Newbie Here!
Just joined, but I've been lurking a little while now (and LBT). As you can see, I'm about to start mo. 3 of the 6 mo. 'WAIT Diet', and I have lots of appointments coming up.
I'm just north of Pittsburgh and after attending 3 different hospital seminars in PGH (St. Margarets, Magee, &...), I selected Allegheny General, Dr. Uchal, for Lap Band surgery (have a choice of LB or Realize). We've lived here for 8 years now, but in PA we've also lived in West Chester out near Philly (I worked in Wilmington) and still have family in that area. I have 3 kids (DD graduating from IUP spring, DS1 graduating HS spring-going to PSU main campus, and DS2 now in 7th grade). I've decided for now, not to tell anyone about this except DH (and the whole internet world).
My insurance is BCBS- Highmark PPO Blue. I've heard it's a good one to get approval from, so I hope that's correct. I'm just above the minimum BMI of 35 and I only have one of the 'main' comorbidities (Hypertension- just started meds. with the PCP diet), so I'm hoping that's enough to gain approval (Have some of the little comorbids also; asthma, osteoarthritis, etc.).
I'm a professional yo-yo dieter...been to onderland and below many times...I can lose major amounts (although it gets more and more difficult the older I get; turning 50 this year) and I'm hoping the LB will be the tool I need to help me to get there and more importantly stay there this time. I, like many of you, can't believe I'm doing WLS, but now that I'm planning this I wish I'd looked into this many years ago.
Hi all you PA peeps!
I'm just north of Pittsburgh and after attending 3 different hospital seminars in PGH (St. Margarets, Magee, &...), I selected Allegheny General, Dr. Uchal, for Lap Band surgery (have a choice of LB or Realize). We've lived here for 8 years now, but in PA we've also lived in West Chester out near Philly (I worked in Wilmington) and still have family in that area. I have 3 kids (DD graduating from IUP spring, DS1 graduating HS spring-going to PSU main campus, and DS2 now in 7th grade). I've decided for now, not to tell anyone about this except DH (and the whole internet world).
My insurance is BCBS- Highmark PPO Blue. I've heard it's a good one to get approval from, so I hope that's correct. I'm just above the minimum BMI of 35 and I only have one of the 'main' comorbidities (Hypertension- just started meds. with the PCP diet), so I'm hoping that's enough to gain approval (Have some of the little comorbids also; asthma, osteoarthritis, etc.).
I'm a professional yo-yo dieter...been to onderland and below many times...I can lose major amounts (although it gets more and more difficult the older I get; turning 50 this year) and I'm hoping the LB will be the tool I need to help me to get there and more importantly stay there this time. I, like many of you, can't believe I'm doing WLS, but now that I'm planning this I wish I'd looked into this many years ago.
Hi all you PA peeps!
Band_Groupie My Blog "The Sweet Spot" HERE
Proud member of the Century Club...100+ pounds gone forever!
I'm now in the middle of a Normal BMI.
*My new adventure; At the suggestion and support of many LBers, I'm now writing a LB book.
(deactivated member)
on 1/1/09 8:50 am - PA
on 1/1/09 8:50 am - PA
Welcome to the message boards! I am relatively new too. Good luck with completing the insurance company's silly check-off boxes (another diet to prove to them that the method doesn't work for you). It sounds like you are doing a great job of educating yourself - so congratulations on your thoroughness. -roger