traceyinflorida

If you have a local surgeon that you would use if you are able to pay with surgery I would start with them to help you find out about your insurance coverage. Ask them if they have a bariatric coordinator or someone in the office who can help you with pre-approval process. At that point, they should be able to give you a list of requirements by your insurance company to get the proceedure approved. You may be able to call your insurance company yourself (or go online and get this information). Every insurance company is different, but if they will approve based on medical necessity, then they are looking for your BMI to be over 40 with no co-morbidites or over 35 with co-morbidities (high BP, sleep apnea, diabeties, to name a few). Usually they will want a diet history. Mine required six months of supervised adn documented, consecutive diet and exercise program under a nutritionist before approval. They also required a psych evaluation to make sure I could handle life and eating after surgery. So, basically you need to find what hoops your insurance company wants you to jump through and start working on it. In my area, our hospital and surgeons have a bariatric nutrition center with a bariatric coordinator who helped me through all this. Hopefully yours has something in place as well. I found my PCP to be very supportive, but really not very knowlegeable or helpful with the nuts and bolts of the insurance process. (I needed a letter of medical necessity and medical clearance from them, which I ended up writing myself based on a template the bariatric coordinator gave me and giving to them to tweak and sign) The physician said it was so well written that she would keep it as a template for future patients. LOL. I can't answer any of the questions about Mexico or cheaper surgeries. I've read lots of great things on this forum about people's experiences with Dr. Kelly in Mexico. You should do a search on this forum for posts about this to give to your parents to allay their fears. Good luck with all and I hope you get insurance approval!

For pre-op, after the first three days (after all the sugar and carbs had left my system) it got much easier because the cravings were gone. I was allowed one of each per day; sugar free jello, 6 oz low fat, low sugar yogurt or fat free cottage cheese. Those helped with the need to "eat something". I kept reminding myself that this was just a finite period of time before surgery and would help the surgeon do his job successfully without complications. I also needed to keep myself very busy to keep from thinking about food. Post op, it is easier because you are not hungry. However, by week two I was SICK AND TIRED of liquids and wanted texture and flavor. Cream soups helped a little, but I was very happy to move beyond that stage! If I never see chicken broth again, it may be too soon! LOL

How soon after surgery are you going back to work? I have thrown up after eating, but only twice and both times I had plenty of warning that something was not sitting well and had time to get somewhere private to do it. Both times, I was experimenting with new foods (that were prepared somewhat greasily) While it is not helpful to worry about the what if's, it is helpful to plan well. Depending on when you are going back to work, plan to bring things with you that you know you have tolerated well for your current eating stage. This would be a good time to brown bag it. There are so many cute little lunch coolers out there (I saw a bunch at Homegoods) that you can be stylish going to work with your food. Make sure you have plenty of water and maybe some well tolerated snacks that you can keep in the fridge or in your desk at work. Make sure you eat slowly and chew your food really well. If you plan and you are careful, most likely you will be able to avoid any embarrasing moments!

During the liquid phase, other than the bit of diarhea I had in the hospital (very little and yes, tmi) I did not have another BM for several days and that was mostly liquid. I am seven weeks out and on regular food now and still only go either every other day or every third day. I read in my post surgery guide that this is not uncommon.

Don't be embarrased. Your past is past. Be proud of the fact that you have done something for yourself to be a much healthier person and just keep on looking ahead. It sounds like all the gushing is from people who are excited for you. But what really matters is how you feel about yourself. Congratulations on your weight loss! Enjoy the compliments!

Met with my surgeon today for a post op visit (7.5 weeks) and got cleared for coffee!! He said that some people do not tolerate it very well, but I was welcome to try. I may just have to make myself a cup in the morning and see how it goes!

Yay! Congratulations on making it to onederland!! I can't wait to get there, it has been 12 years! Keep up the good work!!

I just saw my doctor today (7 weeks out) and he said a 3 pound per week weight loss is great. I don't know how much of your weight loss was from your pre-op, but if you divide 36 by eight weeks, you are losing 4.5 lbs a week. Granted, you may have had a larger initial weight loss and then slower lately (same for me) so it seems really slow, but if you average it out...you are doing great! If your clothes are fitting looser and you are losing inches, then everything is going in the right direction! Hang in there!

Wow, congratulations! You look wonderful! Great outfits too! I bet it is a lot more fun to shop for clothes now! Thanks for sharing!

What a great way to treat yourself! Congratulations on losing 30 pounds!! Have a fun girls night out!!

I don't think after four years, you are giving up too soon! That sounds so frustrating and you are well within your rights to bring up a revision. When you meet with your doctor, be frank about how frustrating this has been, and really pretty unsuccessful and tell him what you would like to do. You need to be your own best advocate. Unfortunately don't know the difference between upper GI and endoscopy. I know endoscopy, they stick a small tube (endoscope) with a camera down your throat (while you are really well sedated and probably will sleep and not remember much) to see all the way down your esophogus. They also can send special instraments down tube if they need to take a biopsy) Good luck with your appointment. Don't be afraid to discuss your concerns with your doctor. That's what he is there for.

Wow, congratulations to all of you!! It's inspiring to see where this will lead, since I am a little less than 2 months in.

They have a kids size smoothie at Tropical Smoothie. It may be limited to certain flavors, but it is worth asking if you can have the small version. Of course, then you don't get 22 grams of protein in one try, you would only get a portion of that. I would go on the internet and see if you can find recipes for your favorite tropical smoothie drinks and make your own. (I know, not as convenient, but probably much cheaper and more in your control). The Ninja that Amy mentioned crushes ice down to a slurpee texture in no time flat...better than any blender I have ever used which always leaves ice chunks. I think I paid $40 for mine.

Thanks for sharing that blog, Thesmilos. It explains things well. I will make sure to refer to it the next time I hit a stall and start getting impatient again!

I started a stall at four weeks which lasted almost four weeks. But, the scale is finally moving again. I feel your pain, it is FRUSTRATING!! Hang in there. All bets are not off. Just keep following the plan and be patient.

I gave up on pureed after four days. We were traveling and it just was not very practical. I also found it to be completely unenjoyable, almost worse than the liquid phase. Soooo, I started with really soft things, like fish that I could chew to a puree. I had read on this forum that some surgeons start their patients on puree right out of the hospital and on to softs the following week. I definitely think your stomach lets you know when you have pushed things too far. I am now almost eight weeks out and all is still well, so I don't think I did any permanent damage.

If you do not hear from them in the morning, then you should call them back. Thinking back on it, I got further with my bariatric coordinator when I emailed her voicing my frustrations with the insurance process when I had been denied twice due to a couple of missing words from my PCP in her letter of medical necessity. She had not answered my voice message. Do you have that option? I know it's frustrating, especially when you are a detail oriented person. For me, I felt like...Okay I have done everything I needed to do on my part for the past six months, now it is in your hands and you are %*!@# it up!! Hang in there, and keep bugging them, you know what they say about the squeeky wheel.... Before you know it, this will all be behind you!

I wore a pair of Spanx the other day. I am seven weeks post op. Since they were my pair from pre-surgery, they were pretty comfortable.

Yay for you! It's so nice to say goodbye to those pounds FOREVER! Keep up the great work and your wonderful outlook!!

I hit a stall at four weeks. It lasted for two weeks, and then creeped a bit, then stalled again. The scale finally moved today after a total of four weeks. I was told (on this forum) to be patient, that weight loss is inevitable if you are sticking with the plan and they were right! I also read that increasing your Water may help. I had the same inner pouting that you did, for a while, and a few doom and gloom thoughts of "great, I will be the first person this didn't work for!"

The truth is, I asked myself the same question two years ago and decided not to have the surgery. I thought, well if I have to make that radical of a lifestyle change, why not just do it on my own? Two years later, I realized that I had completely wasted two years and was heavier than ever. It is much easier said than done. I am glad I finally had the surgery. I just had a dinner party tonight and enjoyed it just as much as I would have if I had eaten all the tasty food I prepared. (I only ate the protein and the vegatable I prepared and a tiny bite of Texas Sheet cake) It was just nice to be with friends for a girls night out. It was also nice to have a tool to help keep me from eating the leftover Texas Sheet Cake after everyone left!!

That looks yummy! Thanks for sharing!

58 pounds is great, so far! I know it is really hard not to compare yourself to others, but it is really important to focus on you and your successes. Everyone loses at a different rate. The important thing to remember is that everybody loses and you will keep losing too! Hang in there!

Insurance companies are so annoying!! I cannot count the number of times we have been through the same nonsence with myself or one of my family members. Do you have a bariatric or surgical coordinator at your surgeon's office? I found that I got much more direct and straight forward answers when she called the insurance company. Good luck.

I was also told I had mild sleep apnea. I was waking up gasping for air sometimes. I also woke up with a head ache every morning. I did not want to use CPAP machine, so I got a product called PURE SLEEP. It is a mouth guard that pulls your lower jaw slightly forward to open your airway. It is meant to stop snoring, but since I started using it, I sleep great and do not wake up with headaches. Also, added bonus...I do not snore!! It took a little getting used to, but now I do not want to sleep without it. I brought that to the hospital with me. They gave me the oxygen as mentioned above during recovery, but at night I used my mouth guard.