Isabel'sGma

Typically co-pays will be collected prior to or at the time of the service. Most Dr's offices will not bill you for a co-pay. Your hospital may be willing to do that, but I know that mine required my entire out-of-pocket maximum on the date of surgery. When they verify your benefits and find out that there is a co-pay it will more than likely be required prior to surgery. To be pro-active (because they will find out about it) you could call the hospital billing office and see if they are willing to set up payment arrangements for that amount.

It really sounds to me like you are not eating enough in total calories or in protein. Protein should be a minimum of 45 but 60 is better. A boost in your calories might also be in order since you are working out. Your body may be saying it isn't going to give up more unless it gets more fuel.

I would seriously look at how many calories you are eating. it almost sounds to me like you are not eating enough. My NUT says 1200-1500 when you are working out is the lowest you should go because of the whole "starvation" mode. Maybe try to make tomorrow a "typical" food day for you and really track the calories. If you are below 1000 I would definitely add 200-300 calories to help your body deal with the working out and such. that worked for me!

It's All New - I think you hit the nail on the head. there is no "right" or "wrong" answer. When I talked to my NUT, I was really frustated because I was having huge stalls that made no sense. She asked what I was eating and we felt that it was best to up my calories and then see what happened. We did that and my weight loss started up almost immediately. I believe that my body was holding on for dear life to its fat stores when I wasn't eating enough. The most important thing is to listen to your body and try a few things out. Don't swing the pendulum drastically but try a few days of adding 200-300 calories a day and see how you do.

I believe at 4 months post op you should actually be at 800-1200 calories. My nut put me on 1200-1500 calories about 4 months out.

I also have UHC Choice Plus and had surgery this year. I am also our company's Insurance Benefits Manager. The real answer is, it depends on your plan. 1) If you plan has a surgery or hospitalization "co-pay" - you will have to pay that. If it does not, then the OOP maximum would apply and you should owe nothing. I met my OOP max with my pre-op tests so I owed nothing for my surgery. 2) If you have a Dr's office visit co-pay, that should only apply to your pre-op appointments, but it depends on if they charge a Dr's fee every time you go in for your post-op checks. Mine does not, it is important to ask your surgeon's office if they bill an office visit charge for the post-op visits. 3) If you have met your OOP (out of pocket maximum) for the year, all bills through the end of the year that would normally pay at a % will pay at 100% unless there is a benefit with a specific visit maximum (chiro, naturopath, etc.) 4) Anything with a co-pay, you will still need to pay your co-pay's. I hope this helps, you can PM me if you want.

Try Laughing Cow cheese wedges. Low calorie and low fat and gives a satisfaction to that cheese need without the fat or calories. I am struggling with the sodium also. My nut suggeted going to the deli and buying low sodium deli meat. It is way low in calories (about 50 for 6 thin slices) and it satisfies protein and low cal options.

You should not be in that much pain. I would call your surgeon. If you are gassy, walk, walk, walk!!!! Otherwise a talk with the surgeon is in order.

I am a little over 4 months post op and my nutritionist said that I should be eating 1200 calories a day. I actually was not eating enough and found when I upped to 1200 a day I started losing again. She said that our bodies are really not intended to function long term on the lower calories. If you had a three week stall, I would strongly consider taking a couple of weeks and trying to experiment with your calories and find a level of calories that your body likes. Mine likes to get around 1200-1400 and I lose about 0.8 every day that I hit that target, of course if I go over, then it doesn't but if I have a really low day in the 800 range, I also gain. I know that this is not what a lot will say, but I find that it works well for me and I wanted my lifestyle to be something i could maintain forever and I know that I could never last long term eating 800 calories a day. I intend to eat 1200-1400 per day for the rest of my life with the occasional day that will go over that.

Oh, I am praying with you. My A1C was an 8.8 in February, had surgery in April and 2 months after surgery my A1C was 5.8 It has helped so much. Really fight for yourself because it is worth the fight. I was taking HIGH doses of Byetta, Lantus and Humulin as well as metformin and glyburide before surgery and since surgery I have not taken any diabetes medicines. It has been an absolute life saver for me. I understand that the guidelines are because we do not heal as well when our sugars are out of control, but we do still heal - I actually had not problems whatsoever. Really have a heart to heart with him about your borderline results because this is critical. God Bless and please let us know.

Hello everyone. Doing pretty well, have had an extremely stressful couple of months. All in all, I am very happy with my progress. I am down to 260 which is 67 pounds down. I still want to get under 200, but for now I am happy with my progress.

I don't know about anyone else, but I have always loved spaghetti and thought it was a goner for me. the other night the family wanted spaghetti and so I opened a can of green beans and used them for noodles. It was great. The beans were firm enough to stand up to the sauce and not mushy like spaghetti squash. I strongly recommend trying it.

I came across the below recipe and thought it sounded like a great recipe for those of us that are in stage 4 or later. Lots of Protein and little to no carbs. Looking forward to trying it. Stuffed Zucchini Ingredients 3 zucchini 1 lb ground turkey/chicken/beef/sausage 1 cup dry bread crumbs 1 clove garlic minced 1 (32) ounce jar spaghetti sauce ½ cup grated parmesan cheese ½ cup mozzarella or Monterey jack cheese Directions 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 derees C.) 2. Trim stems from zucchini and slice lengthwise. Scoop out seeds and put in bowl. 3. Place sliced zucchini (cut side down) in a 9 x 13 baking pan with a small amount of Water. Bake them in the heating oven while preparing the remainder of the recipe. 4. Brown meat mixture with garlic, drain grease and add to bowl with zucchini seeds. 5. Mix seeds, meat mixture, bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. 6. Remove zucchini from the oven and stuff them with the meat mixture and return to the 9 x 13 baking pan. 7. Pour sauce over zucchini and cover pan with foil. Bake in preheated oven for 30-45 minutes, or until zucchini is tender. Remove foil and top with the mozzarella cheese and return to oven until cheese is melted.

Recliner for about a week and a half

I would sit down and have a heart to heart with the surgeon. My A1C was 8.8 in January and I had surgery in April. In June it was 5.8. See how long you have to wait. An A1C can be checked sooner than 3 months, that is just the average time they like to wait. While waiting for the retest. Walk, walk, walk. Try to take a minimum of 10,000 steps a day (get a pedometer). the exercise will really help your sugar control and if you can't walk, try getting into a swimming pool and swim, or even just walk in the Water. It is great exercise and less impact on your joints if that is an issue. Water aerobics classes are also wonderful. Any activity you add now will also help you post surgery. You will do this and it will be wonderful. Before surgery I was on Humalog 40 units with every meal and 60 units of Lantus at bedtime and Byetta 10 mcg 2 x day plus metformin and glyburide. Now, NOTHING!!!!

Be strong and trust your decision made after long thought and don't trust that instinct to run away response. This surgery has changed my life and many others on this forum and in the world. The surgery was very easy and although there have been ups and downs, I have lost 60 pounds in 3 months and 82 since my highest weight (in the last year). You will be so happy one you work out the kinks of your sleeve and will feel better almost immediately.

I would probably look into what I have heard as a 5-day pouch test. Actually the website is www.5daypouchtest.com . This should help you get back into the mindset of eating the way we are supposed to with this new tool. I am only 3-months post-op but I can definitely see the value of this type of tool helping when and if I get out of control in the future. Best of luck and you have already tackled some of the hardest issues and that is admitting you have a problem. See if you can get back in touch with a psychologist/counselor to help you. I know you can do it, get a buddy to really help you be accountable and work that sleeve.

Fannyf, So nice to meet a fellw veteran. I was in the Army quite a few years ago. I am not service connected or retired - I am glad to hear that they have a program for veterans, i would love to hear more about it. Congrats on your weight loss. You really are rocking the sleeve and obviously even more important than that, you have embraced the lifestyle change that is required for a permanent change.

Walk, walk, walk, sip, sip, sip and as my Psych says "trust your plan". When things get rough and the stalls happen, trust your plan because as long as you are following the plan set up by your surgeon, nutritionist, psych, pcp, etc, the plan won't fail you. The sleeve will work. Also measure yourself immediately. You may see a drop in inches even before a drop in the scale. Most importantly, you will lose weight, our bodies have to right themselves after the major surgery and change in habits that we have put them through.

I am right there at your height. I used to be almost 5'10" but now measure about 5'8 1/2" most of the time. My Dr and I have not discussed specific weights, but I am shooting for 199 and the going to reassess. I think when I type my height into a BMI calculator I come up with something like 165 putting me into a "normal" weight range. I am not sure I want to be that low and I want to be realistic. I think we spend so much time focusing on a number and not nearly enough time focusing on body health. I want to be fit and if I am fit and happy at 199, then that will make me happy. I realistically think that I will end up around 175.

I would take a guess that possibly you are not eating enough. My nut said that I should be eating 1200 calories per day as long as I am working our 5-7 times per week. She said eating less than that can cause more stalls with our body thinking it is not going to get enough. Are you getting the minimum protein? I have found when I up my calories, that I actually lose more weight and have more success.

Well, finally back down a little. Starting Weight 7/4: 275 Today's Weight 7/23: 268.8 Goal Weight 9/2: 260 I seem to be in this cycle of losing for a few days in a row then gaining a little of it back over a few days and then maintaining and then losing. Kind of strange, but as long as I lose more than I gain, then I guess the scale is still going the right direction. I really hope that the goal of 260 is attainable. It should be, who knows, maybe I can even get to 250 which would be amazing. It would be 100 down from my highest weight and 77 from the beginning of my pre-op diet on the 14th of April.

Healthy Choice has a frozen greek yogurt that is great, has good protein and tastes yummy. Can't remember exact sugar, but it was good.

I am in McMinnville and we have a support group that meets the first Monday of every month. We will be meeting again on August 6th @ 6:30 in the surgeon's office. It is a mix of all types of surgery. Not a lot of attendees, would love to have some others join us. it is facilitated by the Psych my surgeon works with. He is also a weight loss surgery patient from several years ago.

Do you have a DVR, if so, get into the habit of recording the shows you like and watch them in a little time delay. That way you can fast forward through the commercials. I absolutely love DVR for that one thing more than anything else. I may only wait 10-15 minutes into a show to start watching it, that usually makes is to I can get through without having to sit through the commercials.