vs24

I was told to only bring my mask. Machine and hose was provided. Check with you Dr.

Not sure why you'd need to blend cottage cheese (small curd). Cottage cheese was on my phase II diet and all I had to do was mash it a bit with my fork. While I still do that, I do it less and less.

Anyone know when I can start going on bike rides? yea... I'll ask my Dr, but I was curious what others were told. Took my bike to the shop yesterday for a tuneup. I'm ready to roll!

I lost 10 lbs pre-op week and then 16 the week after surgery. I then stalled. Picked up my water intake and finally lost a lb this week. Most people state they get a stall at week#3, but I got mine at week #1. Hopefully things will pick up shortly for me.

Funny.... I had the same exact problem, and the same exact concern. Told my nurse and Doctor. No one was concerned and surgery went as scheduled. Good luck!

I'm 10 days out and I have 2 a day. Yea, I get a bit of grumbling... but it goes down and stays down ok. I simply try to drink those a bit slower.

Eazye, Congrats on your weight loss. I'm Male and the same height as you. Was just sleeved on 2/27. Can you tell me where you started (weight wise)?

I was rolled into the surgical room.... fell asleep... and woke up in my room. My throat felt nothing during or after. My incisions never hurt. The ONLY problem I had was the following days getting rid of the gas. I'm 1 week out and feel about 95%.

As of today, I'm 4 days post-op. The first 2 days were a bit rough, specifically due to gas. Once I got that taken care of, things got much better. I'm still on liquid diet, but can start my phase II tomorrow. I cannot tell you how excited I am about having (boxed) mashed potatoes with (strained) cream of anything Soup over it! I am down 21 lbs since I started my 1 week pre-surgical diet. The only problem I'm having is getting Protein in . Isopure is really tough on the taste buds. Tomorrow, though, I should be able to start back on Premier chocolate drinks. Any tips to help me get through the day today?

I'm told gas (air) in system to help during the surgery. Most have told me that it's not easily passed the normal way... thus the gas-x strips.

Got miine at Walmart

I'm near Detroit (western suburbs). I'll be sleeved on 2/27.

Hmm... couldn't find much on this here in the states. Could that be an Aussie brand?

I've had a Tanita brand scale for many years. Has done me well.

I have now completed every requirement needed to put in the insurance authorization request. My surgeon's office confirmed to me that they had everything they needed from me one week ago. Needless to say, I'm excited! In addition, many on this forum with the same insurance have stated that they have been approved as quickly as 1 day. In my initial call to my insurance company (6 months ago), they stated usually 5 days... but admitted that sometimes it's quicker than that. I called my insurance company again today to double check my coverage and status. To my surprise (and dismay) I was told that they had not yet received any authorization request from my surgeon's office. In addition, the individual I spoke to checked with another office to see if it was received but not yet entered into the system. They said no. So, I called my surgeon's office and spoke to my insurance coordinator. I asked her if there was anything else she was waiting on from me. Instead of answering my direct question, she seemed to be a bit coy and annoyed that I asked. She simply said.... “I told the dietician to let you know what was needed”. I explained to her that the dietician told me that they had everything needed to put in the insurance authorization. So, I asked her again if she had everything she needed to file the insurance authorization. She said..... "yes, but don't expect to hear back from me for 2 weeks". I asked her if she had yet filed the authorization with the insurance company, but again she simply stated that it would take 2 weeks. I tried to be as professional as possible. I told her I understood, but just needed to know whether the paperwork was sent in. After my 3rd attempt at getting an answer, she said "yes", but did not tell me when. Needless to say, she was a bit impatient with me. So... it's either lost, still in transit, or I'm not being told the truth. Since I don't own a crystal ball, I've learned to give folks the benefit of the doubt. Still, am I being unreasonable for asking questions like these? UGH!

OK. Surgery date scheduled for 2/27. Whoooohoo!

Got approved today. I'm told that the next step is for the nurse to take a look at my chart, review it and sign off on it. Once that's done, they'll pass it over to the scheduler to set up a surgery date.

I called UHC today. Evidently my request was entered incorrectly. It was marked as out-patient instead of in-patient, causing a delay. Hopefully I can get an approval in the next couple of days.

Nope.

Thanks for sharing your story. I'm really interested more and more to hear from people who are 3+ years out. For me, I could lose lots of weight on Diets... but it always had an end and the weight started to creep up again... then above where I started. I'm really hoping the sleeve will be a tool to help me long term with keeping my weight down.

NtvTxn... I'm still pre-op (waiting on insurance approval then date). I see from your sig that you're almost 3 yrs post-op. How hard has it been for you to maintain your goal weight? How many lbs did you lose? What were your struggles before surgery? Congrats!

I asked my Dr about it. He uses a 32. I asked him why and he said the smaller the better... and that there would be some stretching anyway.

Today I get a voicemail from UHC "Treatment Decision Support". Here's what I learned from them: I was a bit leery about sharing info because... well... I wasn't sure who they were. My guess is that they are hired by UHC (or my employer in conjunction with UHC) to have me consider alternatives. The synical side of me thinks it was a money saving call... but who knows for sure. Of course, the non-synical side of me is willing to hear other possible reasons, especially from those who have spoken to this group before :-)

Well, I ended up "escalating" this do someone higher up in the office this past Monday. She called me back and told me that the IC had faxed the auth request to UHC the previous Friday. I just confirmed with my insurance that they indeed have the auth request, but they didn't received it until Monday. Either way, mission accomplished. Wish me luck!

Indeed. UHC Choice Plus.