Hi, I'm new here. Just a quick background on me... My whole life I have struggled with obesity. The only thing that has ever kept it under control was running... and much to my horror, I shattered my ankle in 1995, thus ending my running career. The weight slowly started to pack on, and by 2000 I was officially labeled as obese with PCOS/Insulin Resistance. In 2002 I had my first child... a girl... and I gained 30 pounds with that pregnancy. I had severe gestational diabetes, and was on daily insulin injections. I lost about 20 of those pounds in the first year after her birth, and on her first birthday, we found out that we were expecting our second child. Through my son's pregnancy, I gained an additional 40 pounds, had even worse gest. diabetes, and ended up delivering a 10 pound baby.  Despite doing Atkins and later, Weigh****chers, I have been unable to keep off any siginificant amount of weight, and in 2005, the bottom dropped out of my life- my then 14 month old son had a severe choking accident in daycare and nearly died. He spent 3 months in the ICU, and is now severely brain injured. True to form, I initially stopped eating (lost 25 pounds in those 3 months), and then turned to food for comfort. Flash forward to 2007. I'm 5'1 and weigh 225-ish pounds. My BMI is >42. My hips hurt all of the time. I can sleep 15 hours a day and still be exhausted. My back hurts. My asthma is out of control. Due to too much estrogen, I'm developing polyps. I feel like I'm 100, and I'm only 33. I have to do something, I feel like I'm dying. My kids deserve better. My husband deserves better. And most importantly, *I* deserve better. I look forward to getting to know you all.

Hey all! I am new to the boards but since I live in a rural area, I really need a source of support! My surgery date is January 7th in Colorado Springs. I am so excited I can't stand it!  I would love to hear everyone's stories of their Lapband surgeries!

Thanks for answering back.  I have been getting use to this site.  How long ago did you have surgery?  Did you have the band or bypass?  I am going for the full bypass.  How do you feel now?

i don't think that rose is a center of excellence unless they just got it. you might go to psl because they are for sure.

Kaiser doesn't apply your max out of pocket to WLS,  With my plan I had to pay 30% of the total and, no one seems to know exactly how much that is....I had to pay $2700 for the hospital (upfront or set up payments with them)  I still have to get a bill from Dr. Shae and the anesthesiologist.  I was told in the "Surgery Connections" class it will probably be $5-6,000.  For Gastric probably $7000 to $10,000 @30% co-pay.  Some lucky people have just their hospital co-pay.  I wish I would've known what company has the great insurance.  If you work for Qwest they have an exclusion in their health insurance that states WLS is an exclusion EVEN if medically necessary.  (JERKS)  I changed from United Health to Kaiser so I'd have a chance to get the surgery.  (Kaiser will do it anyway because they are interested in your health, we probably wouldn't have to pay as much to Kaiser if Qwest would've coughed up the extra $ for the benefit)  Call the Kaiser weight program in your area and ask them, you may be one of the lucky ones!  (Plus you could set up payments with the Dr.)