LumpySpacePrincess

I was using EAS AdvantEdge Carb Control but it started to make me break out. So today I went to GNC and they were having a sale on their own brand of Protein powders, Lean 25 ($19.95 for the first one, then 50% off the second one). I was actually greatly surprised by how good they were! I bought Peppermint Mocha and pumpkin Spice and they are awesome! They also sell Cinnamon Apple and Key Lime Pie flavors, as well as the standard chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla. I think there was also a Cookies and cream. Lots of good Fiber in them, too! Just thought I'd make a suggestion!

Just wondering if anyone is interested in getting together once a month for a clothing swap? Buying new clothes every few weeks gets expensive as we slim down, so it would be great if we could pass our oversized stuff on to others who are now in that size! Let me know if anyone is interested!!

I know what post you are referring to, and I have to say that the entire thing got way, way, way out of hand. Honestly, I didn't think what you wrote was bad at all and really correct.

From my nutritional packet: pureed foods and liquids with an emphasis on those high in Protein. Goal: 60-80g per day One high Protein shake daily No more than 2 ounces of food every 3 hours, except yogurt, which you can consume up to 4 ounces of at one time. Eat slowly! Use a baby spoon or espresso spoon to eat.

You might check with your surgeon on this, but mine recommended 2 Flintstones chewable Vitamins for my daily vites, and a liquid Calcium supplement. I'm also on D3, but they recommended one to me where the capsules can be opened and sprinkled on food. They also told me any chewable supplements are OK and don't have to be crushed as long as I chew them very well first; just not the "gummy" kind, since they aren't complete. As far as other meds go, if they are uncoated the easiest way to crush them is in a bowl with the back of a spoon.

I have to agree with this a thousand times over. I started therapy with a psychologist who specializes in eating disorders (and particularly binge eating disorder) a few months before I started the process of getting sleeved. Its been 7 months since I started therapy and I get sleeved at the end of this month, and I can't imagine getting sleeved without having had that therapy. Before, every diet I would try would last a little more than a week before I slid back into destructive habits. Now I've been on my pre-op diet for over a month, and while it hasn't been perfect (ate an extra dinner roll one night), I finally know I'm in control and will be able to handle the stress of post-op. I also intend to stay in therapy for quite awhile, because removing most of my stomach will not change how my mind processes decisions and behaviors. Only behavior modification can do that.

Hooray, my last pre-op appointment and surgery scheduling is today!! So many thoughts running through my head. Am I actually doing this? I've dreamt about it for so many years that I can't believe its actually coming true! I feel so fortunate that my insurance approved me on the first try, that I was able to get the insurance at all, seeing as how I'm unemployed. I'm nervous and scared and excited and anxious all wrapped into one. Trying to stay calm. Just a few more hours and I will know the date that I will be reborn!

Surgery date November 25. If someone cancels they'll call me and move me up. Just a few more weeks!

I, too, am wondering about this. Hoping that exercise, cocoa butter, good hydration, and a few other tricks will help minimize it. I met an older woman years ago who had bypass done and had almost no loose skin, despite starting at 350 pounds, so I guess it just varies.

So I'm finally approved by my insurance and I'm going in for my final visit to set a date this coming week! The only thing that really still makes me nervous, to be honest, is the intubation; specifically will it still be in place when I wake up? I remember my surgeon told me originally that I would have to be "awake" before they could remove it, but I have also heard others say that what they consider "awake" is probably different than what most people consider awake. Maybe its more of the twilight phase of anaesthesia most of us had with our endoscopies? I have a pretty strong gag reflex, and my biggest fear is not being able to breathe, so I am nervous I might wake up and try to rip it out myself. The worst part about intubation: no singing for a full two months after! I'm a vocalist and I sing everywhere..even in the grocery store! It will be so worth it to get the sleeve, just hard to not be the Bette Middler of my local grocery store for awhile!

Trader Joe's unflavored soy protein powder is great for cooking and does not clump. Best of all, its less than $15 for a huge tub of it! It also has absolutely no flavor, so its great for cooking.

Wow, thank you, everyone! That does put my mind at ease! Now I can stop worrying and go on being excited for my new life to start! woohoo!

Just got a call and I'm APPROVED!!!!! WHOOOOO! Thank you to all of you wonderful people who kept me company during this! Wow I don't think I've been this stressed out since I was ready to give birth! lol!!

How do you get customer service at BCBS to give you an answer as to what is going on? I keep getting the runaround from them saying "we can't really look into that..."

My surgeon's office faxed my file nine days ago. I'm still waiting. So happy for everyone who has approvals, though! Really hoping mine comes soon!

Still no word for me. Its not even up on my Insurance member page that anything is pending for this. Drives me insane that no one seems to know what is going on with it. I can only afford to pay for this policy for another couple months, then my savings will be gone (paying $900 per month right now!) so a quick answer and early surgery date is really important to us.

Anyone have any experience with submitting to them, how long it takes to get a response, approval rate? From what I'm finding (and what the insurance coordinator for my surgeon says) they seem to be approving a lot of people very easily right now. All of my pre-op work is done, except the last consult with my surgeon before surgery and setting a date. Let me know if you have any experience with them!

No, nothing yet.

I had high hopes from all the stories I heard about people getting approvals in 1-3 days. Its been a week and still nothing yet. One kind customer service agent at my insurance company gave me a number to give the insurance coordinator so they could put a rush on my file, but my surgeon's office refuses to call. I can't get a surgery date until I get the insurance approval. (That seems weird to me, because everyone else I talked to said they had a date set before now. hmmm). I'm just very, VERY anxious about this. I've been waiting six months since I went to the seminar to get everything in place, I've been on the pre-op diet for three weeks already, even though they only require me to be on for three weeks before surgery, keeping in touch with the nutritionist, etc. I just want my surgery date. I've put my entire life on hold for this, including pushing off starting my PhD program for a year so the start of that didn't collide with surgery. Thank goodness I can email my therapist whenever I need to, because yesterday my anxiety turned into a full-blown panic attack for about two hours. I feel like the waiting is like when they send a jury out on a murder trial; the longer the jury stays out, the more likely they will come back with an acquittal (or in my case, a denial). I need some good vibes and mental hugs today!!

Thank you! That was honestly the most helpful and reasonable explanation anyone has given me so far! Makes total sense about things being slowed down because of Obamacare. I actually feel more relaxed about it now. Would still love to get a call from the office saying I'm approved today but now at least I have a justifiable reason why its not going as fast.

At 18 I was exactly where you are, even our weights matched up! I'm 33 now and wish I had taken advantage of the opportunity to get surgery back then, because it rarely gets better naturally for people like us. I'm sure your dad is just scared of the procedure and projecting it in a judgmental light. My mother was also extremely judgmental at that age, just telling me I was lazy and that I didn't need the surgery. Now she sees how wrong she was and apologizes all the time. Do what you feel is right for you. Take control of your life now and you will be much happier in the coming years!

$600 up front for admin fees? That is just insane! Yes, here's to hoping we're both sleeved very soon! I look forward to the day I don't have to deal with the coordinators at the office, just the practitioners!

So I called the regular office number and talked to the other person who deals with insurance. Boy was he a bit of a snotty thing! He was saying "Yeah, I have a confirmation that it did go through." I just asked if he could call them and make sure, since they were telling me they have no record of it, and he was like "Um, no." o.O Not like my eventual payment for all this is helping pay your salary or anything. Not like I'm unemployed with kids and dishing out $900 a month for this insurance, so, yeah, I'm going to get a bit concerned when member services is telling me "it shouldn't take this long to get approval" but they don't have anything on file. I'm sure you can imagine just how close I was to saying screw it and going out to eat tonight. So hungry, PMSing like a bear, and this isn't helping. ERRRGGGGHHHH!

That's what I feel like doing, too. I took a nap instead and I'm just hoping that whoever I talked to in customer service was wrong. The insurance coordinator is, of course, not working today, so I'll have to wait until tomorrow.

So I called HBCBS today to ask if there has been any progress on the approval. Guess what? They never got the file! Also guess what? The insurance coordinator at my surgeon's office is a temp and she NEVER answers her phone or returns voicemails. UGH. Now I have to call them and have them track all this down. Part of me wonders if she just told me she submitted everything but didn't. I'm really pissed right now!