beldujour

I'm in NE Philadelphia, sleeved late 9/2014 at Einstein Elkins Park. My surgeon is Ian S. Soriano, MD.

I had a couple of episodes of vomiting once I got up to my room after surgery and one early on the following day. Nothing intolerable at the time, and no vomiting since. Try not to worry about it too much.

I was freaking out from the day before my surgery date, but lucky for me I was too embarrassed to show it. The morning of the Big Day, I arrived at the hospital with my best friend and got checked in. As we waited for the nurse to come and take me back, I so wanted to turn to my friend and say that I'd changed my mind and we should go home, but embarrassment kicked in again. How was I going to explain running out the door and blowing off the surgery when I'd spoken of nothing else for the last three months but getting that sleeve? So I stayed and I did it, and I'm so glad. Aside from a respectable beginning weight loss (I still have a long way to go), there have been many NSVs. It has already proven to be not only worth it, but one of the best and smartest things I've ever done. I'm glad you're rescheduling. Be brave and go for it!

I've told three people, all close friends. Two are local and one is overseas; all three are very understanding and supportive. I'm retired so I don't have to worry about nosy coworkers, diet contests, and the like. I'm not close with most of my family in the US so I'm not worried about reactions of family members here. I do have relatives overseas, a few of whom I'm very close with, but I'm waiting till I see them to talk about it because bariatric surgery is new in their country and it will be easier to explain/discuss when we can sit down and relax together. I really don't care what anyone else in my environment thinks they know about me. I'm old enough to remember when openly nosy people were in the minority and considered to be extremely rude. Why would I owe anyone like that any details? The one exception to not telling anyone beyond that small group would be if I thought I might be able to help someone by sharing. A cab driver who took me home from a doctor's appointment shared his WLS experience with me (he'd lost 300 pounds) and planted a seed. It was a while before I saw him again and by that time I'd had my initial consult with my surgeon and was running to appointments for things he wanted me to get done before having my procedure. I was glad to have the chance to thank him for reaching out to me and he was happy to learn that I was in process, saying that he hoped the next time he saw me there'd be less of me!

I had been researching options in Mexico because my insurance did not cover WLS, but then I learned that my insurance would be changing and WLS would be covered. I'd talked with my internist, who is connected to a major teaching hospital in my town, and he recommended that hospital's bariatric practice. Apparently the head of that practice had done some sort of a revision for someone in my internist's family, so he was speaking to me not only as a doctor but also as the family member of a patient of that practice. I respect my doctor's thinking so I called for an appointment and took the first available, with a surgeon who had recently joined that practice but who has been in practice for some time in my town (previously at another large teaching hospital here). I was very impressed with him at my initial visit in June and even more so after being sleeved last week. He has great clinical/surgical skills and he's a real human being to boot. It's obvious that he really cares about his patients. I'm so glad I chose that practice and that I chose him. Must remember to thank my internist!

Thanks so much, that's very helpful.

As noted above in my previous post, it appears that I already meet Medicare's requirements. Perhaps I didn't make it clear that I'm hoping to learn how long it takes to be approved for surgery once Medicare's requirements have been met.

What kind of hoops are you talking about? The hospital where I plan to go ran down everything to me and it doesn't seem like there are any unusual or strenuous requirements with Medicare, at least for someone in my situation. I was just wondering how long people who used Medicare waited for approval.

Can any of you who were approved give me an idea of how long it took to get approval from Medicare? I meet all the requirements (and then some, sadly!) in terms of BMI and comorbidities, and am meeting with my surgeon for the first time on 6/6.