PlannerGirl

Hello to you. It sounds like we're on a very similar path as I am also hoping to have surgery in October. Like you, I have Aetna, and I have to see the nutritionist and weight loss doctor for three months prior. In the meantime, I'm trying to lose as much as possible pre-op with the hope of making the surgery and initial recovery easier. I look forward to hearing about your progress and your experiences getting approved through Aetna. Best wishes.

Congratulations! 23 pounds in a month is very impressive. Have you started excercising yet, or is it still too early? If that loss is without excercise, it will be interesting to see the pace when you do add it in. Thanks for sharing.

WOWZA Lotus....have you lost all that weight in the first month? That's very encouraging!

TnT, I also had a BMI of 55+. I am currently in my third week of the 3-4 month pre surgery approval. My thought is to try to be as healthy as possible before the surgery to minimize as many issues and possible complications. With that in mind I'm excercising at least 4 times a week and trying to eat as well as I can. I think the higher weight loss for higher BMI patients is just a function of bigger numbers to start with. If you look at percent to total lost you'll see the numbers tend to be very similar. Like you, I have a long road ahead. Isn't it great we have a place to meet others who share the journey. Good luck to you!

Hello. I've been reading the forums here for about a week and today I finally had the nerve to join in the conversation. This seems to be such a warm, suppportive and encouraging group and I am grateful to have found you. If you don't mind, I'd like to share my story and ask some questions. I don't talk about this with my friends, I'm not sure why, but it's probably because I'm embarrassed. I have been overweight (I still have a very hard time using the word obese) my entire life. A few times in my life I have lost major amounts of weight. Right after college I did medifast and lost. I looked and felt good but alas, it was temporary. I did not learn how to eat right, so as soon as real food was back, so were the pounds. When I turned thirty, I did nutrisystem and lost a lot again. This was until I showed up one day for my appointment and the doors were locked as the company had gone bankrupt. This was clearly a reason to go back to my old bad habits....wouldn't you say?:thumbup1: About five years ago I got serious again. I decided to "do it right" this time. I was extremely diciplined about what I ate (about 1200 calories a day, lean Protein, complex carbs, veggies) and excercised like a maniac. I got to the point where I was excercising three hours a day sometimes. I lost weight.....lots of it. I went from about 350 pounds to about 190 in about a year and a half. I had more to lose but I was doing things I never dreamed of. I skydived, I did walking tours through Europe, I joined a biking club, and best of all, I bought jeans in the regular misses department at Nordstrom. Then......I quit smoking. I was proud to quit cold turkey, but it wasn't good for my diet. Then I met the man who I ended up marrying three months ago. I was able to hold on in the 200 pound range for a while but then things went downhill. There's a reason the expression "fat and happy" exists. I slipped right back into my old habits and before I knew it I had a closet full of new clothes that didn't fit and I was buying "fat" clothes again. It seems I'm able to take off the weight, I just can't maintain it. I'm sure many of you have the same story to tell. Last month I decided I HAVE to take action again. I spoke with a good friend of mine who's a surgeon and asked her to recommend a doctor for the sleeve. Three weeks ago I went to the seminar and had the consultation with the surgeon. My insurance is Aetna and I am requried to do three months of nutrtional counceling, three months of supervised medical weight loss program, and one visit with a psychologist. The doctors office made it seem after I had completed these requirements that we'd be able to do surgery two weeks later. Reading this forum, it sound as if it may be more difficult. I am very interested in knowing what others experience has been, especially anyone with Aetna through American Airlines. Two weeks ago I had my first appointment with the weight loss doctor. (She shares offices with the surgeon) I weighed in at 327. I have since become quite serious about what I eat, using myfooddiary.com to track and I'm getting back into my cardio excercise (weight training to come). This morning, my scale read 313.4. WOW, I forgot how easy it is to drop the pounds in the beginning. I am eating a very low calorie well balanced diet. Ordinarily I would think eating only 800 -1000 calories would be bad, but isn't that what it looks like post sleeve. I am taking a multi Vitamin and getting about 80 grams of protein a day. When I go back to the doctor in two weeks, will she reprimand me for eating too little or congratulate me on the loss? There have been some questions sprinkled within my story, but I have a few more. If you have Aetna, how difficult is it to get approved. I believe the doctor's staff helps a lot with this, but I want to prepare myself for battle if necessary. How long after surgery will it take to get back to my life? Are there a lot of things you can never eat again? (I don't drink soda, so I won't miss that) What is a realistic expectation for weight loss and in what time frame? The doctor says the average patient loses 60% of their excess weight. I of course want to exceed that. That's why I'm trying so hard to lose prior to the surgery, if I start at a lower weight, I'll end at a lower weight. Ok...here's the big one. I was thinking of trying to do this without sharing the information with anyone but my husband and best friend. I am so angry and ashamed of myself for putting the weight back on this time. For the most part, the rest of my life is pretty together, I have a sweet loving husband, I own a good business and a lovely home, I have terrific friends.....all in all I consider myself fairly blessed. I just can't seem to get this part of my life in control. Do you think I can do this without telling anyone? They've seen me do it before so it's not unreasonable. When I lost before I heard a lot of "good for you, you did it naturally, no cheating with surgery" I know surgery is not cheating, it's a tool and I still have to do a lot of hard work. I just don't want to have to explain it to the uninformed. I am sorry I have rambled on so much. Apparently have I more to say than I even realized. I would very much value your opinions. Again, I am grateful there is a community of people who truly understand all of this and I appreciate you allowing me to add my thoughts. ps..........I want a ticker too. I can't figure out how to do it. Help please!

Thanks to each of you for your quick response and encouragement. I am giving a lot of thought to your suggestions about telling people what I'm doing. I don't have to make that decision right away and I'll see how I feel when it gets closer. Each of you has a story of inspiration, thanks so much for sharing.