Monica_Lynn

My surgery is tomorrow too. Good luck and wishing you a speedy recovery!

I really hope these days fly by. Today is my last full day of work and tomorrow is a 1/2 day then I am taking my middle son to the Air Force and Army recruiter to enlist so that should help. My mom gets into town today to help me out next week since my husband has a week long sales meeting. I am just ready to get this done

Thanks Ronda!

Good luck tomorrow and best wishes for a speedy recovery.

I am right behind you and will be sleeved on the 28th! Good luck and hope you have a speedy recovery!

I haven't had my surgery yet, but I have noticed that since I have started paying attention to my diet and exercise that my migraines and regular headaches have lessened. This make me very happy and I hope it continues after surgery next Wednesday!

You guys are lucky you get actual food with your pre-op diet. Mine consists of 4 protein shakes per day with all of the SF drinks and jello or popsicles you can eat/drink. I have 6 days left on this and my advice would be read a book or find a hobby that will keep your hands occupied so you aren't looking for something to do with them. For me that would usually mean finding a snack . Good luck and the 2 weeks does fly by!

Congratulations! Yes, the month does go by fast. After I got my approval, I got my surgery date exactly 28 days later and I am now down to 9 days....seems like just yesterday. See you on the other side

Research Dr. Rob Schuster. He is at the Banner Gateway Bariatric Clinic in Gilbert and has the highest ratings in the state. There are others that would be closer in the Phoenix area but his information I am familiar with since he is my surgeon and I have done my homework.

I am excited about the pre-op appt with the surgeon today. That means we are getting closer to the date. Just for the thrill of it, I also weighed myself this morning and I am down 5 lbs from Tuesday when I started my pre-op diet. I wish I could wake up tomorrow and it was the 28th!

I thought I was weird for not having any issues on the pre-op diet but I guess I am not alone. Difference with my pre-op diet and yours is mine is all liquid--bariatric liquid. So I get to have SF pudding and yogurt..stuff like that too just no solid chewable food. Now that the diet has started it is all downhill from here!

At first I was "denied" because they asked for more information that was already in the file. I faxed the information over and so did my surgeon's office and the patient coordinator called to make sure they knew what pages held the information...5 days later I had my approval. I was worried the entire time but it all worked out. Who is your surgeon--I am from AZ too

I understand. I have BCBSIL and I was at the lower BMI scale with co-morbidities and had to do the 6 month medically supervised weight loss. I had time to do all my research and get myself ready for this major change and surprisingly the time flew by.

Although I do feel a slight headache coming on, the full bariatric liquid diet isn't too bad so far. I absolutely love the Unjury chocolate splendor and will be trying the chicken soup in an hour. I know tonight around dinner I will probably be wanting dinner--it will be some sort of creamy soup. I hope all days are this smooth!

For BMI under 40, if you have 1 or 2 co-morbidities, won't the insurance cover you?

My surgeon's office gives everyone the same pre-op diet--2 weeks with 3-4 protein shakes daily and all the SF liquids you can handle with creamy soups and yogurt....this is what they would consider full bariatric liquids. I have to ask about clear liquids the day before surgery because it wasn't in by 'bible'.

I decided to give up caffeine months ago so I wouldn't have headaches right before or after surgery. I am not a big coffee drinker but I was drinking a lot of soda that I gave up at the same time. I moved to decaf tea--iced.

No way. My surgeon's office wouldn't give me a surgery date until my insurance approval was received. I sure do hope everything works out for you!

I am Monica. I have been struggling with my weight since 1997 when I had my 3rd child. I had been under the notion that you needed to be at least 100 lbs overweight to consider surgery but last year I had heard the requirements had changed. That is when I started to reconsider it again. January I started my requirements for the 3 months or medically supervised weight loss the insurance required. As I entered my 3rd month, the policy had changed to 6 months which kinda sucked because I was ready. After the additional 3 months, my life was in the hands of the insurance company. There was an initial denial due to additional documentation needed (that was actually in the file), the approval came a week later. My surgery date is September 28 and I start my 2 week pre-op diet tomorrow and am looking forward to getting healthy. I should be curing my obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, sleep apnea, and joint issues with my knees!

Happy to help!

I did the nutrition with my PCP also and he had noted everything we talked about in his progress notes. So when I turned in my 6 months of notes everything was in there. Although we had to fax some pages twice I did get the approval 5 days after the 2nd fax.

I can't speak for Cigna but with BCBSIL they required 6 months of medically supervised weight loss. Now you could use Weight Watchers for your nutritional program but you would have to check in with either your bariatric surgeon or PCP for monthly weigh ins.

I have BCBSIL too and my BMI was 35 with 3 of the c-morbidities. You should be fine with a 40 BMI although they use the BMI that was at the beginning of the 6 months of medically supervised weightoss. Start calling right away so you are informed. My first fie required additional information that was actually already in there but it was refaxed anyway by me and the surgeon's office and 5 business days later I had my approval. I have no doubts that you will have your approval soon!

My mom supports my decision but when we talk about any aspect of the surgery she asks..."how are you going to do this, you like to eat too much". Yes I like to eat but she hasn't done the research either so I know that the hunger part is being removed for the most part. She doesn't understand that this is a tool I need for my health.

Start calling 2 days after your file is submitted! When you finally hear that you are approved it will take about a week before you get your letter confirming...it is a great feeling! Good luck to you!!!