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I am writing this to help those whom have United Health Care. Here are the following things to know and tips: Before reading these tips, contact UHC for confirmation that Bariatric surgery is covered under your plan. Confirm the requirements. Confirm that your surgeon and his associated hospital is In-Network (if they are not, it will be like paying for the surgery without insurance). Make sure you have an understanding of what the insurance wants to see or have done. 1) You are eligible if you have a 40 BMI or Higher / Greater than 35 BMI with Co-Morbidity. 2) Once you find your surgeon, you will have to do 6 months worth of testing, dieting and education. 3) You will have to make 6 visits (once a month). This does not include your consultation. 4) One of your visits will be with a Psychological Evaluation. This will determine your surgeons view and the insurance company's view of your case. They take a look at your mental and emotional health. They ask about your family and your support systems. They may ask you how you feel about yourself. Stay away from the negative views you may have of your body. Understand that they have seen hundreds of people like you and may have some prejudice in regards to whether you will succeed or not. Remind them that you are a person, not a statistic and bring some human to your discussion. 5) Your surgeon may require you to keep an eating and exercise journal. I use MyFitnessPal and I have a FitBit. 6) You will be asked to do an EKG to see how strong your heart is. 7) You may be asked to do a sleep study. Depending on your surgeon, it can be a requirement. In my case, the insurance company denied it. They did not deem it as a necessity. 8) You will have to do an Ultrasound which is to see if you have any issues with your liver (fatty liver disease) or other organs. 9) The next thing is an endoscopy. This requires you to head to an outpatient clinic, be sedated and have a tube stuck down your throat. I learned that I had an hiatal hernia (where part of the stomach enters the diaphragm). This can cause you heart burn. Be aware of H. Pylori. This is a bacteria that can cause ulcers and heart burn as well. It takes a lot of antibiotics to cure. Be mindful that your throats will be sore and some sharp pains may occur as they most likely scrapped some samples from your digestive tract. 10) In between these visits, you will see an dietitian and nutritionist for further help. They will slowly walk you through changing your eating habits. Be honest with them. It is very important in the long run. Also try to keep your weight lost in small amounts. If you lose too much in a short period of time, the surgeon and insurance company will feel like you can lose the remaining weight alone. 11) Your last visit will consist of an overview. The surgeon will check your weight and may discuss further with you about your feelings towards the surgery. Hopefully you are approved by the surgeon. My surgeon was great during the process. I met with him more times than anyone else. He literally kept giving my information and sites to read to understand this tool. 12) They will then submit your information to the insurance company. Now it can take up to 2 - 6 weeks for approval. I was approved in one week. My fellow UHC Members, I hope this assist you in your endeavors. 6 months will fly by so quickly you won't even realize it. Remember education is the key to success. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Apologies if this has been asked before, but now that you are post op, what things do you feel were must haves to have available before and after surgery? I am several months out, but putting together a list so I am as prepared as I can be. Thanks!

no, you won't - not with that large calorie deficit. As others have said, you'll hit stalls along the way and your weight may fluctuate occasionally by a pound or two, but if you stick to your clinic's plan, your trend will be down. I didn't start regaining until I hit my lowest weight (in the 130s), but it's VERY common to gain 10-20 lbs after hitting your lowest weight (the rebound gain is usually in year 2 or 3). But while you're in the losing phase, as long as you're sticking to your plan, no. You'll continue to lose.

Even at 800-1000 calories your body will still be in a pretty significant calorie deficit and you will lose. The higher the calories the slower of course. Some programs have calories Even higher than that a little further out. My team didn’t really give a calorie goal. Best to just go by your teams plan for you though. It’s hard but trust the process. It works.

I think the fact that like 50% of marriages end in divorce anyways sorta skews our perceptions of surgery as the root of it. Yes you did have surgery but you had like a fifty fifty shot of feeling this way without the surgery. If I remember correctly the rate of divorce increases from 50 to 70% post surgery. I bet a lot of that 20% is probably what we’re already less than ideal marriages but people didn’t have the confidence to leave pre surgery. I believe a good marriage will only get better as one person becomes a healthier and happier version of themselves. Regardless, the thought of ending it with someone you once cared so deeply about is never easy and not a decision to be taken lightly. Obviously only you know if it could help at this point but counseling saved my marriage years ago and now it’s better than I could have imagined. We just needed to learn how to communicate with one another. It sounds so simple but it made such a difference. That being said I went to counseling with my first husband too and the counselor basically told us to just get divorced. Lol.

I have bipolar disorder and WLS hasn’t really decreased the frequency or changed my severe depressive episodes but losing weight has certainly made me happier on regular days. I get out more and am able to enjoy things more outside of those episodes because I feel better about Myself (more comfortable in my own skin). As a result I feel even better at the end of the day having accomplished things. I agree that exercise helps with depression and if you are really depressed even getting outside and just sitting there helps some. They actually make lamps to simulate the sun for treatment of depression and SAD. Yoga Is a great idea.

I packed a box of all my post surgical needs so when I got home from hospital I had all I needed & wouldn’t have to leave the house to go shopping. Just off the top of my head: Over the counter meds: non NSAID pain meds like tylenol, gas x, stool softener, Imodium. A variety of shakes, broths, soups, yoghurt drinks, etc. protein water & any other allowed ‘foods’. Post surgery, your taste buds can go a bit haywire temporarily & flavours you liked before may taste awful. So that shake you enjoyed may be disgusting: too sweet, too salty or just blah! Electrolyte drinks like Hydralyte. Some are given their post surgical med scripts before surgery. If so get those scripts filled before your surgery too. All the best.

Congratulations! That is awesome. I can identify with that feeling. I am also a daily weigher....not good , I know. I am anxiously awaiting my journey back to the 1s, hopefully that will be in a couple weeks. I want to be in that category by my daughter's wedding which will be on the 31st. There's this sexy dress I want to wear, so far, it almost fits as I'm shedding a lot of inches.

I agree - I'm surprised your surgeon didn't bring this up with you. Normally gastric bypass is recommended for people with reflux. as for your other questions, 1 . Does GS affect your breathing in any way ? Haven't heard of this issue 2. is there any vomitation of blood in the mouth after surgery haven't heard of this - but it seems plausible since it's stomach surgery, so I suppose it could happen 3. Can I smoke my vape with nicotine after GS we were told no smoking/nicotine 4. Is it hard to swallow (water/protein drinks) in the days after GS for some, yes - but for most, no. 5. What happens if I miss my Vitamin tablets for a couple of days , will I feel weak ? a couple of days shouldn't be an issue, but I wouldn't make a habit of it. We have a few sleevers on here who were given the go-ahead to stop taking certain or all vitamins based on their lab results - but it'll be awhile before that kind of decision (might be...) made. In the mean time, you should be taking them regularly. 6. I suffer from Heartburn (gastric reflux)will my heartburn tablets be ok to take after the surgery yes, you can take heartburn meds, but again, I'm a little surprised you'll be getting sleeve surgery since you suffer from heartburn. Sleeve can make that worse. It's not inevitable - and it doesn't even happen to the majority - but the risk is big enough that many surgeons will recommend bypass instead of sleeve for heartburn sufferers.

I’m July 5th