanks for your replies! You're both doing great since your surgeries! I hope I'll one day be a success story as well. We have UHC which I've heard is one of the easier insurances to work with. When we checked it out before, it was BMI>40 or >35 w/2 comorbidities plus 6 months of supervised diet and 5 years med records. I guess the new plan, still under UHC, models after Medicare so not sure what that really means. I have the 5 years history no problem but if I have to do the 6 months of a supervised diet then this will be a rather long journey.

Amanda