Maybe

My acid reflux got worse. Even with taking the Prilosec my doctor
recommended. I even increased the dose to 2 a day. That helped some.
But one night I woke up choking from spaghetti flavored "vurpy"
stuff burning my throat.

Plus that Prilosec is fairly expensive.

I called the doctor and made an appointment to get some fluid removed
from my band, to see if that would help. He removed .2 cc's.

And the reflux went away.

But so did all of my restriction. I can eat any amount of anything.
And I am hungry again. All. The. Time.

I called my insurance company and explained to them how I have
developed the hiatal hernia, but in order to have it fixed, my lap
band has to be removed. Not because it is defective and I need a new
one. Not because I want an upgrade to the lastest version (well, I
do, but not just because of that). But because it is in the way for
the surgeon to do the hernia repair. And because the lap bands are
designed as a use once item, once it is "opened" to be removed, he
can't just put it back on. He has to put in a different one.

Will it be covered?

I was put on hold for quite awhile. The answer they came back with: MAYBE.

They recommended that my doctor submit a request for predetermination
and then I will get a yes or no in 4-6 weeks.

So basically, my fate will depend on who gets the request and what
mood they are in on the day they read it. Are they happy because they
are about to leave on vacation, so they are just sitting at their desk
day dreaming of being on a beach somewhere, and just stamping APPROVED
on everything that comes across their desk because it is easier?

Or are they pissed off because they didn't get a raise, they had a
fight with their spouse that morning before leaving the house and it
made them feel insignificant, so in order to prove the have POWER,
they just stamp DENIED on everything that crosses their desk. Just
because they can.

All I know is that I can't stnd being hungry all the time like this.
I got used to NOT being hungry, except when I should be.

If I let him do the surgery to fix the hernia, and he takes out my
band. It would only be a matter of time before I put the weight back
on and then met the criteria to have another lap band put in. It
would save a lot of time and aggrivation if they would just go ahead
and pay for it.