GardenLady

My insurance (BCBS federal) seems to have taken only a day and a half - I checked on Tuesday afternoon to see if they had gotten the submission and they said it wasn't there yet. But come Thursday morning (yesterday), I got a call from the bariatric center telling me that it was approved. My center required a whole slew of psychiatric questions - three "tests" on the computer and three pen/paper. The funnies part of the final meeting with the psychiatrist was when he told me I was an "unconventional thinker". I had been told this by previous bosses but never by a psychiatrist - I think this might make it official :-) My surgery is scheduled for May 12. I'm not too concerned, per se, but I'm traveling for work the next two weeks and there isn't a whole lot of food options available. I'm taking my Protein shakes with me but I'm really going to have to watch what I eat for the other two meals!

I'm new to the whole idea of chatting on a forum like this so I hope I make sense. I've not yet been able to schedule my surgery but m hoping I can do it mid-May. I decided in December that surgery was the most viable path for me with my co-morbidity. I attended the orientation meeting but didn't sign up to start the process because I was concerned about the lack of enthusiasm from my primary care doctor. Turns out she was fine with it and thinks I'm a good candidate for it. In any event, as a federal employee I only have to be in the program for 3 months before I have the surgery. I've completed all the preliminary steps but have one more meeting with my dietician and the "learning" session with a bariatric nurse - those are this coming Friday. I've managed to lose about 11 pounds on the 1200 calorie diet they put me on but I'm concerned about maintaining the weight lose since I do a lot of traveling with my job. It is this traveling that causes me to write this post. I generally don't have to travel all that much but this year is unusually busy - I'm scheduled to travel three of the next 4 weeks and then again 7 weeks later. So this 7 week interval is when I'm trying to get things scheduled. I'm not feeling too confidant about it just now but firmly believe that things will work out for what needs to be, will be. Anyways, so my question is: how long has it taken before you traveled? I'll only be packing a small carry-on - really small carry-on - it only has to cover three days total. Any suggestions, concerns, tips that I should consider?

Excellent advice! Thank you. My bariatric center tells me no flying for 6 weeks so I have been getting really hung up on getting things done in a specific timeframe. It's not the flying so much, I suspect. I think it's more the weight - they also say nothing over 10 or 20 pounds for at least a month (guess I'll have to double check that one, yes?) Thanks again!

I decided to have bariatric surgery because I started having complications from my Type 2 diabetes. I've been very open with my family, friends and co-workers about why I'm having WLS and my experiences to date with it. Several of my co-workers have had a variety of surgeries from band to Roux en Y and my sister had the Roux. I've had nothing but pleasant encounters with all of them with very few exceptions. I've even been approached by a co-worker whose wife had the sleeve and he offered to put her in contact with me for support. In general, they all know that I don't really need their approbation on decisions I've made. I wanted them to know and for the word to get out to those that I don't routinely talk with so that the correct rumor would be out there and people would know that I was okay with discussing it. I would rather they know why instead of speculating I have cancer or something more extreme - they are all good people and some would be crazy with concern if they didn't understand that it was a personal decision I made voluntarily.