New and have questions

Gail,

I have BC/BS NJ PPO and was approved - although it did take awhile for the answer to come.

I also used Barix inLanghorne, pa.  Unfortunately I'm not familiar with where you are in Pa (I'm one of the jersey girls Jan spoke about - although hopefully moving to pa by november) but would reccommend travelling there.  It is an hour and half - and lemme tell you - worth the drive.  Even with all the post op appointments (2 weeks, 6 weeks, 3 mos, 6 mos, 9 mos, 1 yr)  I can't say enough about the staff along with my surgeon, Dr. Pupkova (again, something Jan and I have in common!)

Good luck in your journey!

Pam

Gail - I'll be up your way this weekend! Beautiful!

Anyway, I Believe that Geisinger in WB does the surgery. Also, LVH In Allentown and of course Barix - that's where I went, I live in Easton PA, just outside ALlentown.

I had Keystone when I had my surgery, I went for my consult August 1st and was approved the middle of september, scheduled surgery the end of January.

Best of luck with the journey!

Liz

Hello Gail,

I'm in the middle of my evaluations - about half way through.

I selected Dr. Bono from Hazleton.

So far  so good.
His assistant Jane is a wonder with the insurance hoops and hurdles.

They're having a monthly support and information meeting tomorrow night (Sept 17, Wed) at the Hazleton General Hospital.

I have 1st Priority HMO (BC/BS PA) and I'm also 58.

I'd go tomorrow night to fulfill my pre-op support requirement but it's our 25th anniversary.
I plan to go to the October session.

Here's a link -
Dr. Bono

Thank you so much are you going for lapband? I will check out Dr. Bono, I have been going crazy trying to figure things out. Negs and Pos of this surgery. Confusion and then also hoping I can get it. Thanks for the information.

He suggested the Realize Band.

He explained the difference - Not a huge difference.
They address the different methods at the info sessions and even pass around the 2 bands.

I have a BMI of 37 and a slew of co-morbidities - Diabetes II, Sleep Apnea, Hypertension, High Cholesterol, arthritic knees (add a hip to the list as of last week)

I don't have 6 months of Dr. supervised diet - which seems to be the biggest hurdle that many people face - especially with BMIs under 40.

I hope I can use the weight management program from BC/BS that I was on for a year (but did very VERY poorly)

3 weeks to lose 5 pounds and 3 days to put it back on.

This forum is good for information -

and Lapbandtalk.com is excellent because there is a thread specifically for over-50 people of all stages.

I'll make you my "friend" so we can exchange more info if you are interested.

Thanks Elayne,
Yes please make me your friend, I also don't have 6 months of supervised diets but I think my BMI is bigger 43.9 so I don't know what that means. I have been on a million diets only to lose 40 gain 50 ya know same old song. I feel this is my last resort but my only hope to gain control of my life. I have high cholesterol, arthritic knees, high blood pressure and I am sure there is more to come if I don't do something. I am getting scared now. So I can use all the friends and help there is. How far is Dunmore from Exeter? Is that where you are from?

Gail