Puddles

I had very little urges the first week after. It was after I started the puree that the craving began. What I have noticed is that even if I am craving, as long as I have something small - 1-2 tsp I no longer have the cravings.

Did that with an Easter cookie. Only time I felt nauseated beyond all. Nope, Not doing that again!!

Does anyone else have what is a strange food craving? I rarely, like maybe twice in the last 10 years, have had a McDonalds fish sandwich, but right now that is the only craving I am having for several days now. Strange.....but I feel like I could devour one! LOL

Was sleeved on 3/22. Doing great. Have a couple of areas that are still sore, but like muscle soreness. Doing pretty good at keeping Water down this week - just keep water bottle with me at all times. Moved from full liquids to pureed this week. Love having food that has a better taste, though some of it does look rather different. Good luck Craig!!

Started walking again this week. Starting with trying to get a good 10 - 20 min walk in each day. Will up it next week and possibly add some stationary cycling.

Kaitlynm - Hopefully I will not know about that dreaded stall. All of our furnishings are still in transport, including my scale. Saw Dr on Monday for follow-up and told him all I have to go on is my clothes right now, which he did chuckle about. Mr went shopping yesterday and I asked him to get cream of wheat....came home with instant stuff - yuk!! Poor guy just trying to help. Good thing for me is I have never been a big red meat eater - a thing I think will make this a bit easier in the chicken and fish department. The egg department....You had me chuckling about laying eggs. Thank you for all the encouragement!! It feels good to have people to talk to.

Each insurance is different, even within the same company sometimes. Our insurance stipulated if between 35 and 39.9 BMI they would not consider unless there were 2 co-morbidities. Over 40 BMI did not have to have any co-morbidities to qualify to submit. I started the process when we were overseas and was going to submit myself as I had US insurance in Australia. As it was the week before I was going to submit, we found out we were moving back home so I was able to find someone who would take me in transfer of care. I continued to see the bariatric surgeon there to keep a continuum of care. Once we returned, I saw their physician and nutritionist, they then submitted the paperwork. I am not exactly sure when they submitted the paperwork, but I believe it was approximately 2 weeks when I got an answer. Good Luck!!

Kaitlynm - Good luck on the interview! I was surprised to be honest. Lost another 7 lbs since surgery. I did not think it would have been that much for the very reasons you mentioned with the fluids from surgery etc.... Doing fairly good in the Water department. Minimum that I get in is 20 oz. Try to keep water bottle with me at all times, so take frequent sips. Got the go ahead for full pureed. Get to add Cream of Wheat - can't wait!! Appointment was done at peak traffic so Mr and I stopped for dinner. I ordered a Soup. I ate the broth from it as it was difficult to get to the right consistency and a couple tsp of his potatoes. Was enough to feel satisfied at the time. When we got home I put the rest in the blender and have enough to last for several days.

Live in Kingwood, Tx. Had my sleeve done on March 22 at Memorial City, Memorial Hermann with Dr Primomo. Great experience so far. Going for my first follow-up today. Excited to see how much weight I have lost. (Do not have a scale at home presently as we just recently moved internationally and all of our furnishings are in transport). Water intake is increasing daily, 5 days post-op had 36 ounces. Can't wait to move up to pureed/soft foods to be able to increase Protein intake.

Had my sleeve on March 22. Have my first post-op appt today. Excited to see how much I have lost as I do not have a scale at the house right now. (We recently moved internationally and are waiting for our furnishings to arrive) Pain is minimal - like I have done a few to many sit ups. For the most part tylenol takes care of it, though I did take pain meds when I knew family was going to be here and I was going to be doing a lot of up and down with kids coming to the house. I think I am doing good on Water intake - 20-36 oz of water a day so far. Each day is an increase in how much. Just need to remember to have the water next to me. food is full liquids so doing some Protein shakes (though having done them previously for 6 months they are not on the top of my list. Soups are my go-to. Home made potato and tomato that have been put into the bullet. Going to do a veggie Soup this week and try that. Loving yogurt too.

About to head to bed.... tomorrow is sleeve day. Doing Clear Liquids all day has not been difficult at all for me today. Though I did keep busy doing things most of the day. See y'all on the flip side!

I heard there was one, but have not seen or been given a link to it. Would love to have support from people that are about in the same place I am in this journey.

Also interested in the facebook group. Would be great to hook up with others who had surgery around the same time. SubVet - Thank you for your service. Mr has dolphins as well.

March 22. Been working on this since last July. I was all set to submit everything to our insurance and found out we were moving back to the US. Feel fortunate that there was a clinic that would take what I had already completed and submit to insurance. Exploring methods of support to stay on track after the surgery.

Gigi Thanks!! This process is a bit more complicated as I am living in Australia, but dealing with US insurance as we are working over here. I saw surgeon the beginning of July and started the process, but went home on leave for 30 days so did not start seeing everyone else until I got home the end of Aug. I am having to gather all the paperwork and submit it, rather than a care coordinator as they have a totally different medical system over here than we do at home and do not deal with our insurance directly. Really do not want to mess up the chances I have for approval so trying to make sure I have everything in order. If I do 90 days from when I saw NUT that is the end of November, verses being able to submit in October.

Question – I saw my surgeon the beginning of July, but could not see the NUT until the end of August. The 90 day program outlined by Aetna – does anyone know if that is 90 days from seeing the NUT, or is it from when the process began with doc?

Congratulations!\ Do you submit all of the data, or did your physician? If you submitted the documentation, were there specific forms? The doctor submitted everything Thank YOu Bunny! I was feeling a bit invisable as no one responded. I am overseas with American insurance. They have a very different system here. Not sure how I will go about this, but I will figure it out on my own I guess. Thank You again!

Congratulations!\ Do you submit all of the data, or did your physician? If you submitted the documentation, were there specific forms?

Trying to get all the data together to submit to Aetna and am wondering if anyone can give me some hints or information. I have a BMI of 39, recently diagnosed with fatty liver. My PCP is willing to write a letter recommending weight loss surgery. I have documentation for a minimum of the last 4 years of GMI greater than 35, except for one period of time when I was on a 900 calorie medically supervised diet and lost 50 lbs that was approximately 2.5 years ago. I have regained all of that weight back. I have documented lab values with pre-diabetes and increased cholesterol. In my documentation it clearly shows when I lost weight my lab values were greatly improved. Some of my questions are: Do you submit all of the data, or does your physician? If you submitted the documentation, were there specific forms? Does anyone know how particular Aetna is regarding the medically supervised diet – does it have to be within the last two years? I am sure I will think of more, I am just trying to get all of the paperwork together. Just not sure where to start. To add confusion to all of this I am presently living out of the country, but have insurance through work, which is a US company. So part of the reason I am asking so many questions, it is difficult to just pick up the phone and call the insurance company. Thank you!

Has anyone had experience in dealing with Aetna with a BMI less than 40? My present BMI is 39. I have not been diagnosed with one of the co-morbidities listed for BMI 35-39 . I have just been diagnosed with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and have a GGT level that is greater than twice the high normal limit. I have been overweight/obese most of my adult life. I do have documentation of pre-diabetes A1c levels in 2011, 2013 and 2014. In 2012, I had lost 50 lbs. doing a very low calorie medically supervised diet and all my lab work looked tremendously better. In 2012 my BMI placed me still overweight, but no longer obese. I have gained those 50lbs and 20 more. *sigh* I have changed my diet dramatically in the last 6 months with no change in weight. The NAFL (non-alcoholic fatty liver), puts me at greater risk for cardiac disease, insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes etc. One of the symptoms of a high GGT, and actually one of the reasons I went into the Dr, was fatigue. I wake up tired and spend my day fighting the fatigue. I try to get out and walk our neighborhood, but some days that is very difficult due to the fatigue. My physician, after going over my history, has recommended bariatric surgery. There is no cure for NAFL, but studies have shown that weight loss has a dramatic effect on it as well as on the GGT level. I feel stuck in the middle of no man’s land. I don’t weigh enough to qualify for morbidly obese – need approx. 12 more lbs. for that. I don’t have one of the listed co-morbidities Aetna states I need to have, but I do have all the “pre” lab work and risks for several of the co-morbidities. To me it would seem to make sense to allow me to have the surgery before I have permanent liver damage and all the health complications that are going to be much more costly in the end.

Thank You Lynneanne. My physician and I are working on getting all the data together. Part of the difficulty I have at the moment is that I am living in Australia as an ex-pat, and my records are in the U.S. I have gotten part of them and working getting the rest of them sent via e-mail over. We plan to submit the request with research backing up the request, along with the data that I have of my lab work previously which demonstrates improvement with weight loss. I am just hoping they will accept the VLCD weight loss program that I did for over nine months, even though it is out of the two year period they request.

You look AWESEOME!!

Nope, no sleep apnea. Mr does, big time, but not me. That is part of the frusterating part is I am sitting on the cusp of everything, but not there yet. Would prefer to not get there if I don't have to, but aetna does not see that as cost prohibitive I guess.