beachykeen

Hey, I'm new to bariatric surgery. I decided on Duodenal Switch, but my insurance (Blue Cross PPO) is being unhelpful about giving me anything close to a straight answer on whether they cover duodenal switch. I cant find it on their website under bariatric surgery. I cant even get someone at their dedicated bariatric & transplant number to return a call. Now I'm wondering if it is even considered bariatric surgery, as this website has DS buried under "other". Can anyone give me any advice? I talk to my bariatric surgeons office (i went ahead and started the process anyway) about it and Blue Cross gives them a hard time too. So is DS considered bariatric surgery or is it regular surgery?

After my initial consultation they gave me a 5 page list of "Do Not Eat" and Phentermine for 60 days as a 1400 calorie/day pre-op diet. Need to lose down to 410 before they'll do surgery. If it was that easy, wouldnt need surgery in the first place! I digress. You can do a lot of cooking ahead. I cook 14 chicken breasts per week and stick them in a big plastic container in the fridge. 1 gets eaten with 2 fried eggs and an apple in the morning. One gets cut into bitesize pieces and tossed onto a bed of kale with 1tbsp olive oil. That's nuked at work. I get a bag of pre chopped kale at the grocery store, it wilts down well in a microwave. Replace Kale with a couple servings of any vegetable you like. Garlic salt had become my new friend. dinner is usually stir fry vegetables: Snow peas, broccoli, mushroom, zucchini, carrot, 1tbsp sesame oil, 1tbsp oyster sauce, 1tbsp low sodium soy sauce 1tbsp garlic, 1tbsp ginger (easy on this if youre not used to it! Maybe 1tsp). Sometimes i'll put meat in it, sometimes I wont. Most of those vegetables are pre-sliced or stir fry ready, though i cut the broccoli myself (cheaper) and the zucchini. All of my vegetables for the week are pre-cut on sunday when I prep everything else for the week. Light string cheese (sometimes), beef Jerky, raw snow peas with a serving of hummus, baby carrots and a LOT of Water are my between meal Snacks. If I'm hungry I've learned to think "am i just bored?" If i am, i go for a walk. If I'm not, I drink water and wait half an hour. I walk on both of my breaks at work M-F then Saturday & Sunday I walk 1.25 miles. My results so far are 12 pounds lost in 4 weeks, and a LOT of pain from the walking. My legs hurt pretty much constantly and now my arms are starting up. I dont take any pain med, the doctor's office told me not to take it. The only medicines I have taken are Imitrex when needed, multi-Vitamins, B12, and Phentermine. It's not cheap to eat like that where I live in California. The meat alone is $25/week. Veggies are decently priced and plentiful. I cook for a household of 4, 2 of which are diabetic, one normal, and myself. Easter I had 3oz ham, then filled up on salad and asparagus. I was raised in a family where food was everything. Happy? Food! Sad? Food! Holiday? FOOD! Funeral? Food! Not hungry? Food! So I'm using the pre-op diet time to fight the food = fun/pleasure thought process. It's very very very freaking hard. Deleted my pinterest boards related to food. Left my cooking message board. My friends, thankfully, understand and dont suggest eating out all of the time anymore. They ask me to come on walks, or i ask them. I havent joined a gym, I have workout equipment at my home. Even if I want to scream and say no, I'm exhausted, no more! I walk. Sorry that was long and creepy I guess. If you want recipes, I can write some. I think the whole point of the diet is to change your brain to think food is boring and for nutrition only, and to prepare you for your upcoming lifestyle.

Oh wow! Thanks y'all, I could hug you if that wouldnt be weird and stuff! According to my group policy & the links, the DS is covered, and my company apparently encourages it, per my HR rep. Wont worry on why that is, happier not knowing when it comes to work logic. Thank you so much again. Weight off my shoulders!

I'm sorry I should have been more clear, that's what I get for trying to post on my breaks. Hehehe. I have already talked to the insurance company as much as possible. The customer service reps dont know what i'm talking about, and always end up e-mailing me my group policy, which is nice, but never addresses my issue. There is a dedicated number for Bariatric questions, but they never answer nor do they return messages even though they specifically say to leave a message. *shrug* I was just wanting to know if, in general, y'all's insurances considered it bariatric or regular surgery.

Blue Cross of California. The company is split up here in California.