Butterflylegacy

I have not kept it a secret, but I have tried to manage the when/who knew aspect. My first confession was to my very close friend. I needed her support and affirmation that I could do this. I went to the surgeon before telling my husband, because I knew he would have questions and he is such a worry wart, I wanted to make sure I had information and answers to provide to him. The next person I told was my brother, with whom I am very close, and he has been imploring me for years to get my weight under control. Surprisingly, he was very concerned about me making this choice, but as I've been able to answer all of his questions confidently, he has since come around to accepting it, and has resumed being extremely supportive. Next, I told my Mother, Sister, and children, and then lastly my Dad. All of whom (except one child) live in a different state, so I debated on telling them at all, or just surprising them the next time they saw me... I'm just too excited about doing the surgery to keep my mouth shut, so I told them as soon as I saw them last week! LOL As for work, I have again been very selective. I've told immediately those whom I felt would be supportive and encouraging. There are others who I have not told, but through one way or another have found out, but since I didn't tell them, they've wisely kept mum to me about it. I think they know, it's not really their business and unless I volunteer to talk to them about it, they are satisfied in simply knowing. I will say that as the surgery date gets closer and closer, I can't seem to shut up about it. I told the person sitting next to me on the plane last week that I was doing this!! LOL No one can tell you how to handle this news. The most important thing to remember is that you MUST have supportive people around you. You need cheer leaders, and that is not something I've experienced in the past. Begin small, and tell one or two people, and gauge their reaction. Gauge yours as well. I wouldn't suggest telling perfect strangers, but I bet you that there are people in your life that care very deeply about you, and would be thrilled to know that you are making this positive change in your life! Good luck to you!!!

What about watermelon? It's in season right now, and seems like it would be easy to tolerate... although, I've not had my surgery yet, so I could be wrong... just thought perhaps small bites would be tolerable.

Just out of curiosity..... is the sensation after the surgery similar to c-section? For some reason, that's what I keep comparing it to in my mind.

Yes ma'am! I have to be there at 7:30, and surgery is scheduled for 9:30. What time is yours?? We can high five each other in the hall later when we're doing our walking!!

My surgeon (Dr. David Kim) requires a sleep study for all of his patients, regardless of if you show symptoms of sleep apnea. I am not certain he requires this for self-pay patients, but I know he requires it for insurance pay patients. I was so happy he required it of me! Not only did I find out that I DO have sleep apnea (stopped breathing 148x during my study!), but the cost of doing the sleep study helped to reduce my deductible and out of pocket max, creating a situation where having my surgery essentially is costing me little to no money. I do have to bring my cpap with me to the hospital when I have my surgery. I also have to spend the night, but I don't think it has anything to do with my apnea, as it is a requirement to have an Upper GI the following day to check for leaks. If you are using insurance to go through this process, I would suggest asking your surgeon for a sleep study referral. If you are diagnosed with Sleep Apnea, it may be just the push your insurance needs to qualify you for the surgery under medical neccesity. I know I felt a lot more confident that I would be approved once I was diagnosed, and hopefully you will be as well! Good luck, and let us know what you decide to do!

I am on UHC, and I was approved 1st letter. I think it depends on the employer who you have insurance through and whether or not they have subscribed and/or allowed their employees to utilize the bariatric services provided by UHC. Thankfully, my husband's employer subsribed to it, and therefore the option was mine. UHC is pretty specific however in what capacity they will approve you, or at least that's my experience. They require that your surgery be performed in a COE (Center of Excellence), which for me is over an hour away. I thought this was extreme, until I met other people at my surgeon's office who have travelled upwards of 5+ hours just to get to his office, much less the hospital the surgery will be peformed at! Thankfully, my surgeon is extremely aware of what it takes to be approved by insurance companies, and he seems to have figured out the "system" so to speak. He requires specific tests that help prove his case to the insurance company that the surgery is of medical necessity. The very first visit, he did an x-ray of my abdomen, and diagnosed me with Acid Reflux. He also requires all patients to do a sleep Study (I was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea), and a Cardiac Stress test (I never heard anything back about this, so I am assuming I did ok). These tests serve two purposes from what I can tell. 1, as I mentioned, they assist the surgeon with proving to the insurance company that the surgery is medically necessary. 2, it helps to reduce your deductible and out of pocket max. For me - I have a BMI of 55, so I immediately met UHC's qualification. Having a BMI so high, also meant that I didn't have to prove continued weight loss attempts, etc. My only insurance requirement with my BMI was the psych eval. I have never experienced this process with any other insurance company, but I have to admit that I preferred UHC's method. They assigned an RN to me, as a case manager. She has kept in contact with me through out the process, and kept me informed as to where my case file was. She was eventually the person who reviewed all of the information provided by the surgeon and others (Sleep Study, etc.) and she called me to let me know that I was approved, before I even got the letter from them stating it. Good luck with this process!! I don't know if UHC treats their bariatric patients the same across the board, or if it varies by insurance plan, state, employer, etc. All I can say is that my experience with UHC has been exceptional. I have been very impressed!

Skane, I have a desk job too so I'm hoping to not be too wiped out when I return. My surgery is scheduled for a Thursday and I've only taken the day of and the day after off. The following week I will be working from home. (I'm thinking me, the laptop and my cell phone nestled comfortably in my bed). My job is mostly support and troubleshooting so I'm figuring if I would've taken the time off I would've ended up working anyway. Thankfully my coworkers and boss have been so super supportive. I think even when I do go back to work they'll go easy on me

June 7th Dr. Kim Decatur, TX woot woot!!

I'm on day 3 of my all liquid diet. My doctor requires only BariEssentials brand of Protein Meal Replacement shakes. I can have unlimited calorie free non-carbonated drinks as well as sugar free jell-o and popsicles. I've been able to trick up the chocolate flavor to taste similar to a Frosty. I have not been able to do as well with the vanilla. The shakes are just too thin and loose. I don't really care for them. I've been peeing like crazy, and I have lost 7 lbs so I'm really excited about that! I was really worried about the weekend and holiday but so far so good. I really haven't been hungry much at all. I'm hoping that means I'm getting used to it but something tells me this is going to get tougher not easier. My surgery is scheduled for June 7th. I have 10 days to go after today. Its so crazy to me that its almost here!! Good luck to everyone! I hope you're as excited as I am!