Hoping to be an August Bandster

Tigmonster · 06-09-2008, 02:18 PM

Hello,
I'm new on this site, I am currently doing my "homework" for the approval.....psych eval., dietician, medical history, watch the Emmi, 2 group support meetings, then I hope to be approved and have a surgery date for August! I was told I was a great candidate by the surgeon, however there is one thing I have to get approved by my cardiologist. I take Plavix 75mg everyday for a drug eluting stent I had put in a year and a half ago and I have to be able to come off of that for 10 days prior to my surgery. Hopefully my cardiologist will approve that and realize the benefits will totally outweigh the risks once I have the band. Anyway, hello to all, I hope to be posting more as I get more information but now it's a lot of WAITING and meetings/appts. I'm not a patient person that's for sure!
Jodie

aclubb · 06-09-2008, 04:24 PM

Jodie,

I am not a patient person either. I started the process in March and am still waiting on the insurance to approve me. I was approved, then denied and now waiting on my appeal to be looked at. I did the psych eval (scariest part for me) and the nutritional eval (piece of cake - haha). I am SUPER excited and I can't wait. I hope to be "banded" and recovered before my baby's 2nd birthday in mid August. Let me know how it goes - it's good to see another person waiting around!

SElaine · 06-09-2008, 06:07 PM

Hello to both of you! :biggrin2:
I was originally banded last year but had to have my band removed due to erosion.

Anyway, I'm now in the waiting and wondering phase and hoping to have another Lap Band surgery in August and start this process all over again. I'll keep my fingers crossed for all of us!

Good luck!

Tigmonster · 06-10-2008, 03:25 PM

:biggrin2: Hello again,
I am so excited I just had to write again. My cardiologist called me today and he said that the risks involved in coming off the Plavix for 10 days is so low compared to the benefits I will receive by being banded that he said go for it. He did say that if this was a year ago he would have told me no but I've been stable and the stent will have healed over by now so I can do it! YEAH!! That was my real worry, everything else should be a piece of cake now. EXCEPT for the waiting, but I will say they keep you quite busy with appts so time doesn't seem to be at a standstill, but it's early yet. I can't imagine the wait from getting my surgery date to actually having the surgery.....I'll be pulling my hair out!

I hope everyone else gets good news this week too! I feel like it's going to be a good week!

Jodie

SElaine · 06-10-2008, 03:47 PM

Oh, Jodie! That is GREAT news! I'm sure that is a huge relief to you and I'm happy you got that out of the way.

Oh, the waiting.... I'm so tired of waiting. I hope the summer goes by quickly for all of us.

Tigmonster · 06-12-2008, 07:49 AM

Hi,
Any news on your approval yet? I still have several appts to go to before my doc even submits the paperwork for my approval. I hate this waiting!! HATE IT HATE IT HATE IT!
Jodie

kiz · 06-12-2008, 08:11 AM

Hi All,

I'm hoping for an August band date. My appointment for the surgeon is scheduled for July 1, so I have no reason to get too optimistic, except they said since I'm self pay, they usually are able to get us in one month out. Mid August would work out well, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for that. I'm very impatient, and once I make up my mind for something, I find it hard to wait.

soontobehottie · 06-17-2008, 09:09 AM

Hi everyone. I am so glad to hear that you all are as impatient as I am!! I thought it was just me. I am getting obsessed about the band. I started this process in February and now I think I should be banded in August. I have a preop appointment with my primary dr on June 23rd for the EKG, bloodwork and chest xray. Then of course the insurance want a physc exam done and then hopefully they will approve me. As soon as I desided I wanted the band the waiting is killing me!!!

rambokitty66 · 06-17-2008, 09:39 AM

I have done all the pre-op stuff (nutrition eval, psych eval, EKG, blood work and Chest x-ray) only to be told that I need to gain 8-10 lbs for insurance to cover the Lap Band surgery.

Has anyone else had to go through this??:confused2:

kiz · 06-17-2008, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rambokitty66

I have done all the pre-op stuff (nutrition eval, psych eval, EKG, blood work and Chest x-ray) only to be told that I need to gain 8-10 lbs for insurance to cover the Lap Band surgery.

Has anyone else had to go through this??:confused2:

I haven't had my evaluation, but I know I have to get my bmi to 40 to qualify for the surgery because I don't have any co-morbidities. I'm self pay, but there are still rules for qualification for WL surgery. So yeah, I have to gain weight by July 1...go figure.

rambokitty66 · 06-17-2008, 12:35 PM

Thanks for the reply. You would think the insurance companies would make exceptions for a few pounds. I don't know about you but it is discouraging being told I have to gain in order to lose.

kiz · 06-17-2008, 12:47 PM

I know what you mean, because these pounds always go on a LOT easier than they come off! Whether I have additional health problems or not, the extra weight, by itself, is a huge problem.

I'm self pay, so it's not an insurance issue for me. The National Institute of Health has set minimum guidelines for bariatric surgery.

Quote:

– 100 pounds or more above ideal body weight or a BMI of 40 or greater
– BMI of 35 or greater with one or more obesity-related health condition

soontobehottie · 06-18-2008, 09:10 AM

Hi there, for those of you who have had the psych eval already what was it like? I am nervous about that portion for some reason, more nervous about that then the actual band...

rambokitty66 · 06-19-2008, 08:34 AM

My psych eval was pretty easy (at least for me). It was done in 2 separate appointments of 50 minutes each. The first session he asked questions about my past dieting, eating habits, family growing up, etc. He asked a few questions that check your thinking such as counting backwards from 100 by 7's, repeating words and phrases, then asking me a phrase we talked about later in the session (to see if I could recall it). He also asked questions about other family members beig overweight and when I first noticed I was overweight. He also asked about drug and alcohol use and history.

The 2nd session he mainly clarified some of my answers and finished writing the letter to be given to my doctor stating I am a good candidate for the weight loss surgery.

Don't get me wrong.....I was nervous.

Each psychologist is different so the questions could be a little or a lot different.

soontobehottie · 06-19-2008, 03:36 PM

Good lord...I don't if I am less nervous or not!!

:confused2: I am not stupid by any means but counting back from 100 by 7's holy crap...were you allowed to use a calculator