Hello yall!! I am a pre-op bander and I am doing a college paper. The final essay wont be due for a while but we are brainstorming now. I chose the topic of WLS. I have researched it a lot. obviously you want to with this type of life changing surgery. I asked my professor if I could do the paper on the pros and cons of choosing Lap-band Or bypass. recovery time, long term benefits or not, I know this is a personal choice for each of us, or possibly what our insurance will cover sadly. And my paper wont lean towards one or the other. However it is a persuasive essay. I want to lean more towards if it is an effective tool, which its suppossed to be or a 'quick fix' for a lazy person. PLEASE DONT BLAST ME..................I know its not. I would appreciate any info yall wanted to contribute to help me on this paper. I also posted in the Lapband Forum message board. I am already halfway done with my brainstorming but I wanted to get point of views of other people as well. Thank you for reading this and any comments or advice you would like to give. Good luck and God Bless! -Becca ' the typing queen'

It may not be the same thing, but I had BCBS Federal and there was no problem with approval. They do not cover lapband, but they did cover VBG. They would not pre-approve the procedure but they approve the hospital admission. As long as it's medically necesarry and you meet their guidelines (for me it was 100 pds. or more overweight) Check your plan coverage booklet and see what it says. When I initially called the customer service they didn't even understand what I was asking about when I said Bariatric surgery so I would get the VBG procedure code and call back again. Another person I know with BCBS Federal saw the Dr. on 12/14 and had surgery 12/27. I never had to deal with BC and was out less than $500 total for my surgery. I have PPO. I hope this helps...good luck!!!

Hi Everybody, I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season I made it through without gaining any weight for the first time ever. I didn't lose any either, but hey I will take it. I am 3 and a half months out and I have lost 60# so far. I had to buy some new clothes and it feels great to shop now. Thank goodness for Christmas gift certificates I did have some issues with eating too much. I did get sick twice which is unusual for me. Today I am doing only protein and liquids. I feel so much better when I eat the stuff I am supposed to eat. I went to the gym today too and it felt great to work out after my week long hiatus. So how was everyone else's experience with the holidays? Hugs, Sara 356/296/175

hey there everyone. i made a website that i think you should all check out. it has links also to join my teen weight loss surgery groups.this site has stuff on all surgeries out there.well i hope you take a look and sign the guest book!thanxs, meghan andresen the url for the site is www.freewebs.com/duodenalswitch/

Good job JP!!! Hard work always provides good payoffs!! The best part is that your SPIRITS are back up as far as I'm concerned. Good spirits will take you FAR. ~~ Congratulations again ~~ Keep up the GREAT work and you will be at goal in no time -- look how close you are already -- you can do this JP... Keep us posted... Best Regards and Happy Holidays Sharon -125#?? (I think) (Or do I hope? )