Sharon1964

This doesn't even make sense to me because there is no reason to contact the insurance company after you have approval. I work for a physician and we get authorizations for surgical procedures all the time. Once we have the authorization we NEVER make contact with the insurance company again until after the procedure is done and we send them the claim and the surgical report.

At my first appointment at the surgeon's office, I met with his patient coordinator who had run my benefits. She said that she expected they wouldn't be billing me at all since it looked like my max out of pocket would be going to the hospital. I had surgery nine months later. About ten days before surgery, the hospital called me and told me they expected my portion to be $3,000 to $3,500, based on my current benefits and what I'd spent already this year. They asked how much I would be paying on surgery day, and I told them $3,000 (I've been saving like mad). Since this isn't emergency surgery, they expect the majority to be paid before services are rendered. My insurance has now processed, and I owe the hospital an additional $100, and I owe the surgeon around $300 - looks like he got his bill in before the hospital got theirs in. I've now met my maximum out of pocket cost for the calendar year, so any other medical stuff this year should be at no copay to me.

So you're just going to walk in to his office one day 100 pounds lighter and pretend nothing happened?!?!

Are you talking about internal or external sutures? If external, have your surgeon remove them and seal you up with surgical glue.

The hospital said I could drive home if I wanted since I hadn't had pain meds in more than six hours or so (I think it had been 12). I declined.

I've had two meetings in restaurants since my surgery. The first one was early on, and it was a diner-type place that I've been to many times for meetings. Had our usual waitress, and I just quietly told her I just had surgery and couldn't eat much. I asked her for one scrambled egg. It was delicious. The second meeting was last weekend, on the day I got to add steak to my repertoire. I order a steak and shrimp meal, ate the four grilled shrimp, two bites of steak, and took the rest home and ate it for four more meals.

You are one amazing lady. Wishes for lots of courage and strength to you. And you definitely get the pass on the cake.

Make sure you find out from your surgeon what you're allowed to have. A lot of things mentioned above I was not allowed at one week. No meat, no chicken, nothing with lumps, no seafood. I was allowed things like: applesauce, hummus, greek yogurt (smooth), sugar free pudding, Jello, broth, non-cream Soup, mashed potatoes. Three meals a day, 1/3 cup food at each meal, no Snacks.

Three meals of 1/3 cup food each, no Snacks. Time between meals is spent getting in fluids. One month on omeprazole required.

It took about nine months from the time I decided I was going to have surgery until I had the surgery (jumping through insurance hoops). It was much like having a baby. It's on your mind every day. You can't make a lot of plans because you don't know what the future will hold, but you "dream" about it. You feel like you can't wait for it to get here, and it will take forever. Once you finally get there, it feels like the time flew by! On another note, so many of us have gone on diets in the past and failed. So any pronouncement of what we're going to do or what our goals are feels too much like the past, a past when we failed. We all have those thoughts of "what if it doesn't work for me?" "what if I have surgery and don't lose weight?" Making any goals before surgery made me feel like I was going to jinx myself.

I don't eat all day; I eat three meals a day. I'm eating 1/3 cup of food at each meal, so I pack a bag with a small container of food and crystal light in bottles in a little lunch cooler. I bought some little containers that are 4 oz size, which holds my lunch. I got to add steak to my repertoire this weekend, so today I'm having leftover steak with sautéed mushrooms.

I agree with what everyone has said. Do a "post-mortem" on your day. Look at your own post and think about what could have been prevented, or could be prevented in the future. You could make sure you always have a Protein bar or two in your purse (keep them in an empty hard eyeglass case to keep them from getting destroyed in your purse). You can go online and look at Chinese food menus to see what would have been a better choice than what you had. For instance, at Panda Express you can get mandarin chicken (some places have changed the name to teriyaki chicken) with the sauce on the side. For your side you can get steamed vegetables. They always say "rice or chow mein" but steamed vegies are also a choice. As far as the leftovers go, before you make a move on them, or when you have the container on the counter, stop and ask yourself, "is this going to help me or hurt me." Be honest with yourself. With your large family I don't imagine you throw away much food, so I won't suggest that. You could freeze it and give it to the kids another day. Good luck and hang in there. You can do this!

I would take the 20 yr old and leave the others at home. It's hours of boring waiting and they would be better off occupying themselves at home. My mom and my high-energy 11 yr old went with me. One of my coworkers met us there. She took my kid out for lunch to give my mom a break, while I was in surgery. A little while after the surgery I had enough of high-energy anything and asked my Mom to head on home with the kid.

Measure your food and you won't have to worry about overeating. Then if you're away from home and can't measure, you'll have a pretty good idea of the right amount because you've been measuring for so long at home. If you're still on liquids, I wouldn't expect to feel full. Early on, most feelings of hunger are really stomach acids. My surgeon puts everyone on omeprazole (Prilosec) for the first month to combat that.

My hospital provided almost everything I needed. There are individual climate controls in each room (and all rooms are private, not shared), so I kept it as cold as I wanted. They provided non-slip socks, which are color coded by your risk of falling. They gave me all the citrus sponges I wanted for dry mouth/lips. Things I used of my own: cell phone and charger one set of clean panties and loose sweatpants my cpap machine and distilled Water for it I think that's it. I wore home the same loose summer dress that I wore there. They offered to let me drive home because I hadn't had pain meds that day (2 days after surgery), but I declined. Surgery on a Saturday, back at work at a desk job on the Thursday after.

What is your surgeon's plan? Mine was 45 ounces of clear fruit juice (apple, white grape, cranberry) diluted with 45 ounces of Water, per day (500-900 calories depending on the juice). In addition, I could have broth, sugar free popsicles, sugar free Jello. That was the first week. They told me Protein and calories are secondary in importance for several weeks, as long as you're getting in your fluids. After all, we've stored up a lot of energy as it is.

Set your goal: Stop drinking soda. Set a time limit: By 9/19/2015 Identify the obstacles to your goal: Soda in the house, soda in the workplace, going thru the drive-thru at lunch for a soda, etc. Identify how to deal with each obstacle: get rid of the soda in the house and don't let anyone bring any in; get rid of your stash at work; bring your lunch so you don't leave work and get a soda, etc. Find an accountability buddy: someone who you will text or call at the end of every day to report your progress.

You're quite welcome!

If it were me, here's what I would do. I would make another appointment with my pcp. I would tell him the statistics on victoza, that I am 50 years old, and I've had difficulty with my weight for my whole life/however many years. I'm not asking for his approval of the type of surgery I'm having. I'm asking for a medical clearance for surgery. I would tell him that I have always highly respected his opinion in the past. I've done my homework on this, and at this stage of my life (particularly post-menopausal), surgery is my best option of long-term success, and I respectfully disagree with his personal opinion. Then I would say, "Please give me the medical clearance for surgery, or explain to me why it is medically a bad idea based on my medical condition, not the experiences of other people, and what I would have to change to get medical approval for this surgery." If he says no, then I would tell him that I'm sorry he has allowed his personal bias to interfere with my healthcare, and I'll have to find a new doctor.

Have you really examined why you ate something you weren't supposed to? Drinking something like crystal light when you think you're hungry might take care of the feeling.

I suppose they could if someone resubmitted your paperwork, but who would do that? The one thing you can be sure of is that they cannot rescind an authorization after the services are performed. I don't think you should worry.

At the beginning of week 5, I got to add seafood. Tomorrow I get to add steak and other "solid" meats. for lunch or dinner I'll have: 4 mini-meatballs with a couple of tablespoons of alfredo sauce from a jar 1/3 cup tuna with mayonnaise a small handful of shrimp soft-cooked cauliflower with guacamole 1/2 avocado mashed up with mayo, salt and pepper 1/2 swai fillet (white fish) with a tablespoon or so of hummus 1/2 container of greek yogurt two pieces of turkey lunchmeat, rolled up with 1/2 slice of cheese each, heated up in a pan. a couple of tablespoons of Peanut Butter I can have peeled fruit and cooked vegies but after eating my Protein, I'm full.

I eat one egg with some cheese every day for Breakfast, and I'm five weeks out. My surgeon says 1/3 cup food is a meal. No rice for 6 months.

My surgeon says eat three times a day, no Snacks. If you're doing heavy exercise, you can have one Protein snack. The rest of the time it's fluids.

FMLA isn't a payment plan, it's a job protection. It says you have the right to time off from your job and not lose your job. You will be using whatever accrued time off you have - vacation and sick leave. You can also apply for short-term disability if your accrued time off won't cover the time off you need. The ability to use vacation time really has no bearing on whether you have approved FMLA or not. To CYA, I would write a letter to the boss stating that, as you told him/her on xx date, you are having medically-necessary surgery on xx date, and you expect to be out for two weeks for recovery. State that as you informed him/her, you will need to use your accrued time off.