New here

Hi all,

I'm in Belgrade Montana and just starting to look into having lap band surgery.  I only just contacted my insurance company to see if they cover that.  They do, but are mailing me a huge list of qualifications that need to be meet before they will consider approving coverage.

My parenst live in Great Falls, so thankfully I won't have the expense of a place to stay when I need to go up there, but I'm looking for information about how many trips you make up before and after surgery.

Money is an issue for us, so I need to see what the overall costs are going to be before I put my heart and soul into it.  I have Alligence and Medicare for insurance.  I am unsure if Medicare will pay for surgery or not.  I don't even know where to call to find out (anyone know?).

I'm "hoping" I have enough "wrong with me" to qualify me.  My BMI is WAY over 40.  I have sleep apnea and arthritis.  No blood pressure or diabetes problems though. (at least not yet!).

Anyone with any info or guiedance to offer, please do!

Thanks,

Shelly

Hi Shelly!

It's so great that you joined this site.  I love it!  I've learned so much from the lap band forum here.

I had my surgery almost a year and a half ago in Great Falls with Dr. Rohrer.  He is an awesome surgeon and his staff is so helpful.  I made my first trip for the initial paperwork and met with Dr. Rohrer.  I made my second visit when I was finished with my 3 month program and then I went back up for surgery.  In the 1 1/2 years since surgery I've made 3 trips up for fills and I'll be heading back up there next week for a very small fill.  I usually make my trips coincide with something else such as a fellow bandster going up, my mom going up to the VA hospital in Helena or I mix in a little work with the trip.

Here is a link regarding medicare covering lap band surgery:
http://www.lapbandsurgery.net/medicare-medicaid-lapband.html

As for the costs, my insurance is Aetna and I paid about $3000 out of pocket because my deductible had not yet been met.  My cost for fills has been $176 unless my deductible is met.  On the flip side of that, my grocery bill is lower and we hardly ever eat out.  We were eating out several nights a week and now it's probably 2-3 times per month.  Oh, and I was eating out for lunch almost everyday and now I have a fridge at work and bring my lunch every day.  In the long run, this has saved me a ton of money :-)  Even my thin co-worker has lost weight from us not eating out for lunch.

I read your profile page.  It's nice to see someone else with a big age gap between kids.  My daughter is 17 and my son is 5.  I think it's wonderful!

I'm an open book........ask anything and I'll answer :-)


Good Luck with the research!
Tyna

Thanks for replying Tyna!  I'm hoping to see Dr. Rohrer too.  A lady I met through Freecycle had hers done by him too.

Right now I mostly have no idea what questions to ask!  What sort of things did you learn that were the most helpful?

I'm a bit nervous about having a psych eval because I suffer from severe chronic depression (have for most of my life).  I don't know how much it will effect whether I can have surgery or not.  I use to be a skinny depressed person....so not sure depression has much to do with the way I eat or not.

Where are you?  I'm hoping since my parents live in Great Falls, I can work doctor visits around when we visit them.  I already have to drive to Billings every few months for doctors' visits too.  I need to get a more economical car!!!

Nice to meet another person with kids so far apart in age.  Does it create a problem for you, or do they get along well?  My oldest has autism, so developmentally he's not quite to a 17 year level (although his attitude is FOR SURE age appropropriate!).

Thanks so much for replying!

Shelly