Sharon1964

My surgeon requires you to have all the preventive care and age-appropriate procedures before he will do the surgery. He wants to make sure that anything else going on is discovered and taken care of before the surgery. I'm 50 so I had to have the colonoscopy and I was overdue for a mammogram.

Tell her you want her to submit without the records. If they ask for them, you can respond, in writing, that their written policy doesn't require it. If they deny, appeal with copies of their own policy. It looks like "right" is on your side.

Look at the parts that I highlighted. I think you would do well to spend some time examining your ideas of "healthy". What is healthy for you and your existing ideas of what is healthy for you are not the same. A "healthy portion" for you is not a plate full of food. As far as babies go, the baby gets nourished first. Your body will cause you to lose weight if it has to in order for the baby to get what it needs.

It's a form letter. Here is an example of what it means: If your plan allowed 10 chiropractic visits and you had already used 8, you can still get a letter authorizing 5 more, but they will only pay for 2 of those. You will max out your visits and will have to pay for the balance of the visits, or 3 of them.

I also have children. I would say to skip it. It's only one night. If it turns into more than one night, then I would reconsider. Edited to add: my hospital is a bariatric and cardiac hospital. To visit on the bariatric wing, children have to be 12. To visit on the cardiac wing, children have to be 16. No children visit during flu season.

Should you find yourself in this situation again, you could say, "these booths are murder on my back, do you mind if we move to a table?" Being how uncomfortable you are all over, it's not really a stretch.

I wish I had been able to do it at your age. I'm 50 now, and will likely turn 51 (July 26) before surgery. I have one more nutrition visit this week, then one visit with cardiologist next week to go over my test results for cardiac clearance, then everything gets sent in to insurance for approval. My surgeon is booked through the end of July right now, so it will probably be August before I get my surgery. When I look back over my life, I realize I should have found a way to make the surgery happen much sooner. I didn't have health insurance for a long time, and then when I had it, it didn't cover the surgery. Now I have insurance that covers it. I think about all the things that I passed on, all the things I couldn't do, all the times I missed out on, because I didn't physically fit into the world. I wish I could go back to 35, where you are, and do it then.

You look fabulous!

Current untruths regarding medications: If the price went up, it's Obamacare. If they won't give you the opioid your doctor prescribed, it's "the DEA cracking down". If they won't give you the amount of pills your doctor prescribed, it's "the DEA". If they don't have it in stock, it's "doctors are overprescribing".

If you don't have some sort of supplement, you would be better off buying one before surgery (check if there's a waiting period before they cover surgery). If you don't have a supplement, you'll be paying the first $147 of outpatient care (part B deductible), then 20% after that. On a high level office visit, that will be around $30, depending on where you live. For hospital inpatient care, you'll pay the first $1260 (part A deductible), then nothing else for the first sixty days in the hospital.

How about a retro-style suit with a higher waistline.

Go to your employer and tell them about your desire to get healthy. Ask them to investigate getting a rider that will cover weight loss surgery. Over your lifetime, paying for the surgery will be far cheaper than paying for your healthcare for weight-related problems.

I understand from my petite friends, that White House Black Market is a good place when things are on sale, for both work and casual. Petites on sale. Dorothy Perkins is another one, and they are having a sale. The US site. Petite Resources including designers and a store locator to find their clothing.

This topic made me chuckle - I just couldn't help it. The invasive (and/or uncomfortable) things that women undergo throughout our entire lives, such as pap smears, vaginal childbirth, C-sections, colposcopy, miscarriages, mammograms... I'm trying hard to be sympathetic at the thought of a man having a tube inserted into his penis. I'm trying. Really I am.

My thoughts are... do what your surgeon says.

She actually misread it and thought it said "bohemian", not "behemoth".

On another forum I used to hang out on, the peeps were discussing the way girls' genitals look. One particularly charming guy used the phrase "floppy meat flaps". I almost thought it was the same guy for a minute, then realized he said "mud flaps".

Yeah, it's in the guys room. Mud flaps.

I feel like I should get a gold star just for staying out of the "mud flaps" thread. Just sayin'.

That would have earned her the icy stare of death and a very slow, "I'll... let... you... know... when... I... need... your... advice."

Call back and ask for a supervisor. Or go to your surgeon's office and sit with them while they call.

I would suggest counseling. It sounds like you buried some issues that won't stay buried. Time to bring them out into the light of day and examine them.

Don't be afraid to tell your provider something like, "I do so much better with the focus on the positive side of thing instead of the negative. Can you focus on the positives please?" And if/when they don't seem to know what you mean, you can say, "instead of saying, 'it's normal to ONLY lose a few pounds in the first week', can you say, 'awesome! you've lost weight!' ".

I was going to ask... "older than what?"