MinaT

Congrats, that is awesome. So happy you are doing well.

Dixie and BoBann, good luck to you both!!! I will be waiting to hear some good news from you both. I don't have a surgery date, I will let you know what happens on Wed. I am thinking it will be going through the pre-op and post op diet, going through my medications and what I need to stop prior to, and setting up maybe an ekg, etc. I'll let you know on Wed. what this is about. I know every doctor is different, I'm just hoping this information will eventually help someone wondering what the procedures are when going through Healthy4Life of St. Mary's/Community Healthcare in Indiana.

I got my verbal approval from BCBSIL today. I called the surgeons office and they set me up for a 2 hour class with a nurses this Wednesday, then I have another one next Wednesday. During this time they will explain the pre-op liquid diet, the post-op diet, and determine which medicines I should go off of prior to surgery (I have Lupus), glaucoma, diabetes, sleep apnea and a small brain lesion located on my trigeminal root. They will explain which Vitamins I should be on afterwards. I've seen the nutritionists and been through all kinds of groups & classes already and had my psych evaluations and testings. I will get another ekg, upper gi and blood work and they will schedule surgery and I'll start the two week pre-op liquid diet. I'll let you know how this two hour class goes. I swear I have jumped through hoops compared to so many people and no date yet. I have been struggling for years now and I hit 300 and got down to 250 and when I started to gain again I made my first call to Healthy4Life (Bariatric Clinic) in November 2010. A few weeks later I got pneumonia and was drinking a ton of orange juice during this time, and I couldn't keep up with the diet they gave me because I was eating pretzels, drinking chicken noodle Soup and drinking orange juice all the time so I quit the program. I got pneumonia again in March 2011. Boy did i put on the weight. In September of 2011 it hurt to lay down it was as though there was so much weight on my chest and I realized I was above 300 again!! I grabbed all the materials from the year before and started cutting back on carbs and adding Proteins, it was hard to walk up the stairs. I needed help getting out of the chair and I realized, I was becoming "What ate Gilbert Grape". I spend a lot of time sitting and on the computer and I decided to find good shows on Netflix and stand in the living room and walk in place. I progressed to doing 5 minutes on the Gazelle and now can do an easy 1 hour. I started to lose the weight slowly and I realized I couldn't do this alone again. I'm going to be 49, I've got too many health issues, including Lupus, Raynauds, a small nodule on my brain located on my trigeminal root, I get migraines, have acid reflux, my feet hurt, I have diabetes and I'm going to die of obesity, not the tumor, not the Lupus, but obesity. I've dieted successfully on my own in the past and went from 330 - 128. I kept the weight off for 5 years, then I had to have a complete hysterectomy and bowel resection due to adhesions, cysts, a tumor. I had sepsis, and it was a LONG recovery and I was never the same. Knowing I couldn't have more children caused a big depression, I quit working out, and as they rest the rest is history. When I finally made the call to call healthy4life (take two) I got down to 299 in November of 2011. During the past 6 months I'm down to 241, but I realized the exercises I have been doing started adding bulk muscles and now I'm doing more repetitions. I am hoping to be closer to 230 by the time I have surgery. I use myfitnesspal.com and I try to stay within 40-50 gm carbs and 80 gms of Protein and stay within 800-1000 calories a day. I haven't given up coffee yet, but now that I know within a month I'll have surgery, I'm going to give up my morning coffee and switch to decaff. I would rather have withdrawals pre-op than post-op. Good luck to you, let me know.

Sure will, I'm not really sure what the two - two hour classes are about with the nurse & nutritionist. I've been in the program over 6 months with nutritional classes, exercise classes, sat in on seminars,sat in group therapy, but I think this where they explain the two week pre-op diet and the post-op and I actually purchase the shakes for the two week pre-op through them, but it would be nice to have an actual date. I'll find out more on Wed. Every doctor is different, and the program I am following is called Healthy4Life through St. Mary's/Community Healthcare in Indiana.

Congrats. MY last appointment was April 18th and it was submitted to insurance last week and I got verbal approval today. I have to take two, two hour classes this Wed. & next Wed. then I will get a surgery date and have a two week pre-op liquid diet. Surgery will probably be about 5-6 weeks from now.

I received verbal approval from BCBSIL today and they are generating the letter to me & surgeon. Surgeon will call them for verbal today. I have a 2 hour class this Wed. & next Wed. and they will set up the schedule for the Meal Replacements for the liquid diet and schedule the surgery. Not sure how long this process will take. My Paperwork was faxed on Tuesday, April 24, 2012 and I received verbal approval April 30, 2012! Yay! Good luck and keep me posted when you guys hear.

Since I've had a c-section, bowel resection, several laparascopies, complete hysterectomy I was fully aware of how painful gas pains could be and I learned one thing...the best thing to do is walk. When I had my gallbladder removed, I walked that day, that night I woke up and walked around, and the difference between walking around and not walking around is night and day. Ask if you can take Gas-X and walk, careful not to swallow too much air when you drink, drink slowly and I hope the regret phase passes as does the gas soon!

I had my one on one appointments once a month for six months and had to bring my daily food logs each appointment, I have two scheduled nutritionist classes, I also had my WLS "is it right for me" seminar and I had to sit in on group meetings. I'm at the waiting for approval stage now. Once approved they will schedule surgery then I have to have two wednesday three hour appointments/classes with nutritionist, nurses and then I start the two week pre-op liquid diet.

How much weight you will lose will depend on how much you weigh, how much weight you lost pre-liquid diet, because sometimes you stall. Depends on how much excess water weight you are carrying and how much exercise you get in during this time.

Please don't let her psyche you out! I recently joined this site and have been reading at others also. Some people have an easy time, some people have a hard time. It seems to me the people having the hardest times afterwards are people that didn't reduce their carb intake prior to surgery and there are lots of caffeine withdrawal headaches. I notice a lot of people eating a lot sooner than they should be too. If you do your best to lower your calories in advance of the surgery, lower your carb, start getting a shake in for Breakfast and seriously follow the pre-surgery diet (mine will be two weeks liquids prior to surgery and two week liquids after surgery), cut out the caffeine prior to surgery (I would rather get caffeine withdrawal prior to surgery than after surgery). My plan is to limit any withdrawals prior to surgery. I have been on a strict 800-1000 calorie diet under 50gm carbs for 6 months). I HOPE this will help me through the shock of reducing to 200-300 calories for the first few weeks. I am trying to psyche myself out the right way and stay positive. I have had a long open incision c-section, open incision hysterectomy w/bowel resection, several laparascopies, through my life and the easiest surgery I had was getting my gallbladder out, which is the laparascopic (5) smaller cuts very similar to the incisions made for the sleeve. I am psyching myself in advance that it will be very similar to my gallbladder out, it will be small incisions with one just a little larger to remove the excess stomach like the one that removed my gallbladder. I also know how to hold a pillow on my tummy getting in and out of bed, and I know the value of walking, walking, walking to get the gas out. However, there are people that follow every rule, and do everything right, start out with a positive attitude and still have complications, and that's something we were all told about before surgery. My surgeon told me about a woman that did everything right and she had some severe complications, including needing to be fed intravenously for over a month! She had to have another surgery and spent about 4 months really suffering. He asks her every time he sees her (she's about 1-1/2 years out) would you do it again and she says in a heart beat! We all are going to have doubts, self-doubts. I have spent countless hours reading here and sometimes what I read scares me too. Try to stay positive and do me a favor, if I come on after surgery and end up with complications and complain, remind me to reread what I am saying now lol! Hey self, In the end, it will be worth it! Good luck to you.

MamaT, I'm wondering the same thing as MomScholar, did you have to do the two week pre-op liquid diet? Also, I am wondering if you and other people that have to be in a program for six months prior to submitting to the insurance and providing logs of the food have an easier time because you are already following a low calorie, high Protein carb diet? I have been following low carb/high protein diet for six months, between 800-1000 calories, I quit drinking during dinner and 1/2 hour after dinner, I'm still having an issue with cutting out my 1 cup of coffee a day. I will do that during the two week pre-op liquid phase and hopefully forego the caffeine withdrawal headaches. I'm just waiting for insurance so I can get surgery date.

LDallas, your best bet would be to contact their customer service.

Dixie, well good luck to you and I really hope you are one of the lucky ones and I'm glad you are taking the steps to improve your health so you can be around for your grandbabies! From the looks of Artsy's response, it won't take long for you to hear! Please keep me posted. Congrats Artsy, I'm so very happy for you. Did you call UHC or hear from your surgeon? Please keep us posted when you get your surgery schedule!

Congrats and way to go. I'm very happy for you.

What kind of insurance do you have? I had to follow a six month diet of logging and turning in every thing I ate, the psych eval, sitting in weight loss surgery classes, going to group meetings, etc. I had all the testings done, sleep studies (once a year), EKG's, Stress tests at my cardiologist, colonoscopy's, endoscopies, and six months of meetings with their bariatric specialist, nutritionist, etc. and my second meeting with surgeon on April 18th. I was told they would fax everything by the end of the week. I called BCBSIL yesterday and they said it's in with medical review and now, I'm feeling exactly like you, concerned, impatient and stressed. I will probably check in with the insurance company on Monday, though I should probably wait until Tuesday. good luck.

BoBann, I'm so glad that the insurance company received the paperwork. I know Anthem is different than BCBSIL, so please let me know when you finally hear the good news (thinking positively). Dixienms, what insurance company do you have? Some companies don't make you go through a 2 or 6 month process, so I wish you the best of luck. I'm glad I did the six months, since I lost weight doing it, and hopefully I will tolerate the surgery better, since I have Lupus and other health issues. Keep me posted when you guys hear.

Good Luck Artsy. BoBann, I'm feeling the way you are now, but you have had to wait so longer, so I get the frustration. We are all told up to 30 days for a response, but yet we read here how fast other people hear back and deep down, we're thinking, oh yeah of course I'm going to be the one that has to actually wait the 30 days and of course, I'll probably be denied. In my head I realize the actual process takes time, I know the surgeon told me had to dictate the letter to Insurance, then someone has to type it, the other doctor (internist specialist) has to get his notes together, the nurses, the classes, the medical records & notes from, then the coordinator has to gather the insurance paperwork, and fax out all the papers. The fax machine at the insurance company is probably a mess like most offices, where someone has to get all the paperwork together, it has to be assigned, a file made up and then sent to the medical review panel, and I'm sure it goes emergency situations to elective cases, like bariatric, so in my head I realize the process isn't all that simple. I am not sure why I am so impatient now. I guess since beginning the process by making the appointment in October, waiting for the first appointment, then having to go monthly for over six months, getting all my reports from all my doctors, sitting in on WLS "is it right for me", sitting in group meetings, spending six months of writing everything I have eaten down, waiting for the final meeting with the surgeon eventually takes the toll. Every month, I have received a new date, something to look forward to...a finish line. Now, we sit so there is no real direction. It's out of our hands. We sit and wait for a response from Insurance, then we are back to the appointments again and we are again moving forward. Surgery date, pre-op diet, pre-op testing, surgery date. I think that is what the big deal is with me, working hard for over six months to sit and wait. In my heart I realize it's a lifestyle choice and a lifestyle decision...this is for life, I'm making a choice to have a surgery that could result in pain, complications and there are people that have died from complications, so that's out of my hands too. I decided to work harder at chewing my food, trying to stay below 40 gm carbs, not drinking after meals for 1/2 hour, and exercising even more during this time. I'm even throwing in a second shake for lunch to try to make the transition a little easier. I have lost between 8-10 lbs. per month on my own, following the diet guidelines given to me. If I get denied and I can keep this up, then I'm still better off than I was six months ago, and I hope I will do my best not to get discouraged and try to keep up the with the 800-1000 calorie diet and I may get there a little slower without the sleeve, but I suppose eventually I'll get there. Good luck and keep me posted if you guys hear anything.

Have you heard anything? I called BCBSIL today. The Customer Care Agent said they did receive it today (I was told Monday when I called that it could take two days for it to show up in their system). My surgeon's office said they didn't get it out and will be faxing it on Tuesday. BCBS agent said there are no notes on it yet, and it's before the medical review. She told me there was about 28 pages that they received from my doctor. She said they are told to tell people that there could be up to 30 days to review and has had many other people calling in the past regarding bariatric services.. I asked her when I should call again, she said maybe about 7 days. I told her I'll probably call back on Monday, she said no problem.

I haven't had the surgery yet, I'm waiting for approval. In the six months I have been following the diet the surgeon gave me, I have lost almost 60 lbs. Yesterday I ate 800 calories, about 40 gm carbs, 80 Protein, I worked out, even walking over 2 miles, up many hills etc. I gained 2 lbs. I almost always gain 2-4 lbs. a few days before I do a seven pound drop. This is how it's been since I started following a low carb, high protein diet in anticipation of the sleeve. It's going to happen, Water weight, bloating, lack of BM. I am sure this will happen after the sleeve, so remember tomorrow is another day. Just keep following your plan and it will eventually come back off plus some Congrats on how far you have come, don't beat yourself up and good luck!

Great job, I am so happy for you. Keep up the great work.

I would try tracking your food again through something like myfitnesspal.com just to see the exact amount of carbs, calories and protein you are consuming. Of course, not following their guidelines for calories & carbs because they are much higher than someone with a sleeve should be eating. I would start with one 100% Whey Protein Shake at least a day, get rid of the chips and popcorn, croutons add more lean protein. Work out routines must be varied. If you are used to walking 30 minutes a night at a certain pace, that because part of the norm. It's not "added exercise". The less you weight the more exertion you need. Besides cardiovascular, try adding weight training, lifting small weights, doing lunges. Muscle weighs more than fat, so it may seem like you are losing slower, but muscle boosts metabolism. Most of all make sure you are consuming your 64 ounces of a water a day. Good luck!

Congrats!

Good luck to you both!

Mine was submitted Friday. I have sleep apnea, but refuse C-pap and use oxygen, I take Victoza for diabetes but i was diagnosed with Lupus and now I'm afraid I will be denied because of that. I was told not to worry about that though. Good Luck everyone. I'm actually going to call the insurance company Tuesday. I heard calling sometimes can speed things along.

Raindrop, so happy you were approved superfast and please keep us updated. I'm sorry your thread was a bit highjacked, but it's nice to hear stories from people that have BCBSIL. Have you scheduled your sleeve yet? What doctor are you going through? I am in Northern Indiana also and I am going through Dr. Paul Stanish St. Mary's/Community Hospital in Munster. I wish you the best of luck. Kat, I can imagine how upsetting this must be for you after the six month pre-diet, psych eval, seminar, nutritional classes etc. that we have had to go through. Every day waiting to hear whether or not you get an approval seems like eternity. I hope something good happens for you this week.