Itsme!

Only my husband and two close coworkers/pseudo-mothers know. Oh, and I told my second sister yesterday. (God only knows who my husband has told). All are supportive and excited for me, more so now that I have a date. I told my boss I need a day off for an endoscopy to check for hiatal hernia. I got to thinking today and feel bad I didn't tell her the truth. She'll think I'm crazy but she'll also be supportive.

Will you keep at it on your own? The same thought has swirled in my head too but I'm pretty sure I would not continue to hold myself accountable long term without this. That's just me though.

I didn't exactly tell her the truth. I just said I needed to have an endoscopy to check for a hernia and I'd need that day off. I'll break it to her in a couple of weeks that I'll need a few more days off the following week. I scheduled my EGD for 4/24, and the sleeve for 5/1!

May 1!! Whoa this just got real!

I got my date - May 1st!! Endoscopy will be 4/24. Yay!! Now to find out how much I'll owe and which bank to rob before then. Just kidding about the bank But I will need to find financing since my insurance only covers 50%.

I just got my date! I think it's an awesome date

My insurance only pays 50%. I need to finance the rest. Anyone have recommendations?

I did the same thing. And have been wondering the same thing. They're not horrible. They're just not good. Luckily I only have 4 or 5 left.

Stop drinking sodas, don't eat bread/pasta/rice. Drink some protein shakes and eat lean meats and veggies. Aim for 1300-1400 calories a day. And start walking or doing some sort of exercise 3 times a week for 20 minutes a day (minimum - more days/time is better!). It can be done!

No date yet. I have to talk to my boss tomorrow. Question is do I tell her and let her freak and worry (she will!) or do I tell her not quite the truth, like in having a hernia surgery or something?? Hmm. I'm thinking I will ask for 7 days off - have surgery on a Thursday (hopefully April or early May). Throw in two weekends off and I should be up and running. This is getting real now. Oh, and the funny thing is I got a request from insurance today for more info - not a denial, just more info. Like proof of seeing a nutritionist, a supervised diet and everything else I had already done. Trish called me to warn me I'd see this. I'm guessing the first time my whole file wasn't sent. That was weird.

I got approved today too! But I need to talk to my boss tomorrow and call the office back to set a date. I'd love to do it this month but DOH is supposed to be here any day so I kind of feel like i should wait. I'm waffling back and forth between telling my boss exactly what I need the time off for vs a little white lie. We work very close so I feel I should just be honest, but I also dread what she'll say. Oh we'll, I'll figure it out in the next 12 hours

I just found out today that I was approved. I'm not sure my date yet, but either later April or early May. I want to get to the loser side. I've lost 35 (+/- 2 pounds) over the last 4 months. I've eliminated soda, Pasta and breads from my diet and that has really helped out. I eat Protein every meal and really just think about what I'm eating before i eat it. I've binged and been bad, then I just make up for it on the flip side. I had been getting up a 5am 3-4 times a week to exercise but I've been lazy the past two weeks. I got back on the horse today and now that I'm approved I want to lose more before I have to go back and see my surgeon again.

Ok, Trish got back to me about a week ago and said she had sent everything to insurance. I let it rest last week, called this morning and I am approved! I'm a little in shock since I didn't really have a lot to give insurance. I'm not exactly a doctor person, so the only doctor notes I had we're chart notes from foot surgery 6 years ago and the notes from my babies births, all showing my weight. I was sure they'd ask me to get a PCP referral but nope! Now I will be devising a plan on what to tell my boss so I can take a week off and use sick time to cover it.

I also eliminated soda from my diet, as we'll as most Pasta and breads. I eat those so rarely now that I can't tell you the last time I had some was. I try to exercise three times a week and I am very alert about what I'm eating. My calorie goal was set between 1300-1400cal/day, with at least 65grams if Protein a day. Some days I'm a little under the calorie goal. Some days I'm over. I started the week after thanksgiving and in 4 months I've lost 34 pounds (and in still pre-op!) I say the more you can do now the easier it'll be in the long run. I could have chosen to do nothing and riskes gaining weight, but when I decided wls was where I was headed I chose to jump in and start while I jumped through insurance hoops.

Oh my gosh. I thought I'd waited forever! I finished my apps and submitted everything to the office one month ago today. I called Friday last week and insurance didn't have anything yet. I can't get ahold of my insurance coordinator now to see if the hold up is because of something else I need to do or she's just overwhelmed. It's great that insurance can approve quickly, but not always do they get your paperwork in a timely fashion.

Journeygrl I hope you had more luck than me this week. I had an email Tuesday morning saying my packet would be put together that day. As of 10 minutes ago (its friday!) insurance hadn't yet received anything. And so I wait, frustrated. I will be calling Monday to figure out what is going on. Tuesday will be 4 weeks from my last appt and me giving them what they requested. I've been very patient. think it's time I get a little attention!

Amazing!

I finally got ahold of Trish today and she's putting my packet together. I had a nice vacation after my last NUT appt so I didn't realize it had been 3 weeks. In the grand scheme of things what's a few more days?

Here's a follow up for those that have gone there - did you have an EGD? At what point? Do they do them there?

It's like you were reading my mind! I'm sure they're a good office, I've only heard great things about them. But I finished my last appts and submitted all my paperwork three weeks ago tomorrow. I waited that morning after my last NUT appt to hand deliver them to her, but after waiting 30 minutes and she still wasn't in I left them with the gal at the front desk. I went on vacation and got back last week. On Thursday I finally called insurance to find out the status but they didn't have my submittal. I got sidetracked at work and couldn't get to a phone before 5. I called again today but she was with someone so I left my name and number. And so I wait. On a plus I'm holding myself accountable and continuing the diet I started with Sarah. So far, since the end of November I'm down 32 pounds despite a week in Hawaii and sucking down maitais

Why did the hussy say you wouldn't be approved? Congrats!!

Write everything down that you eat. Itll really open your eyes ti what you're doing. I use MyFitnessPal. Have you seen a nutritionist? They can give you guidelines and support. Mine can get in to my MyFitnessPal and monitor what I'm doing. I'm chicken to actually let her see so I haven't set that up, but I could

March 7th?! That's so soon! Good luck!

I had my final nutrition consult and submitted what I needed to the office so they can add to it and submit everything to insurance. They'll submit by he end of this week. I've lost 29 pounds since thanksgiving! Now have *just* 100 left to go! And so I wait.......

You do look amazing! Congratulations! I'm starting about the same stats as you. I hope to submit to insurance this week and get on my way to looking this good soon.