newbie

Hi, I am attending the seminar on Saturday at Centennial on lapband surgery and I have already spoke with my insurance company and this type surgery is covered under my plan. I am curious about the process--I know I will hear it Saturday but I thought maybe 1 of you would give me a quick rundown. I would really appreciate it especially about the general length of time from start to surgery.

I made sure I had most of the insurance company's requirements met before I attended a seminar at Centennial. I had to do a 6 mo. dr. supervised diet, psych eval, gather 5 years worth of medical records documenting my weight, and letter of medical necessity. My 6 mo. diet ended in January. My PCP submitted all the necessary paperwork centennial required and the other stuff from above on my behalf....it took my PCP a week or so to do this.. I had to stay on them about it...then once Centennial received the paperwork, it took them a few weeks to process because they were short staffed on the insurance side of things...finally everything was submitted around the end of February... I got an approval during the first week in march and my consultaion was scheduled for the next day. My surgery date was scheduled for April 11th on the day of the consultation. I could have had the surgery sooner however my husband was going to be out of town. Everyone at Centennial is very helpful. If you have questions make sure you ask them when you go to your seminar. april

Hi Cindy! Welcome to the board and congrats on your decision to pursue this. I had an easy pre-op time and a rough post-op one. I went to seminar on Aug. 26, had all my paperwork in to the office in three weeks and was approved in one day. I had one appt. with Dr. Houston pre-op, did a two day liquid diet and went in for surgery. I had to have an open rny so my experiences from that point on will be different from most but feel free to read all of this is more detail on my profile.

Cindy, Welcome!! ALways good to have new members. I'm not familiar with the band process but wanted to welcome you to the board!!

Good morning Cindy and congratulations on your decision ...I am patient of Dr. David Dyer and Centennial ...I have had 2 seperate operations from Dr. Dyer and both Dr Dyer & Centennial Hospital are both top notch ( had gall bladder removed last August) if you are interested in knowing all about lap band surgery ,before and after you must go to the lap band forum ... At the top of this page , simply click on the word forum and then scroll down.. to lapband.. There is where you will learn how it truly is and all the different issues that only lap banders have Our surgery .and issues are entirely different than RNY patients.. most all on the regular boards are RNY patients ... even our length of stay and care at the hospital is different ... for instance we wake up with a complete stomach ,our stomach is full size and we get hungrier quicker and eat more often .. that and many many other topics are all discussed on the lap band forum .. there are patients on lap band forum from Centennal also and we compare notes so to speak lol ...I have a wonderful freind I met on lap band she is also a patient of Dr Dyer's and we are now getting ready to meet for lunch You are about to embark on an exciting journey ... The very best of luck to you ... Arianna

Cindy.... one more thing I wanted to add .. with lap band you only stay overnight I had absolutely no pain, just a little bit sore when I woke up and no gas at all I even took a shower(completely on my own of course) the next morning before they released me for my long ride home. I live near the Miss-Ala line and it is a long drive ... the warm shower felt so good too!! .. no catheraters ,no IVS in your neck, no stapled stomach , the lap band was the easiet, most pain free operationI have ever had, and I have had many .. Of course I had a great experienced surgeon too .... .