animallover1247

Well Nurse Leonora I think I'm going to be a February sleever. I am waiting on my insurance to approve me. I dont think it will be an issue as i have several co-morid conditions. I will let you know! i don't know exactly when/if they have submitted it but I will be calling the insurance company later today to check.

This scares me. I will be the first weight loss surgery patient my endocrinologist has monitored. Great. I guess I'm going to be the guinea pig

So glad you have been able to go off your insulin! That is really great news. I hope I can go home off my insulin. I have been able to decrease my fast acting insulin by changing my eating habits. Yes, it would be great to not have to shoot myself with a needle multiple times a day...it would also be nice not to spend so much money on being obese!

I don't know if this will help or not but it may be worth checking out. Through my profession I had a child who was able to be tested to see if he was allergic to milk. Maybe ask your doctor if this is a test you can get done???

If he is not supportive of you now and you haven't even had surgery yet, unless he is willing to be educated and wants the best for you, I believe your problems will only continue and will likely worsen after surgery as you start to lose weight.How is he going to react when others start telling him how good you look? I would ask him if he's willing to go for counseling. In the seminar, my surgeon said he once had a woman who blamed him for her divorce after WLS (which is absurd). He said if you have a strong marriage before surgery, it will only get stronger. If you have a bad marriage before the surgery, it will only get worse. Also, in my research I've read the divorce rate among weight loss surgery patients is higher than the national average. Additionally, I've seen that show "My 600 lb life on TLC a few times. The surgeon identifies the enablers (caretakers or family members who cook the wrong foods and bring fast food in) as a major barrier in the patients being successful. If things don't change with your husband, I think this will be challenging to say the least.

i get it. I've had mini strokes and I currently have diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea and I just now was able to get off my cholesterol med by stopping the fast food. I have a long list of other weight related issues that are not life threatening but difficult to deal with everyday. Glad you are putting yourself and your health first and doing what is right for you without letting others influence you!

I have been discussing this with my therapist for a while and I really don't want to tell my coworkers but I am going to. Drastic weight loss coupled with time off from work..doesn't take an Eisenstein to figure it out. I initially just wanted to tell my boss i needed off for one week (with no explanation) but then what if I need more time? Also considering my profession my coworkers are going to need to cover for me while I'm gone. I'm a private person. It's killing me I have to tell them but I figure it will come out sooner or later. I don't know if they will be supportive or not, i feel like they may be with the exception of two coworkers. I know once I tell them it will spread like wildfire but I will be asking for them to keep it confidential. Fat chance that will happen though. Outside of work, I have told two people.

The six months really does fly by. I used the time to discuss issues with my therapist and did TONS of research. I prepared a pretty lengthy list of questions for my surgeon as well. I've read one reason the insurance requires a 6 month waiting period is because they believe many (or at least some) will drop out due to all the requirements. I would suggest you read some books,in addition to doing the research online, there are some good books on WLS.

When they ask how much weight have you lost just say "I'll forgive you for being rude by asking me if you forgive me for my rudeness for not answering you."

I know exactly how you feel. I was Christmas shopping and saw a pair of dress pants I really liked for a cheap price. I bought them. However, I ended up taking them back because I thought to myself I haven't been in a size 14 since I was in jr. high school and i will only believe it when it happens, if it happens. I doubt everyday I can do this. I know it's totally the wrong attitude and I need to stop it with the negative thoughts but when you've been overweight for so long its so hard to believe your life will be any different....

Just passing along some information....I already have alopecia (luckily I have long hair and I can cover it up). I was asking my surgeon about the hair loss and he told me the hair loss associated with gastric bypass is much worse than it is with the sleeve. Whether that's true or not I'm not sure but for what it's worth that's what he said. I have ordered a collagen product and I am taking Biotin as well and I wont have surgery for until next month. The biotin has helped my hair grow (}other than the spots with alopecia) and it appears to be shiner as well.

My friend has BCBS and she changed surgeons when she completed all the requirements and did not have any problems. The current surgeon just got a copy of her records. I don't think there will be a problem if you want to change surgeons but make sure you do your research and they are experienced. Also you may call your current surgeons office and tell them you are considering switching and ask them what are the chances you might get in earlier due to a cancellation.

So how much weight did he say you should have lost?!?! That doctor is ridiculous.

I just found out last week my surgeons office doesn't schedule the surgery until after the insurance approval which further delays the surery by at least a month

Not every surgeon uses a drain. However, mine does and he said it would be there for one week. In researching this last night, I discovered even if a drain is used that doesn't mean a leak cant occur in a different part of the stomach and the drain would not pick the leak up so that doesnt make me feel all that great. I will be asking my surgeon about this.

I really hate to hear posts like this. Unfortunately, for reasons I can't understand, WLS and even weight loss without surgery, tends to bring out the worst in people and their "true" side comes shining through. Any life changing event can bring out the worst in people. My friend had been married for a few years ended up having breast cancer. She needed chemo and radiation. She seemed to have a seemingly good relationship with her husband, he seemed like a good guy. It turns out that wasn't the case, he left her while she was in the middle of chemo (and not for another woman). He certainly didn't abide by the "in sickness and in health" vowel. On the bright side, if there is one, you are finding out about this now rather than later. You can get over it and move on with your life!

Hi Kefi I will not have surgery until next month BUT I will tell you my experience with the surgeon. I am diabetic as well, I am on fast and slow acting insulin and Truclity. I was placed on Truclicity because I had gained 24 lbs in three months being on Lyrica. Trulicity has the side effect of decreased appetite. I have made changes before surgery that resulted in no need for cholesterol meds and a decrease in both of my insulins. My last A1C was 5.9, the lowest it has ever been but usually ranged between 6.2 and 7.5. I have been diabetic for about 12 years and on insulin for about 7. When I went to see my surgeon, he told me the gold standard for diabetes is the bypass. I told him I was aware of that but I did not want bypass for many reasons, one being the rerouting of the intestines and the surgeon said the hair loss is worse with bypass as well. Having said that, my surgeon stated he did not have a problem at all doing the sleeve on me, thankfully, because I don't know what I would have done if he would have refused to, I don't think I would have agreed to the bypass but who knows what I would have chosen to do if my back was against the wall. I have done a lot of research on the sleeve and diabetes. There are many people who have been able to go off of their medications after surgery, many of them leave the hospital not taking any and if not they eventually get off them or significantly reduce them. I have seen a few people who post they are still on the meds but I think it depends on how long you've been diabetic, how well it has been controlled and if you were on insulin. i think I will be able to go off of my meds, if not immediately, with significant weight loss. It's a personal choice but I don't think there's any problem getting the sleeve if you have diabetes.

All of my documentation will be ready for submission on 12.21. Of course I have no idea how long it will take the surgeons office to submit it. I cab let you know how it goes (if I don't forget) I have Highmark BCBS as well.

I understand your frustration. If I hadn't heard that my surgeon is supposed to be the best in town, I would have looked somewhere else. The coordinator is not great to work with and other staff aren't friendly. I mean, this is a life changing event so you would think they would return my phone calls. I had a couple of glitches with paperwork, but ot it straightened out . I hope everything is on track for my surgery this month. Good luck to you. I hope it works out. @@280journey I'm glad I'm not the only one who hasn't had a positive experience with my surgeons office. I had to call and email the office a total of six times (yes 6) to get a copy of my blood work so it would not be repeated by my endocrinologist and then be denied by the insurance. i received the blood work two days after I my appointment. The surgeons office did not send my orders over to have my preop testing done and they didn't call and get the endoscopy pre-authorized. Now the insurance is saying I owe over 6 grand. I'm hoping to win an appeal with the insurance. There are other minor issues as well. The only reason I'm staying with this office is because my surgeon is the very experienced and has been doing this a long time so I hope I won't regret my decision. However, without a doubt his staff certainly leaves a lot to be desired.

Thanks for posting your experience. Were you on any diabetic medications prior to surgery? If so, were you taken off of them before you went home?

Let me know how you do, I'll be in the same position as you. I'll be driving myself to the hospital for surgery and then I will have two people to come to the hospital once I'm ready to be discharged, One is bringing the other one so she can drive me and my car back home, three hours away. I'm scared too but I'll get through it and so will you!

Use this time to research...reading books, surfing the net, watching videos. It has made the time go by much quicker for me.

If my chair ever breaks at work again (I didn't break it) I don't won't need my boss to spend more company money on a "plus size" chair!!!

i just wanted to know if there's anyone out there who needed to convert from the sleeve to bypass due to GERD. What was your experience? Also, did you have a hiatial hernia that was repaired during the sleeve surgery and still needed to have bypass?

I agree with the other posts...run like hell and never look back (unless he's divorced). And one more thing...if either one of you guys are questioning whether anything being said/done is inappropriate, here's the test...if what you are saying/doing to each other is NOT something you would say/do in front of his wife, then it's inappropriate.