rosepetals

PS

Please keep in touch Becca. I would very much like to know about your journey, You will be 2 days ahead of me, Probabaly going home as I go in.Merry Christmas, My hope is you will get to enjoy the holiday with your children this year and many more to come.

Good Morning All, Just received my surgery date after about 6 months of jumping through every hoop thrown in front of me. And they say weight loss surgery is the easy way out? At least that is what I have heard from various people. Although the prospect of spending Christmas in the hospital is not something I am looking forward to at least it will be the new beginning I have been looking forward to for so long. I am hoping to be out of the hospital by at least the 24th and if all goes well I will be. I have read so many stories on these forums that sound just like mine. I have laughed at some of the responses. Cried after reading certain posts. My husband asked me last night if this is what I really want? He has been so supportive. My answer was yes. I am making a list of the things I will need in the hospital. Any suggestions are welcome. I will also need to know what I will be able to eat after the surgery. I have seen many posts that mention chicken Soup broth as being the only thing that is tolerated. The literature that I received from the hospital was geared more toward Gastric bypass and the Lap Band. They kind of grouped me in with the Bypass patients. The people at the support meetings were all Bypass patients who explained that my meals would consist of me waiting a full 15 minutes between bites of food. None were sleevers, so your posts have been my support group. . I do not plan to tell my boss I am having surgery. I usually request my vacation around Christmas and New Years day so I think I will have the amount of time I need to recover. I was worried how this would work out as my boss is very vocal about her unfavorable views on WLS, so it kind of worked out. I have been praying for an answer on this, as I did not want to lie to my boss. Prayer answered. That Jesus, he is so funny!

I have Medica who is adminstrated by UHC. Once the paperwork was received it took exactly 10 business days. They have a specific time frame they must meet so they are pretty timely. Just make sure they have actually received the authorization request.

Outpatient? I thought hospital stays were about 2 days..

I am way beyond frustrated. This week I should have found out whether my insurance had approved my surgery. I called my patient coordinator who although very nice has frustrated me because she seems to busy for me. I called Tuesday and finally got a hold of her only to be told, I will follow up this week with your insurance. I gave her two days and when I didnt get a call back I phoned my insurance. They told me they had no record of any submission for bariatric surgery so they promised to follow up with the Authorization department and call me back. Two days later, no call back from either cooridinator or insurance. I called insurance again and was told no authorization request on file and where was the request sent to, Grrrrr... trying to remain calm. Call coordinator who told me she was waiting for a call back from insurance. I explained that the insurance had no request on file. Finally coordinator tells me she will contact insurance again. 10 minutes later Coordinator tells me she had re-faxed request and I wluld have to wait 10 business days for response. So in essense start all over again! Lord give me strength! I feel like the insurance is giving me the run around and I am at the mercy of a coordinator who does not have time for me. I will be switching insurance in December and do not want to restart this whole process all over again. I had also hoped to have the procedure before the holidays because I want to enjoy them. I probably sound like a whiner I know. My insurance also has a clause that states I have to remain a certain BM 1 month prior to surgery meaning if I have lost too much weight before hand they reserve the right to cancel their auth. What to do?

Why am I not surprised? Called the patient coordinator who told me she would be happy to follow up with the insurance company. This happened on Monday and I have still not heard back from her. I called my insurance today who claims they have no request on file. She did promise to call me back tomorrow and now I am upset with myself that I did not call my insurance to make sure they received the request. I dont have too much faith in the coordinator either because she NEVER returns phone call! Not back to square one, but pretty upset that there has been no progress. Any suggestions?

My authorization request went in last Monday, so I still have another week of waiting, It hasn't been bad. I am walking in faith and find myself saying, "after my surgery, I will...." I guess that is a good thing, I am remaining positive and looking forward to starting this next phase of my life. I enjoy reading everyone's posts and especially love to see the before and after photos,. Just did glamour shots with my sisters yesterday and am looking forward to doing the after ones once I have had the surgery. I have avoided pictures for so long because I hated to see what I have done to myself, I remember thinking that WLS was the easy way out and was positive I could handle this on my own. My biggest regret is that I waited so long to do this. This has not been an easy journey, but I am better for it. I am sure once the approval comes through, I will probably has that OMG moment when I realize this is going to happen and I better be prepared. Continued success for those who have undergone this life saving procedure, and God bless those of use who will be making this journey shortly.

I have officially jumped through all the hoops. Even the ones set on fire. :crying: My request for surgery has been submitted by my patient coordinator and now its a matter of waiting for the response. Please pray for me. I am excited, but also a little nervous. I keep thinking, "let's get this show on the road." but I am also thinking, what am I getting myself into. I just cleaned out my closet and find that I have so many beautiful outfits that I don't fit into, but didn't have the heart to give away. I am hoping I will be able to wear them soon. My rep told me to allow 2 weeks for the approval/denial process to complete. It is going to be a long few weeks.

Good day everyone. I attended a bariatric support meeting this week and the subject of eating after surgery. Many of the bypass patients talked about taking 15 minutes between bites.:lol0: I was curious if this is the same for sleevers? I understand the amount of food we eat will be extremely small, but is it going to take me an hour to eat 4 bites of food?:thumbup1: The post bypass patients took great pleasure in putting this information out there. :001_tt2:The enjoyed the look of horror on the pre-op patients....pretty sinister..lol :thumbup:

Just had my appointment this evening and I was curious how formal the report to the insurance should be. The psychologist explained she would be writing a letter of recommendation to my insurance. No multiple choice test. She simply asked why I wanted the operation and when I finished explaining why she agreed I would be a good candidate. She explained she would write a letter stating I would be a good candidate and would benefit from the procedure. Seems almost to simple. Are insurance companies expecting something more formal than a letter?

Hi all, Just had my orientation and nutricion class and am feeling overwhelmed. :sad0: I know the next few weeks will go in a blur and I was soooo set on having a Sleeve, but when I saw the pre and post op diet I am beginning to doubt I will be able to do this. The dietician seemed more like a person taunting us about all the changes then showing any real concern. Maybe because she does these classes so often. The class was made up more of Lap banders and she seemed to play up the fact they would be healed much sooner than the gastric sleeve person. (me) I will be meeting with the doctor on Friday to discuss the procedure and prepare for the pre-op stuff. I still have my Psych eval and I am fearful of sharing my concerns with the surgery with her. My husband even suggested I get the lap band instead, but the cost of both procedures will be the same with my insurance. I will be changing insurances at the end of the year and I am not sure what the new insurance will cover. I know that no one can make this descision for me. I am just curious of these feelings are normal. Any help would be appreciated.

:001_tt2: Ladies thanks for the responses. I am feeling a bit better. I will keep an open mind and work towards my goal. A healthier me. Its so nice to find others who have had success with the surgery. I will read some of the other posts to see what I am getting myself into. Thanks again. I am feeling better. :tongue2: