SHOULD I HAVE SURGERY???

Thanks ladies, it so wonderful to be able to discuss this with people who understand the issue. Michelle, I've talked to my PCP and he agree that the breast reduction will benefit me greatly. I'm gonna see him on saturday morning and plan to talk to him about lap band. My co-worker recently had lapband done. She used and highly recommend Dr. Nusbaum out of St. Barnabas hospital. That would be my next issue choosing the right dr. i do know that I'm getting older and loosing weight is not as easy as it use to be. It's discouragiing to do all I can and see no results. Sam

Sam Who cares what your insurance thinks, they are basically a faceless group of people that unfortunately hold all the cards when it comes to making medical choices. Frankly, I think whether or not to have WLS is an extremely difficult and personal decision. My primary refused to sign off on any referrals for WLS surgery for 5 years while he recommended that I do any number of supervised and non-supervised more traditional forms of weight management programs. It seemed mean and controlling to me at the time....But to tell you the truth, I was grateful to know that I had tried absolutely everything first. WLS is a radical, and mostly permanent procedure, its important to be as informed as you can be about health risk, the need for a lifetime of medical follow up and the other sorts of changes rapid weightloss can bring to your life. But what WLS is not is the easy way out. Standard diets are way easier, because you can always take a day or a week off. WLS means your diet is permanent....And it is a hard lifestyle to maintain. I had my surgery three years ago, and despite some complications have beenquite successful...But I nearly never recommend WLS...Not because I don't believe in it, but I do believe that it is a difficult and individual choice.... My message to you though, is not to be intimidated by insurance companies. They are supposed to be working in the public interest, and they say that they are trying to keep medical costs down in order to make sure everyone gets optimal health care...Sometimes I think they really mean they limit procedures so that they have optimal profit.... Kelly