ArcusX

When I saw the first post, I thought of Yoda: "Do or do not. There is no try." I too had resolved not to drink this past weekend. I had two reasons: 1) I gained weight from the previous week, and 2) I didn't want to waste a "day after," feeling like crap. Despite my wife irritating me by nagging about it and wanting to drink to spite her, I did not drink. Do it this weekend. Don't try. Do it! Best, John

I got a letter over the weekend looking for more info. Not denied yet: http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/65113-letter-from-cigna-not-denied-yet/

Yeah, I had forwarded a scanned copy of the letter to the insurance coordinator on Saturday, asking her to call me when she was available. She called yesterday afternoon, and we discussed briefly. She told me that they had submitted all of that, but would call and get to the bottom of it. I'll call her back later today to see what happened. At this point, I think they're just delaying. We'll see.

Sounds like a better question for your doctor.

Any particular phone number you used? PM please?

Looking forward to photos. Congrats!

Never seen Krav Maga before. If you like a "street style," Kung Fu San Soo might be an option to look into as well. Here's a link... I trained with this guy like 20 years ago, and I want to go back one of these days: <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Yyu5m2sz0B4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

The weight loss gadget I didn't know I needed. The so-called "smart fork" tells you when you're eating too fast. I actually kinda like that it's got a small "shovel" area. Reminds me of the story I once heard about a guy who lost weight by switching to chopsticks. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/08/hapifork-buzzing-fork-solution-overeating_n_2433222.html?utm_hp_ref=technology Eesh...

Ohh... you left that wide open! But I'll be good!

I was submitted 19-December. Still waiting. I was told by the insurance coordinator 10-15 business days.

Not knowing any more history, if this were first contact on the topic of WLS, I'd say it's not completely unreasonable. Every 2 weeks might be excessive... monthly would probably suffice, but not completely unreasonable. When I first started seeing my PCP, I didn't specifically bring up surgery as an option, but I was wanting to know, medically, what would be some options. He just said eat smaller portions, exercise etc. The usual. But after 4+ years of history, inclining weight and declining health, when I bought it up in the Fall, surgery was more of a topic to discuss and explore.

I was referred by my (trusted) PCP.

What a PITA. It didn't even occur to me to check to see if the doctor was "in network" or not (I have Cigna too). Why would the office waste all their time only to not get the payola at the end?? Submitted 12/19. I was told 10-15 business days... still waiting!

Glad to hear this is your biggest problem!

I was going to say, "no pics, didn't happen," but there it is! Congratulations!!! Good luck on getting to 120.

Good progress. Keep it up!!

Everything I've read says Protein first. If you haven't tried them yet, consider the Isopure Ready To Drink drinks. They have a good amount of protein, without the air of a shaken powder. My neighbor (3 yrs out) said he lived on Isopure and Miso Soup. http://www.vitaminshoppe.com/search/controller?N=4294967239&Ntk=SiteSearch&Ntt=isopure&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Nty=1&cm_sp=keywordSearch-_-Form-_-Drinks That's my plan.

Why do people have to be so darned sensitive?!? Ok, you had that coming I tend to agree with CLK and others. I've found this forum to be generally positive and mostly supportive. I find that I feel that I have to approach this forum much like I might approach folks I work with. I walk on egg shells a bit. Some folks are a little more sensitive than I think they should be, but, it is what it is. Personally, I try to stay positive, yet truthful. I don't think VSG is for everyone. They may be prime physical candidates, but not emotional ones. And that's the hardest part; how do you nicely tell someone this probably isn't for them? It isn't always easy to be as tactful as everyone needs. There was a post last week of someone who was devastated that they insurance had denied them for not having done a 90-day NUT supervised diet. My opinion: it's pretty standard if the surgeon's office didn't specify it, had she done ANY research, she might have even asked, "hey, don't i need to diet or something?" My comment was general enough to lay all blame on the doctor, but anyone considering this procedure needs to do their due diligence and be informed, and question anything that seems out of the ordinary. Does that make me "mean?" You might think so, but I honestly don't.

Welcome, and good luck!

A few years ago, we bought a Tanita brand scale at BBB that had body fat percentage sensor on it. Does anyone have any idea how accurate those things are?

You know, days like that are just going to happen, I think. You just have to dust yourself off, and do better tomorrow. Or better still, make up for it at dinner. Just have a light dinner, and maybe go for a walk or something. Get the kids out of the house and make them walk around the block with you. For me, Doc told me at my initial consult in the first week of October that he wanted to see me lose 5-10 lbs in the 3 months of pre-op. I'd accomplish this mostly by cutting out the liquid calories, including milk. Skim milk. MILK?!? Okay fine. Well, then I'm going all in. I set up my food tracker goal to stay under 1800 cal/day. Most days, I'm between 1000 and 1400. Every couple of week though, I'll have a day - a meal - where I just don't give a F and I'm going to enjoy that burger at Five Guys. I skip the fries, but still, that meal wrecks my goal for the day. No biggie though, because on my worst week - Thanks giving week I didn't even bother weighing in, but the week after - I was net zero from two weeks before. No loss. No gain. I could live with that. One of the reasons I don't care about the occasional Burger day is because I know that after being Sleeved, that won't even be an option. Another reason is because I've lost over 25 lbs in the time the doc wanted 5-10. I really want to do this. I think it's my best chance at long-term success. If I get denied though, plan B is to just keep doing what I'm doing. My point of this statement? Don't let this goal hinge on something outside of your control, like finances. Get busy.

Posted this on my blog yesterday: After having completed all of the prerequisites, I was told I would be submitted to insurance for pre-approval. That was a week and a half ago. Last Wednesday, I followed up via email, but received no reply. So, I called today. Evidently, they didn't get the Medical Clearance from Dr. Schneider, my primary care physician. Kim told me that they submitted without the clearance, and as expected, insurance called looking for the clearance. She got something today from Dr. Schneider, but it apparently wasn't what they were looking for. I call Dr. Schneider's office and she doesn't have time to call Dr. Krohn's office to find out exactly what they need. Sheesh. I asked Kim if she'd take that next step, and hopefully they'll get on the same page. I'll have to call again tomorrow though.

Whew!! I was a little nervous posting that! Seriously though, this is a significant change in your life. You can't half-ass this one. You're either all-in, or you're out. I like the posts I've seen from you, and I'd really like to see you succeed. Best,

You can fix this TODAY. Pick up a nice bottle of wine, if you need to. :ph34r:

Pull it together Amy! You want this so badly that you're going to fly to MX and pay out of pocket... surely you can do what you KNOW needs to be done. If not now, when? You can do this!!!