I made it!

Hi All, Well, I made it through surgery yesterday... everything went smoothly and no complications! Tiny incisions are a bit tender, but other than that...I can't complain! I'm glad it's over though! The staff at Benefis Hosp in Great Falls was wonderful and Dr. Rohrer was great! Deb

Congratulations! I'm glad your surgery went well. Welcome to bandster life Sharon

Hi Debra, Congratulations on your surgery. I just joined here today and noticed your post. I have been researching the band since last spring and decided to go to Dr. Rohrer. I had my initial appointment with him the end of September and was looking forward to a Dec.4 band date except my insurance has been holding me up. Keep posting, I look forward to hearing about your progress. Terri

Hi Terri, So far, so good... I'm really impressed w/the band! I am amazed at how little it takes for me to feel full now...even w/o a fill yet. I was really lucky with my insurance company! I supplied Dr. Rohrer's office with all the info my insurance required and they submitted it to the insurance company and about 3 days later I was approved! I'm still amazed that no one here in Billings does the lap band surgery! Great Falls is about a four hour drive for me, but I'll gladly make the trips for fills! Good luck with your insurance company! I hope they will come through for you too! Deb

Hi Debra, Thanks for the encouragement. When Lisa found out what insurance company I had she said they were the worst to work with and that they had had one patient where is took 9 months to get approval. She said they seem to "loose" or misplace the paper work so they eventually went to sending everything with a return comfirmation atttached. I had that exact thing happen with Rohrer's initial request. Three weeks after sending it and receiving the confirmation card I called the insurance company and they had no knowledge of it. Long story shorter, had I not called weekly and literally "walked" it through their system I think it would still be sitting in their mail room. Their initial response is to require among other things I had satisfied already, a six month doctor supervised diet with documented notes. Well, I have a doc and I have tried many dieting strategies under her direction but I am a fiscally responsible kind of gal and didn't think I needed my doctor to hold my hand while I took care of this on my own so I didn't see the doctor on a monthly basis. I am anxious to get on with the program so this is a frustrating detour but I am trying to look at it as a way to educate myself a little more. Look forward to hearing more from you. Terri