JennyBeth

Talk to your pain management doctor. Does it come in a liquid or dissolvable option? I take a couple of medications (not for pain) and I can get a liquid or dissolvable option for after surgery.

Were those of you that had your gall bladders removed after surgery given a medication called "ursodiol" after surgery? Did you get gallstones anyways?

Did you purchase the binder ahead of time or did the hospital provide you with it? I'll have to ask my surgeon if he supplies you with one!

Excited to have my first official appt. tomorrow! It feels like it's taken forever to get here! I'll schedule the EGD and he should give me the orders for all the other clearance tests he requires. I'm hoping to get everything wrapped up in February so I can get a March surgery date!! Can't wait to get the ball rolling on a thinner/healthier me!

I just have to do the clearance tests (EGD, more bloodwork and an ultrasound of liver/gall bladder) and should get a MARCH surgery date! YEAH!

Good luck to you! I had my first appt. today and once I complete the clearance tests I should get a March surgery date! I'm SO excited, too! (This whole process is SO nerve-wracking!!)

I received similar response/attitude from the referral coordinator at my PCP's office. She always acted like I was annoying the hell out of her just because I had questions and would call to follow up on things being sent to insurance. It's their job-they shouldn't act like that! However, I just try and remind myself that getting insurance approval and surgery is not as important to anyone as it is for me! Do whatever you have to do to get your goal accomplished! Good luck!

I can't wait to not rub holes on my pants where my thighs rub together! (And then think "Great! Now I have to buy new pants!") Being able to "groom" myself without the use of a hand mirror! To LOVE to shop vs. HAVE to shop! (I wear the same 4-5 things because I HATE to shop for clothes!) To NEVER enter a plus size store again! To have my husband look at me with the same look as when we started dating (and I was thin)! To not feel uncomfortable around others and feel inferior to everyone around me! I also can't wait to go to Victoria's Secret and drop a bundle on cute bras and underwear and throw out all my "granny panties"!

Every insurance company is different with what their expectations are. If they feel you have not met those requirements then you get denied. Some insurance companies make it harder than others to get approved.

So my 1st appt is on Thursday with the surgeon and it also covers the EGD that he requires. My PCP mailed a copy of the referral to me and I opened it last night and along the bottom it says, "Only lap band is covered at Loyola. If bypass is recommended treatment then patient must be directed to Silver Cross." Loyola is where my PCP directed me and where my surgeon goes through! He doesn't operate at Silver Cross hospital as far as I know. No where on the referral does it mention sleeve gastrectomy on it and I definitely don't want the band or bypass! Of course I open this on a Friday night and now I have to wait until Monday to get my questions answered! I asked BCBS to make sure they cover the sleeve before I even started this process! Now I'm worried I won't get approved for the sleeve! What do I do now?

Every insurance company is different and can make whatever qualifications they want to cover the procedure. I have never heard of someone needing to resort to using an attorney to appeal. Honestly I would take the money you would spend on an attorney and just pay out of pocket for the procedure. You're probably going to spend just as much on an attorney and you still have no guarantee that your insurance will cover it.

It sounds like your issue lies mostly with the surgeon's office rather than the insurance. Although if their requirements are 2 co-morbitiies and you only have 1 then you won't qualify no matter what you try and do. Did the insurance un-enroll you from the bariatric program or did the insurance? Insurance companies will try and make it as difficult as possible so that you get frustrated and walk away. I have always thought that the surgeon and their insurance coordinator are the ones that help you to appeal the insurance's decision or your PCP. If the doctor is telling you to use an attorney then to me that should be a red flag to find a new surgeon because they should do the work to get you approved-after all they are the ones that will be getting paid.

Why were you awake for your EGD?

You just need a doctor that deals with high risk patients. (My surgeon said the higher your BMI the higher your risk is) I don't see why they wouldn't considering the sleeve was originally designed to be a first step surgery and after a patient lost a lot of weight they would operate again and convert the sleeve to a bypass. It sounded though like a lot of surgeons recommend the bypass for patients that have higher BMIs. At least my surgeon gave me that impression because you tend to lose more with the bypass (although the difference in percentages was minimal to me). Good luck with whatever you decide!

My PCP's office knows (as well as the surgeon's office) that I want the sleeve. Neither of them mentioned it and they both saw the referral. I'm probably getting freaked out over nothing. I just want this surgery SO badly it gets me in a panic to think of something preventing it from happening! (I had to have a referral from my PCP because I have H M O insurance and they'll only approve it if my PCP deems it medically necessary. If it wasn't required I would never deal with this referral CRAP!)

I'm pretty sure you can have the sleeve first and then have bypass after, but not the other way around. The sleeve started out as the first step for patients that had a lot of weight to lose that were considered high risk for the bypass. They found patients lost a lot of weight with just the sleeve alone and started doing it as a stand alone procedure.

The surgeon does do the sleeve, but the referral only mentions the lap band or bypass. It doesn't mention the sleeve at all! Now I'm worried that the insurance (BCBS) will say they only cover lap band/bypass even though they told me verbally they cover all bariatric surgery with no exclusions. I don't want to go for the consult and pay the $70 co-pay and then not be able to use him! I have already done the seminar and I really like the surgeon. I'll have to make some phone calls on Monday morning and get things straightened out! Frustrating!

About how long does it take from the time your paperwork is submitted to insurance until you received an answer? I have BCBS IL and my paperwork was submitted by my PCP on Monday. I called the doctor today and the girl in charge of referrals was sort of rude and said they still hadn't heard anything and she would call me once they did (I felt like I was bugging her by calling!) I'm just anxious and want to know ASAP that I'm approved so I can set up my first appt. The first appt. takes like half a day to complete because you meet with the surgeon, bariatric doctor, psychologist, nutritionist, etc. all that first day then they send you to complete your clearances. The surgeon's office said they can make a first appt. for sometime next week or the week after, but the nutritionist doesn't have anything available until beginning of February! I just want to get this part of the process going already so I can get sleeved! Hopefully I can get sleeved sometime in March. I'm just anxious!!

It's not so much a matter of being secretive for me. I have only told my mom, husband, 1 co-worker and my boss. I just don't want to deal with their negativity, doubts, etc. I want to get used to my sleeve in my own time. Once I start losing weight I have no problem telling anyone who asks! (I agree that it's good to educate people because there is a lot of negative WLS stigmas and misinformation out there!) I just think it's a personal choice and probably has to do with insecurity (personally anyways!). How many diets/programs have we tried over the years and failed? I don't want that hanging over my head ANYMORE!

Coming from a LOOOOOOONNNGGGG line of alcoholics I have always chosen to stay away from alcohol because I've seen the negative effects it has on people, their health and their family. I always turned to food because that felt safer to me (and look where it got me!) so I will basically echo what everyone else says, not because I want to be a "downer", but because I feel like it should be said. Obviously you have an issue with knowing your "limit" or you never would've needed WLS to begin with and it is dangerous territory to substitute one addiction for another. That is why the amount of alcoholics among WLS is high-people with addictive personalities use one addiction to cope with the loss of another. It doesn't matter if you're escaping using Hostess or Bacardi-they both put you in a bad spot! You've already done so much damage to your body by overeating, you are finally blessed to have the surgery and basically be given a second chance at health and at a month out you feel good about filling your newly constructed stomach with alcohol like you got away with something?! You have an "I'll show them attitiude!" but haven't you already learned that it's YOUR body that suffers? I agree with what others are saying if it really is true that you couldn't make it through your 30th birthday without a drink there are bigger problems you should face. I'm all for drinking in moderation I just feel like those of us with food issues probably have a hard time with "moderation"!

Wouldn't you know if you suffer from sleep apnea? I don't snore (unless I'm sick and can't breathe). I'll have to ask my surgeon!

I'm not sure if my surgeon requires a sleep study yet but honestly this is the test I am most worried about! I suffer from horrible insomnia and there is no way I can fall asleep in a strange place-especially without taking something to help me sleep!

And we've all failed so you're not alone! Otherwise we wouldn't be here! If weight loss were easy there wouldn't be WLS!

Aren't moms great sometimes? Mine hasn't said anything like that yet, but I'm sure she thinks it! She keeps telling me she's really nervous, but in a lot of ways I think she keeps saying that to make it about "her" again. She keeps telling me all this stuff that could happen, but most of the time she either doesn't know what she's talking about or she is referring to a band/bypass complication! My husband is really my only support. Although I am taking my mom to my consult so hopefully she can educate herself some on the sleeve and stop annoying me!

It's bad bruising. You don't want to over-do it, but don't baby yourself too much either. I haven't been sleeved yet, but have had lots of other surgeries and there is nothing you can do for the burning. Make sure to get up and move as much as possible even though it hurts. It'll hurt even worse if you're not moving and trying to use those muscles for a long time. I'm surprised you only stayed 1 night in the hospital! Good luck-you'll feel better before you know it!