Banded, having issues and want a revision surgery approved by insurance, lost 150+

oh I forgot to mention that I am in Tampa and TGH is the hospital that reached out to me. Dr Michel Murr was my doctor and now I have to meet with Ashely Mooney because Dr Murr was going to another hosptial in Tampa but could not tell me because of his agreement with leaving TGH. So he said I could find him if I wanted to stick with him for the revision. I am going to give Dr Mooney a shot and if I dont like her I am going to go to Memorial.

Thank you for the kind and encouraging words. I'll certainly keep you posted! :)

Your doctor sounds incredible! I am really hoping my new doctor will share that mentality. I selected him carefully based off of suggestions from the Failed Lap Band group on Facebook. The office seems to specialize in revisions and removals. They don't offer the band, either. They offer bypass, sleeve and the new balloon. I sure hope your revision yields the results you want! Do you have surgery date? I strongly recommend Keto. I have several IG friends who are RNY/sleeve and keto and very VERY successful! Regardless, I can't wait to hear how it goes.

I have not called Cigna yet. I probably should before I go Thursday. I have not idea if there are officially medically documented problems, but I cannot eat the things I need to eat to lose weight. I hired a trainer and a nutritionist and did not tell them about my band. I ate according to that plan and lost over 150 lbs. It takes me hours to eat my meals and I throw up a lot, but I am at least losing when I eat more healthy foods...ironic. I've (mostly)maintained for a few years now continuing to eat higher volumes than the band allows. I eat small bites and chew as much as I can, then drink after every bite I eat to wa**** down to the lower portion. This is the ONLY thing that ever helped me lose beyond the liquid diet. Even after I was initially banded (i.e. coming out of poor diet into a better one), I barely lost anything. My problem was probably not mainly volume, it was mainly the foods I ate. I was also only 24 years old and pretty ignorant when it came to food (and life lol). My parents are from the south an I was raised thinking corn is a vegetable. Yikes. I know what to do now and it works pretty well, so maybe I should not stress so much :P You've really helped me. Thank you, again!

I am glad you found another dr to go to that you feel confident about and word of mouth is huge! Hopefully Thursdays appt will go well. Also that office should tell you if they can take your plan too so you can avoid the call to Cigna if you want. I know all the Dr's I looked at show which insurance plans they accept on their website so that may help ya. And you never know some places know the right words to say for insurance companies to approve stuff. I told my insurance case manager that yeah I vomit about once a week and out of her mouth was "thats a complication" ... I just thought I ate too fast. So there ya go you are having "complications" .

I keep hearing about keto and how well its working. It kind of sounds like Atkins but I have not researched it alot so its def worth looking into , thank you for the suggestion.

My next appt is to take fluid out of the band and discuss my options and what I want to do. I have to wait for that appt to start discussing dates. UHC is all ready to go, all covered and approved so am I but I just have to be patient with the Dr and their schedule.

I had alot of back issues 1 year after the band. Not caused by the band , just because I was exercising and doing more because I was losing the weight and then I hurt myself. So now I have 3 back surgeries under my belt and soo much wasted time on not being able to do much because of back restrictions and after surgery it would be almost 6 months before being able to go back to full activity.. so I ate and moved very little so that did not help.

Oh and I know what you mean about being in the south.. sweet tea flows like water in my house :). Its my vice I need to lose.

Good luck Thursday and hope to hear about it.

Good ole sweeeeeeet tea! I make mine with Truvia now and it totally kills the craving! Give it a try :)

Keto is a lot like atkins in that it's low carb, but the biggest differences are increased fat content (think fatty meats!), no sugar and the lack of any wheat/rice/grain derivatives at all. A lot of food additives include wheat based sources and chemicals. Keto is about eating healthier fresher foods high in fat. The fats you eat actually fuel your body so its less about restriction and more about getting your fats and fiber in...a plan that lets you EAT! Woo! haha I am actually less hungry with it, too. I started it because I wanted to stop my body from making insulin as frequently. I'm insulin resistant. Anyway, I'm always here to help if you want any more info.

So yesterday was AMAZING! I went to Surgical healing Arts in Ft. Meyers, FL. It's a 2 hour drive from Tampa but SO worth it. Dr. Ramlogan completely agreed that I needed to remove my band. He completely unfilled it and I could immediately eat 100x better than I have in 8 freaking years! I had 2 tacos and didn't throw up or even get backed up. I am so excited! I am going back for an endoscopy as he fears there may be some erosion based on my symptoms and pain at the port site. After that they will submit to Cigna to see if removal will be covered. We had a very long discussion about my current eating and exercise habits. He advised me to think about what I WANT, not just his thoughts. He did say insurance would likely deny a revision because I am at a healthy weight (169 yesterday with only 30lbs of fat), but if I self pay for removal it's only $2k more for a revision (food for thought if I self pay). So I think if insurance covers the removal, I'll just try that at first. I'd ideally like to not have to cut my stomach open if I don't have to. Now that I have found keto, I'm optimistic. :)

The entire appointment was very therapeutic for me. He asked why I had not been in for follow-ups and I was honest. I explained the depression, shame and guilt I had over not being successful at losing the weight, the fear of there being a problem, drinking carbonated water to eat, etc. He was absolutely floored at my sheer determination to make it work for me and just how far I went to get food down. He told me there's nothing to be ashamed about. Doctors know now that the band is not a successful tool, which is why he no longer places them. He said my story is not uncommon and that I should not be ashamed at all. He truly made me feel SO GOOD about the whole thing. My S/O was there too and he really helped as well. I cried a couple of times but it was all so worth it. It did cost $325 for the day, but money well spent. $175 for the visit and $150 for the unfill. I was not warned of this, so i thought I'd share.

When is your appointment?! I really hope you have an amazing doctor experience like I did. Man, I should have done this like 7 years ago. haha!

Thank you soo much for the details of the Keto diet and the offer to help I really appreciate it!! And the Truvia suggestion. I can totally try it, baby steps to ween off the full sugar tea.

I am happy to hear that you had it unfilled, thats great and what a difference with your ability to eat that quickly. Its crazy how just a little fluid in it can cause soo many problems. And I am glad to hear that another Dr said the same thing mine did about the failures of the band. I swear they should totally do away with it. I hope you dont have to deal with any erosion damage.

So I can totally relate to the emotional side of this journey. I am embarrassed as well so I know what you mean and to have a Dr totally agree with you and understand thats huge. My primary care dr is not easy on me when I go to her . She is always discussing how she only has me and one other patient that has not been successful with the band. So when I go to her in Oct I will inform her that she should be more aware of the problems that the band is causing and that my other Dr had to let me know, when I see her like 4 times a year and instead of making me feel like I failed she should have done some research of the possible problems.

The amount you stated if you have to pay out of pocket is not too bad if cigna does not pick it up. Hopefully they will for you.

So I have a case worker assigned to me from the Bariatric Dept with United Health care and since I do have a high BMI, I am totally covered for the revision and the bypass. All I have to do is after my unfill appointment and the review of the GI results with TGH Dr Mooney, I just have to call United with a surgery date and I am good to go. So I am anxious to get this show on the road. I have 2 cruises scheduled before the end of the year so I need to work around those and I already gave my boss a heads up that I may be out for 2 surgeries and she understands and will work with me. And by no means do I mean this in a bragging way, thats not me, but my company is awesome with short term leave. Its 100% pay for up to 26 weeks. So this takes off the stress of having to be out twice, removal and bypass, for this to happen.

So after Aug 30th , counting down the days to that appt, I will know when everything will happen and I can go on this journey again, with better success!!

I'm a little delayed getting back to you....it's been a crazy couple of weeks. Buying a house, suing my slumlords, trying to work and build a podcast/website. BUSYYYYY!

1 - OMG CONGRATS ON BEING COVERED FOR REVISION! That is going to really be a game changer for you! I'm so happy you don't have to stress over the money and time off factor and you can just focus on healing your mind and body! What a blessing that is! In all honesty, more US employers should look at how Europe handles leave and the retention rates. Being flexible and understanding really makes for great long term employees. I just joined a company in June that has unlimited vacation. It's not tracked. It's not measured. You just do your job and ask in advance and it's typically approved (unless there's a valid business reason to deny). What a great company to let you do what you need to do!! BRAG AWAY, THO! YOU DESERVE TO BE EXCITED!

2 - HOLY CRAP YOU ARE IN TAMPA TOO!? ? WHAAAAAAT!?

3 - Your PCP sounds like a b*tch! I always remind judgmental people of one BIG fact: Overweight people KNOW they're overweight. I was always aware of my weight and size, even if they don't sulk in it. It's like these people want you to be miserable. As if putting someone down for their choices has EVER helped them overcome! I always hated the biggest loser for that. They humiliated people into crash dieting and basically gave them eating disorders....ridiculous. Help them emotionally, for god's sake! Hence my site/podcast. I want to help others the RIGHT way ?. Anywho, so so glad you are making progress and not experiencing road blocks! Life's about to get way better for you and that is exciting as hell!

Amanda

Oh you poor girl...Sooo sorry you have the craziness right now!! But as I like to say "this too shall pass" , sometimes slow as hell but it will. Awesome news about home buying and your pod cast is a great idea!! So many people feel hopeless , alone and ashamed and should not feel that way and its so nice to know that they are not alone and should not let others make them feel less important!! So good for you I think it will help alot of folks!

I agree with you 100% about the way alot of US companies treat their employees. I think we are far behind other countries and I wonder if we will see more moving in that direction, more time for vacation, family, just life in general.I would hope so. And I do feel blessed when it comes to what my company offers and I think its a sign that this was meant to be for me. My sister in law worked for a global company in the HR dept and she used to tell me all the benefits those employees overseas got... she was like "We are letting a few of them go and we have to allow time off with PAY for them to look for another job!! And she was like that get a few months off a year...she was like why am I living here..

It sounds like your company got it right as well!! We live in FL , there are way to many cool things to do and its evil to keep us locked up and with limited time off haha.

Stacey

Yep I live in Brandon!! I was FLOORED when I saw your post said Tampa.. I have seen soo many others from all over I thought wow what are the odds that I started talking to you and you live close!!!

Thank you again for the support.. I feel like counting down the hours to the 30th with the appointment to get the fluid out and start planning surgeries!!

Stay strong.. fight the slumlord and on to the NEW HOME..YAY!!! Keep me posted, Talk to ya later!!

1. Get your band issue fixed/removed. Your long term health is what matters.
2. Keto is high fat. It is not good for long term and will cause problems such as with the liver. And it is especially not good for insulin resistance and diabetes.
3. Diabetes is caused by a high fat diet. The fat gunks up the cells and so more sugar is in the blood. ("Type 2 diabetes typically starts with insulin resistance. That is, the cells of the body resist insulin's efforts to escort glucose into the cells. What causes insulin resistance? It appears to be caused by an accumulation of microscopic fat particles within muscle and liver cells. This fat comes mainly from the diet--chicken fat, beef fat, cheese fat, fish fat, and even vegetable fat. To try to overcome insulin resistance, the pancreas produces extra insulin. When the pancreas can no longer keep up, blood sugar rises. The combination of insulin resistance and pancreatic cell failure leads to type 2 diabetes." --Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.). PCRM recommends a low-fat, plant-based diet on their site.
4. Personally I am losing weight on a high-raw low-fat plant based diet with raw food including fruit, greens, green smoothies (fruit/greens), and more.