nygurl

I really appreciate all of you guys sharing your stories- I'm going in next week Thursday to get mine done, and I feel like I'm more prepared- knowing the good outcomes have clamed me a bit- and hearing some of the complications has me more prepared for what could be an outcome. I hope all of you are recovering well, and keeping the rest of you fellow future-sleevers in my thoughts as well! <3

the hospital called me this morning to do my pre-registration starting to get nervous! Surgery 2/28 at 9:30am. I too am worried about how I'll have to change things as simple and basic as drinking...much less...eating...but I'm ready for this change- and I'm ready to be happy and healthy in my new body- I also will be relying heavily on you all of you to pull me through when I want to cry over ice cream lol

My surgery is 2/28...so glad to be a part of such a fantastic group! I'm having some pre-op jitters...so I'm glad that I found you guys!!

Anyone used this location/Dr? I tried to do a general serach on the site, and nothing came up- I find it hard to believe that he's not been used by anyone on the entire site. I'm just looking for some feedback and info on how your process with him and his surgical center went. Thanks!!!

Thanks for the info! Any of you guys NOT have a really strict pre-op diet? It suggests to replace 1 meail/day for a week or so prior to surgery, and to attempt to lose weight before hand, make sure your active, etc. I've been trying to be more strict on myself- started replacing 1 meal/day two weeks out and figued I'd up to 2 meals/day next week...any thoughts?

Just got the call from my bank!! I'm approved!! SURGERY IS OFFICALLY A GO! I never thought this would happen so fast! It's something I just started really investigating in January, and it looks like I'll be signed tomorrow, and can schedule surgery as early as the end of this month... Funny, all those nervous feelings are gone- I'm totally confident in the choice I'm making, and frankly, I'm ready to have my LIFE BACK. I'll keep you posted!!

My surgery is 2/28. I'm selfpay, so I didn't pick the hospital, Dr. said that's where get does it. Did you have a pre-opt diet at all? Any complications or issues that you had?

Ok! So...it's all set, scheduled 2/28. Now I have one more class to go to, which I'm going on 2/27 just for the last bit of pre-op info, stocking the pantry with the right stuff for post-op, and we wait- 17 days and counting

After some more online research, and a few phone calls- and the prospect of self-pay...I found Dr. Pleatman in Bloomfield, MI. His office staff has been great, super helpful, and very friendly thus far. I had my first meeting with him today, I was a little worried- not exactly sure what a one on one would entail...and had read a few reviews saying he was a bit cold, not very friendly. Hubby came along for info and (as always...) support. They got me right in on time, weighed me without putting my #s up on a flashing billboard on the side of the highway, which I've come to fear at every visit at this point..lol. Dr. Pleatman was a little dry, but I'd hardly call him rude. He answered all of my questions in detail, went over numbers, charts, even photographs of patients that were in my age/bmi range and their results. We disucssed band, sleeve, and bypass- and he was very confident and set on his recommendation to do the sleeve, which made me feel much more comfortable. SO- I guess....onward from here- I'm organizing the last bit of funding, and dr said- he's off next week- but if all is ready when he's back surgery could be as early as the week of February 20th! I guess we'll have to wait and see, I do need to attend one last seminar with his staff as pre-op prep, but they offer them about twice a week when they have surgery scheduled, so that doesn't appear to be much of an issue either...VERY EXCITED!

LOL Sorry for the lame blog title- but I've been singing the song all day, not sure if it was a subliminal thing, or if I heard it on hold-music while I was working Sounds like my insurance is going to give me the full run-around and after feeling like the wind had been taken out of my sails yesterday, I set out today looking for the next option. I'm excited to say, while I did look into some options in Mexcio- I couldn't shake that ultra-nervous feeling I had about it- so I opted to trust my gut and look here in the US. I figured even if it's not within state, it'll still be closer than Mexico. Luckily- my search led me to two places here in MI. One was the Barix Clinic in Ypsilanti, however, they wanted $25,500 for the surgery- and that is just wayyy to out of the budget for me to self-fund. I did find Pleatman Surgical Center in Bloomfield Hills, called and spoke to the nurse- I'm qualified for their program, and even set up my initial consult...this is really happening!! I'm so excited to move forward on this journey. I'm trying to get the time arranged off work but as of right now, the morning of 2/6 will be my big date to meet my surgeon and schedule my surgery-- fingers crossed! I'd like some feed back on this dr/location if anyone has any- I'm all ears..(and smiles today)

Thanks everyone! Sorry my phone wasn't notifying me of my messages and comments... :/

Thank you for getting back to me Sorry, my phone didn't tell me I had comments, and I figured, it'd been a while so I might as well check on here on the actual computer...lol I met with him today- he seemed nice enough- I wouldn't say we shared conversation over tea, but he answered all my questions, and was not rude or anything. I'm confident in his ability, and am excited to move forward with him as my surgeon Thanks for your help!!

As I had said earlier, follow up will be my key to success on this journey. I called my PCP today to make sure they'd gotten the paperwork that the bariatric place said they'd fax over on Thursday- they said they'd check and let me know. I just got a call from my doctor's assistant (I know her on a first name basis, since I've been seeing my PCP for two years now trying to get this situation under control). She said she talked to my bariatric clinic, and they're needing documention of 6 months consecutive follow up with my doctor for weight loss. Well, since I've been on the program for 2 years now, I don't see my PCP every month, she'll refill my script for 2-3 months at a time, since I've never had any complications with the Adipex she had me on. The girl says, I'm sorry - but they want us to document now through June of you seeing us every month...I asked, can't they take into consdieration the total duration of this program? That I've been doing this for TWO YEARS now? She says- I'm sorry- if you find anything out, and if there is anything we can do to help you, please just call us and we'll make sure it's done, but your that's what your insurance company is saying. I guess my next call is to my inusrance company to see if they even look at the last two years of work I've put into this program. I feel so bummed out- like a sucker punch in the gut. I've been so excited and looking forward to what this has to offer for me, and I've read SO many people that have dealt with delay after delay with their insurance...I'm hoping I'm the lucky one that gets through this without a total loss of my sanity Here goes a call to my insurance...wish me luck :/

I've done some digging and put some additional reserach into this going to Mexico thing..It scares the heck out of me to be completely honest. I see so many posts on here of people doing it, and the cost is about 1/2 of what you can do here in the states...but I just have this 2nd world image of a run down Mexican hostpital where nobody speaks english and nobody can help me....it's all a mental thing, I know- but it's something weighing heavy on my mind....

Any of you guys done this in MI on a selfpay? BCN is potentially denying my insurance coverage bc although I have 2 yrs of Dr supervised dieting, they want 6 consecutive months of Dr visits as well...I need to pull my medical records to see if I've adhered to that...but just looking into options...... .

*my, not must

I'm fit to be tied with Bcbs right now. I've been working with must Dr for two years on HER schedule and appts, and I got the 'you need 6 months consecutive visits', apparently 2 yrs with my drs supervision all along doesn't matter...grrrrr :/

I'm really scared about going to Mexico- I've read through some of the posts...and I just can't imagine going to another country for medical care, much less surgery. I have thought about it- and will have to deal with that after I get my final insurance review- I'm hoping they'll accept my request, and cover the surgery, if not- Mexico is something I would then have to consider. Just makes me so nervous to go ahead with this surgery that is so invovled, and then doing it in another country :/ I'm not sure I could do it.

Well, I've never been a "blogger" but I've always been a writer, so hopefully this will be something I can keep up with, and keep track of this entire journey. As of right now, I'm still pre-op. I decided in early January 2013 that I'd had enough. I've done the diets, I've done the exercise routines, boot camps, pills, programs, shakes...nothing works. It's the same 20 pounds I've been losing and gaining for years now. I'm tired of working my butt off, and not showing any results, or showing results- and the second I back the plan to a livable level- boom, the weight is back on. I've struggled with my weight my entire life- and I decided 2013 will be the year I change that. I met with my PCP already, she agrees, we've been working on my weight loss for almost 2 years now, and she sees my work, my diets, my programs, and the failures they've all been. I was referred to Bilal Kharbutli who works out of Henry Ford Wyandotte. I contacted them the same day- I was excited, and nervous- but ready to at least get more info. That's actually how I found this site...digging for more info. The permanent nature of this surgery has me a little freaked out, to be honest. I contacted Dr. Kharbutli and they said I needed to attend a seminar, coming up on 1/15- I signed up- asked my husband to come along so he knew what we were getting me into (lol), and found a sitter for my son. I was more than nervous when the day came, and it was just the seminar!! I was surprised how many people were there, shocked at the information that was given to us- the obesity rates in the US are OUTSTANDING...it brought me a lot of information, a lot of comfort too- I walked out of there ready to "do this". I'm a little scared, every once in a while I think..what if I get this surgery and hate my life - this is forever, this isn't something you can go- "oh well, that didn't work out- on to something else" this is a MAJOR lifestyle change, and it's forever. The other side of me says- you need this, you haven't been able to get it done any other way- and a major lifestyle change is in order. I called the next day to set up my direct one on one consult with the surgeon, they never called me back. I called again today and got a receptionist- told her I wanted to set up my initial consult, and she explained they needed to run my info through insurance first to find out if it's covered...i asked- how can you find out if I'm covered, when you don't know my bmi? She asked for an approximate weight and height...which bothered me a bit. I've always called myself 5'7, but what if I'm only 5'6? The reason I stress about this- is that I'm JUST barely qualified for this surgery- at this moment. I've been qualified in the past, but decided this was the LAST option, and kept up dieting/exercise/Adipex daily. Anyway- I'm technically qualified if I have one or more health conditions-- other than head splitting migrains and daily back aches...I do'nt have the typical high bp, diabetes, etc- actually my dr said- I do'nt understand your weight struggle...when you look at your info on paper- your blood values, diet and exercise program, stats- you should be a healthy weight person...but I'm not...no clue why...? (very annoying to hear this btw). So at this point, the surgeon's office is contacting my doc to get records of my past diet and exercise programs, and then they're supposed to call me back for my first 1 on 1 consult. They've said I need to pay my deductable, and that my insurance then covers 50%, with a coinsurance limit of $1500...I'm not sure what that means exactly...either I'll end up paying less than $2,000 out of pocket, or could be paying like $5,000-$6,000 out of pocket- I need to figure that out I guess that's it for today, at this point, I'm eating whatever I want..and feeling terrible about myself. I know that sounds crazy, but the dr said honestly with me being as close to just no questions asked "covered" by my insurance, a few extra pounds won't hurt my case. BLAH...as much as I enjoy digging into those yummy foods and stuff when the mood strikes, I find myself feeling crappier and crappier everyday- I hate seeing my body slipping back to the worst it has ever been- it's a not so great feeling, and I sure hope I don't need to keep this up for the next 6 months or whatever- I hear wait periods on all this process can be killer. Here's to hoping I get a quick response from the doc today-

I'm already starting to feel the same way. I've decided nobody is going to feel this is as important as I do- so I'm not letting it slip through the cracks anywhere. I talked with my insurance (BCN of MI) first, got some vauge details and mostly brushed off- went to see my primary care doc, and went over more info with her- got a referral to the gastric doctor's office- called and they said I needed to attend a saminar, which was about 2 weeks away- I waited and attended the seminar on 1/15. Durin the seminar they said we'll take your info and run it through the insurance, to see if it's covered... it takes about a week, then we can set up an initial consult directly with the surgeon. I called the day after the seminar wanting to set up the direct consult, left a message, no call back. Called again today and got an actual person to answer the phone- she said- they don't do the initial consult until they know my insurance will cover it. I explained, my insurance is based off of current BMI, and how will they submit my info if they've never met with me? She asked me for "approximate height/weight", which I gave her- she then said- oh well, you'll need 6 mo of diet logged with your doctor, that's your next step- I said I have two years worth- gave them my dr's #, she said she'd call my doc right away and get the form faxed over for them to fill out showing this diet routine and then they'd call back and make my initial appt. I plan on calling my PCP this afternoon to notify them of the paperwork coming over and making sure it's filled out and faxed back asap. Hopefully I can stay on top of it without becoming a bother to everyone else, but reality is- this is important enough to me to make sure everyone else is doing their job. Just stay on top of them, and keep following up best of luck- hoping that you'll have a quick resolve and get in to your surgeon soon!!!

There is a full line...toothpaste, mouth spray, liquid, oral rinse, gum, and gel

there is a product over the counter in most drug stores called Biotene, it's for chronic dry mouth, I'm a pharmaceutical sales rep- and we sell a TON of it hope it helps!

I'm downriver too! Trenton. I'm still preop, what's your stories? I'd love to hear...I'm very nervous!

I'm not yet sleeved- looking into it- from downriver Michigan...Trenton to be exact- looks like surgery will be performed at Henry Ford Wyandotte...anyone have any advice or tips for a newbie?!

THANK YOU! I'm trying to make sure I look at all avenues of this procedure before I have it done...and yours is quite inspiring. Keep up the great work