New qualifications for Lap Band Surgery

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MzBug
MzBug Posts: 2,173 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
http://health.usnews.com/health-news/managing-your-healthcare/policy/articles/2011/02/17/people-who-weigh-less-now-qualify-for-gastric-device

I don't know how I should feel about this. Next thing you know it will be available at your local Doc In The Box. Backroom surgery at Micky D's? Those that really NEED the surgery should be able to get it, but this is getting TOO easy.

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  • MomsDaily140
    MomsDaily140 Posts: 116
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    http://health.usnews.com/health-news/managing-your-healthcare/policy/articles/2011/02/17/people-who-weigh-less-now-qualify-for-gastric-device

    I don't know how I should feel about this. Next thing you know it will be available at your local Doc In The Box. Backroom surgery at Micky D's? Those that really NEED the surgery should be able to get it, but this is getting TOO easy.

    I agree,.... this is insane! I don't ever think going under the knife, for any reason, should be that easy, for anyone.
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
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    I know, right? Like how hard is it to lose weight the "old fashioned" way? Because after all, if you don't learn how to eat healthy foods in the right portions and how to get a little exercise chances are good you'll just gain the weight back anyway. There really is no quick fix when it comes to weight loss.
  • JoyousRen
    JoyousRen Posts: 3,823 Member
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    Wow. I could have gotten it at my highest and I wasn't even that bad.
  • superwmn
    superwmn Posts: 936
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    I would have qualified only 40lbs ago. That seems a little insane to me.

    Charmagne
  • RunHardBeStrong
    RunHardBeStrong Posts: 33,069 Member
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    http://health.usnews.com/health-news/managing-your-healthcare/policy/articles/2011/02/17/people-who-weigh-less-now-qualify-for-gastric-device

    I don't know how I should feel about this. Next thing you know it will be available at your local Doc In The Box. Backroom surgery at Micky D's? Those that really NEED the surgery should be able to get it, but this is getting TOO easy.

    I heard this on the news this morning and was instantly #issed off!! I'm barely into the new range of qualifications and yes I know I still have some weight to lose but there is no way I'm even close to needing to go this extreme. Lap band/gastric has it's place, in my opinion, for the morbidly obese but I think before they have the procedure they should have to be able to prove they can make the lifestyle change and have their heads in the right place. By lowering the standards it's only going to allow more and more people to take this route thinking it's a cure all when indeed it is not. Again just my two cents! lol
  • 00trayn
    00trayn Posts: 1,849 Member
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    That's kind of scary that people who can "prove" a medical issue can have the surgery with only being 30 or so pounds overweight. I think it opens up way too many issues and complications. I'm already not a fan of weight loss surgery except in extreme cases (I'm within 10 lbs of a healthy weight now and I never took a pill or thought about surgery for anything).
  • lloydrt
    lloydrt Posts: 1,121 Member
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    well, for me its not surprising that the bar is being lowered. Obesity is out of control , children in jr high, as young as 12 are being prescribed high blood pressure medication. Also, teen agers are now suffering from diabetes, its out of control.
    the city I live in , is one of the worst for limb amputation because of diabetes..........lots and lots of kidney dialysis places to go.
    also, when I got to our local HEB food store, and kinda look at the kids with their moms, and see whats in the basket ,as well as how big the kids are, well, its not going to be long before they are going to either get diabetes, or the least, high blood pressure......

    its sad, really, obesity is costing us 115, 000 adults and at least 50, 000 kids a year in death.............this might just be a band aid........Lloyd
  • MomsDaily140
    MomsDaily140 Posts: 116
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    In some cases I can see, maybe, not really, but maybe...... But most (not all) I know that have done this, are not successful for long term, and the few that are and have been, become successful when they have dealt with their own food choices/issues. IMHO, it should not be that easy.

    That means, that when I started back at the start of Nov, I would qualify? That's crazy.
  • RunHardBeStrong
    RunHardBeStrong Posts: 33,069 Member
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    well, for me its not surprising that the bar is being lowered. Obesity is out of control , children in jr high, as young as 12 are being prescribed high blood pressure medication. Also, teen agers are now suffering from diabetes, its out of control.
    the city I live in , is one of the worst for limb amputation because of diabetes..........lots and lots of kidney dialysis places to go.
    also, when I got to our local HEB food store, and kinda look at the kids with their moms, and see whats in the basket ,as well as how big the kids are, well, its not going to be long before they are going to either get diabetes, or the least, high blood pressure......

    its sad, really, obesity is costing us 115, 000 adults and at least 50, 000 kids a year in death.............this might just be a band aid........Lloyd

    Right on! It's all up to the parents and alot of parents are making bad choices! I wanted to strangle a lady at the gas station the other morning, her already overweight very young daughter wanted a milk and cupcake for breakfast, yay on the milk but the cupcake?! The mother then proceeds to ask her child if she'd rather have an icee instead of milk!! So of course the girl picked the icee over the milk. Really?! WTF?!! I wanted to come unglued, this was the child's breakfast before school. Just plain crazy!!
  • cahira
    cahira Posts: 163
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    That's insane. I have a midway goal picture of myself hanging on my bulletin board. It's when I weighed about 225 or so. My BMI in that picture would be 30-31 as I'm 5'10". There is no way a person that size needs to have gastric bypass surgery of any sort. Granted I still needed to lose weight, but geesh.

    I have three friends who had some sort of gastric surgery. One lost over 200 lbs. She has kept it off, but her eating habits are atrocious - all sugar free crap. And her skin is soooo very bad. One friend lost 100 lbs - needed to lose about 300 total - but her father died and she ate herself right back into her old habits. My other friend had the surgery, collapsed in his home a few days after he was released and died.

    I don't think the surgery fixes you. I think you have to deal with yourself and your demons and your bad habits and fix yourself. I know a lot of other people peripherally who have had it done. I wouldn't look at a single one of them and say yeah - that person turned their life around and got healthy.
  • MomsDaily140
    MomsDaily140 Posts: 116
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    well, for me its not surprising that the bar is being lowered. Obesity is out of control , children in jr high, as young as 12 are being prescribed high blood pressure medication. Also, teen agers are now suffering from diabetes, its out of control.
    the city I live in , is one of the worst for limb amputation because of diabetes..........lots and lots of kidney dialysis places to go.
    also, when I got to our local HEB food store, and kinda look at the kids with their moms, and see whats in the basket ,as well as how big the kids are, well, its not going to be long before they are going to either get diabetes, or the least, high blood pressure......

    its sad, really, obesity is costing us 115, 000 adults and at least 50, 000 kids a year in death.............this might just be a band aid........Lloyd

    I agree all that is sad,... but it's all about education and getting food costs down. I know in our state (AL), food is NOT tax exempt and it should be. It's cheaper for the lower income families to hit the buck meals at the local fast food joint, than it is to buy a gallon of milk or a bag of apples.
  • lloydrt
    lloydrt Posts: 1,121 Member
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    momsdaily, so true.........actually, they had a piece on last nites news, about the price of groceries, esp since there is now more of a demand for food, from India and China

    Because of floods in Australia, drought in Russia, demand from India and China for food, the prices of food are going to explode this summer, according to ABC news and their investigators, along with rising fuel costs for farmers, ......gas is high, I paid almost 3 dollars yesterday for a gallon......

    youre right, its cheaper to feed kids white bread and Velveeta and soda, than it would have been to have a turkey sandwich on wheat , with some vegetables.......actually, yesterday, at the store, my favorite cucumbers went from 3 for a dollar, to ninty eight cents a piece

    so, I can kinda see why the middle class are hurting and having to buy cheap, just to get by..........shhesse, whats next?
  • poisongirl6485
    poisongirl6485 Posts: 1,487 Member
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    I just want to add a few points to this thread. First, just because the surgical qualifications are met doesn't mean that insurance companies will pay for it. I know that I would qualify, but my insurance doesn't cover weight loss surgery. I believe the same to be true for the majority of people who 'qualify' but the cost would be too high.

    Secondly, it CAN be beneficial for some people. My mother had this done. She successfully dieted and exercised when I was younger and lost a bunch of weight (down to a size 8 I believe). But in recent years, many health problems arose and she put the weight back on. She had knee surgery that resulted in deterioration of cartilage in the knee, so she has pain to even walk. And she also had lung surgery to remove a growth, so her lung capacity is now limited, making working out difficult without being completely out of breath and needing an inhaler.

    She had the surgery and has lost almost 100 lbs. She still tries to walk to exercise, and is relatively healthy with her food choices. And let me add that the surgery is NOT a cure-all for weight issues. There are a lot of things you cannot eat at all due to the risk of it getting stuck (like steak, rice, certain breads and cheese, etc), and if you overeat even by one bite, you tend to vomit otherwise the pain from it is quite severe.

    So while I agree that for MOST people, this surgery can be avoided with some good ol' fashioned hard work, that's not always the case for everyone.
  • scagneti
    scagneti Posts: 707 Member
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    That is insane. I could have qualified. I didn't even dip into the obese part of BMI (and I'm quite muscular so I'm not all about BMI for accuracy anyways). Just by doing minimal exercising and being more careful about what I'm eating, I'm now at a healthy BMI in only 8 months (around 40lbs lost). This will just reinforce bad habits and the cycle will continue over and over again. Ugh.
  • Allibaba
    Allibaba Posts: 457 Member
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    The ad on this page is for that same surgery, I find that amusing. I also agree that weightloss surgery should be a last resort, there is nothing that can replace healthy habits. If you don't address your underlying issues with food, you will find a way to make bad choices again.
  • wiseg2
    wiseg2 Posts: 210 Member
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    That's ridiculous. Even if they get the surgery they still need to learn about proper nutrition and exercise to keep the weight off. Why not just learn about nutrition and exercise in the first place and lose it that way?

    Not to mention the muscle mass that is lost during the recovery period of the surgery. I mean people who need the surgery should get it. But this is just making it too easy. There are risks involved with every surgery after all. And surgery is not a guaranteed quick fix.
  • StuckeysJourney
    StuckeysJourney Posts: 1
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    I do not know what the new qualifications are for having the Lap Band Surgery, but I am "Banded" and I had to fight with my insurance company for months in order to have this surgery on 12-22-10. As well as complete the following:
    Attending lap-band seminars
    Completing the required # of weight loss visits (6 months)
    Nutritionist Consultations
    Psychological Evaluation
    Lap/blood work
    EKG (electrocardiogram)
    PFT (Pulmonary function tests)

    The medical conditions that I have because of my weight issues are as follows:
    Morbid obesity with a Body mass index (BMI) over 40
    Severe sleep apnea (sleeping with a CPAP machine every night)
    High blood pressure (hypertension)

    Believe me I tried EVERYTHING that I could before I decided on having weight loss surgery.
    My weight just keep going up, and up, no matter what I tried to do about it, every month I went to the doctor, I seemed to have another issue with my health. I do not like taking all this medication for high blood pressure, my thyroids, nor do I like sleeping with a machine on my face everynight. I even went as far as to take a shot once a day for weight loss....nothing worked. For me it was not an easy decision, but I knew I had to do something. And from experience, having had weightloss surgery is not magic. It is just a tool to help you in your fight with obesity, just like this message board is a tool. We have to learn how to use it to get the benefits.

    I also believe that every obese person knows about nutrition and exercise, but sometimes that is not enough. I see my doctor once a month and we discuss nutrition, exercise, and see if I am having any progress with my weight loss and in 4 more months I may be able to get off some of my medication. Will have to see when its time to do my laps/bloodwork again.

    I'm just saying that WLS is not an easy task for anyone, there is alot more to it...... than just having the surgery.

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