BMI 35
Has anyone been approved here through Insurance with no co-morbidities and BMI of 36? I am hoping to be banded in Jan or Feb. Waiting to switch my insurance in Open Season. I have knee pain and back pain with stress incontinence but my bp is not that high and my Mom has diabetes but I don't (thank goodness) but who knows for later. I am 5-9" and weigh 260lbs. This is my highest weight. Of course I have done the WW, and Jenny Craig and who KNOWS how many other diets but the weight always comes back PLUS more!!!! uuughghghhhh!!!!
I had a BMI of 35 but for the surgery I had, I needed 2 co-morbidities with it. Stress incontenence is considered a co-morbidity, I'm pretty sure. Do you have high cholesterol? How about heartburn? Sleep Apnea? All those, in addition to high blood pressure and diabetes are considered co-morbidities. And I bet the knee and back pain might even be considered. Don't know for sure, but it's always good to put that down as a co-morbidity.
Do you know what your insurance policy says regarding weight loss surgery? Do they approve of the band? Some only approve of the RNY.
Good luck to you!
An MGB is where the stomach is transected into a long tube and the new outlet is connected to the intestine 6 feet down. The length of the bypass varies depending on how much weight you have to lose. The rest of the stomach and intestine stay there. The procedure is completely reversable if need be. Nothing is permanent.
I was sold on it for a number of reasons. One of which was the complication rate of my surgeon. It was so much lower than others I felt comfortable with him. Also, I was a self pay and couldn't afford the surgeries they do here in Portland. The MGB cost $17,000 total.
So far it has done me well. I feel excellent and had no complications to speak of. Unless you count a little thrush. I'm only 2 weeks out, down 15 lbs. and starting soft food.
I had not even heard of the "mini" until I read it on a few of your post, very interesting.
I would like to view this surgery being done, how long were you in surgery? I had very little pain. I walk alot now, rain or shine.
I too am self pay and had my surgery done in Coos Bay, the cost of the hospital alone was $17,500 total, the hospital was the most costly of all, but my husband and I decided it was the best thing for me, I had few co-morbidities, and thankful for that, I have a very bad back that made it hard for me to stand, walk, work, I had the most awfull heartburn and have not had any since surgery. I cannot have soft pureed food for another 7 days, whoohoo.
You can view the surgery on their webpage at www.clos.net. They have lots of YouTube videos. My surgery was 31 minutes and they bypassed 6 feet.
Some people don't like how the patients are treated as a group. I found it very helpful. We went to clinic the day before surgery and met with the surgeon. He explained things and answered questions. The people who had the surgery the week before were there to get their staples out. And they had people there who had the surgery one month, three months and three years out, for us to talk to. We had clinic again the morning of the surgery for a couple of hours so we could ask anything we wanted. The surgeon is very well informed and this type of surgery is the only kind he schedules to do. He has trained a handful of other doctors in the procedure and it is performed in 3 locations in the U.S.
We had clinic again the day after surgery with the surgeon again. All in our gowns. LOL! Then we had to stay in the area for a week, and call in every day for a progress report. Then at the one week mark, we went to clinic again to get our staples out, see the people who would have surgery the following day, like we did the week before. We became pretty close, all of us littermates.
One gal in our group had some trouble. Her coumadin levels were too high and her blood was too thin for surgery. So he tried again on Friday and still wasn't good enough, so one more try on the Monday following. He did the surgery, but once he got in, he had to open her up because of previous surgeries she had before. She had mesh from the last surgery and he had to cut through that. Then he found that her intestines were all fused together, so he couldn't do the bypass part. He made the smaller stomach tube and left it at that. He calls that a cosmetic mini. It's like a tube gastrectomy. Anyway, her weight loss will be slower and probably not as profound since she doesn't have the malabsorptive condition as if the intestine was bypassed. She was really heavy and anything will help. I did feel sorry for her because she had to stay an extra week. She was from Canada. Her surgery took 1 hr, and 10 minutes. And she had to stay in the hospital an extra day. I have no idea what she was eventually charged, but I bet it was still the $17,000. Well, I take that back. There is an extra charge of $5,000 if they are on a blood thinner.
The hospital cost for me was $8,500, the surgeon $7,750, and the anesthesiologist was $750. Then I had the airfare and hotel charges which totalled about $1,000.
So, the hospital charge you had, that was in addition to the surgeon's fee? Was that with Dr. Tersigni?
Hi,
My BMI was only 35.5 (4'11", 175 lbs), but since I had high cholesterol, joint and back pain, anxiety and depression, and most of all, sleep apnea, I was approved. I have struggled with my weight ever since adolescence. I didn't even know I had sleep apnea until I went for a sleep study (your doctor or surgeon can send you for that). When I found out I had sleep apnea, I was relieved since that was like a "shoe in" for the surgery, since it is considered a co-morbidity. I just had the lap band 2 weeks ago, doing ok so far.
Lots of luck to you!
-Dina
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