J.lynn

I don't know about an app, but I do use the "alarm" function on my phone for when I need to take vitamins and my BC. I have it set to repeat daily at the same time. That would be kind of annoying for water intake, but you could probably use it for pain meds. PS: Good luck with your surgery

If they don't cover WLS, then they don't cover WLS. I am not sure why your insurance agent started explaining your benefits if your question was whether or not WLS was covered. For ex, my insurance covers WLS after I have met my deductible of $2600, then they will cover 80% of the surgery until I meet my max out of pocket. If it is a group based plan, try reaching out to your HR manager and make a case for getting it added. A lot of employers choose to not elect for WLS to save on premiums without taking into consideration obesity related illnesses. Also, you could research going to Mexico. There are many reputable surgeons that are just as good if not better than surgeons in the US.

For insurance purpose or a surgeon requirement? I have Anthem BCBS PPO and my case worker told me that if my BMI fell below 40 at any time before the certification, I would be ineligible for coverage. If you have a co-morbidity like diabetes, sleep apnea, hypertension, or any disease that is a result of obesity or may be cured by losing weight, the BMI threshold may be lowered to 35 instead of 40.

I'm 24, HW 280, CW 270, 5'5''. Waiting for insurance approval, hopefully sleeved by end of April, initial consult was in September. Recommend the group Sassy Sleevers on Facebook, lot of good people on there and lots of support. www.facebook.com/Jacalynn12 instagram: jacalynn.foster

Hey I live in Irving, but work in Arlington. I will be sleeved probably end of April. I requested you on instagram.

Double post, sorry.

I discussed the possibility of WLS with my PCP prior to initially meeting with a surgeon. I was hoping for some positive feedback and maybe even a referral. Boy, was I let down. He basically told me that long-term success is rare and that there is not a lot of research on patients 10+ years post-op because it does not benefit the bariatric "business" to document it. He recommended a prescription for phentermine (which I had already tried before), a visit with a dietician, and to increase my activity levels. I left his office feeling so utterly dejected and hopeless. I had done copious amounts of research on this surgery and after many failed attempts at dieting, work out plans, and prescriptions, I felt it was my last hope of losing the excess weight I have carried since childhood. To have a medical professional completely poo-poo the idea was absolutely devastating. Since then, I have come to realize that most people who have never been obese do not understand the mental and physical road blocks that come with the territory. They have never experienced the monster that is emotional hunger rearing its nasty head daily. The mindless stupor that I fall into during a binge until I quiet the monster. The gnawing guilt I feel after I realize what I have just consumed. I go to sleep convincing myself that I'll start anew tomorrow. ** I have since learned to recognize the signs between emotional hunger and physical hunger. They are subtle but once you have them figured out, they are VERY clear. I recommend googling this if you have issues with binging, there are a couple of good websites. The trick is to distract yourself. I have started teaching myself to play the guitar. How many sessions do you have with the dietician? I would recommend going to a different one that makes you feel more comfortable.

Its completely natural to be scared. You are undergoing a major surgery and it is going to change your life. Saying a little prayer for you and your surgical team tomorrow. PS. Welcome to BP

Thanks for sharing the great information!

When I spoke to my agent from BCBS of TX they told me that a 6 month supervised diet was a requirement. I was also right at 41 BMI without any comorbidities so I could not lose more than 5-10 lbs. I spent the 6 month diet trying to maintain my weight and also incorporate the instructions my nut gave me. My nut was more focused on making sure I understood how I would be eating post op and for the rest of my life than trying to get me to lose a substantial amount of weight now. She would have certainly been concerned if I gained weight. Hope this helps some.

I initially met with my surgeon in September of 2015 for VSG. I was referred to him by an old friend who had the same procedure + gallbladder removal by this doctor. To put it nicely, he was/is a lacking in bed-side manner... His eyes were darting around the room more than looking at me while he was explaining the procedure. My mom had went with me on this initial visit and had also noticed that he was very abrupt. I completed my final nutrition visit last week and went in for my second visit with my surgeon today. I arrived early for my appointment and I sat in the waiting room until they called me back 10-15 minutes after my scheduled appointment. I talked with the nurses assistant for a few minutes while she took my vitals, and then she left and told me my surgeon would be right in. About 30 MINUTES later, my surgeon comes in and we talk for a minute or two, and then his phone starts ringing. He says "excuse me, I need to take this" and walks out of the room. He comes back about 5 minutes later and I was more than a little perturbed at this point. I had a mental list of questions that I wanted to ask him, the first being how much of my stomach he would remove during surgery. He told me that he removes about half of the stomach and I told him that I had heard that some surgeons remove up to 80% of the stomach, and he was very adamant that that was too much and that he leaves a small pouch towards the bottom of the stomach. Some time back, my friend who had this procedure done before had made a comment to me that she thought her sleeve "didn't work" or that she didn't have very good restriction and she was disappointed because she had only lost 40 lbs her first year and was no where near goal. (I think she even gained some back) I didn't think anything of this when she told me because I saw the surgery as a tool to HELP you lose weight, so I assumed that it was her lack of work that caused her lack of success. I am extremely nervous that this major surgery that I am going to subject my body to and pay a good amount of money for is not going to be performed as it should be. The surgeons office is submitting all of my paperwork to my insurance Anthem BCBS of TX... If I get approved, is it too late to switch doctors? Or is 50% removal OK and I should get over his lack of professionalism? It is the combination of these two things that are rubbing me the wrong way. Appreciate any advice in advance.

Irving, TX and Dr. Philip Swanson is my surgeon.

There wasn't a specific event that pushed me towards the decision to have surgery. Like many others have said, I was simply tired of being fat. Tired of being tired all of the time. Tired of feeling uncomfortable in my own skin. Tired of being invisible. I have been overweight most of my life, struggled with trying to lose weight since high school. I have tried countless diets and fitness regimens, and have been somewhat if not very successful with all of them. I did the Atkins diet for 2 years straight and lost upwards of 80 lbs. I hit a stall at around 205 lbs that lasted about 6 months at which point I stopped actively dieting and gained all but a couple lbs back within a year. My problem was that I never hit a "goal weight" where I could learn to moderate my eating and fitness to maintain my weight. Any time that I "cheated" and had a couple slices of bread for lunch, I felt like a complete failure and proceeded to binge eat carbs for the remainder of the day. I'm a firm believer in that when you completely restrict yourself from something, it makes it irresistible. I gradually stopped weighing myself and completely stopped restricting my carb intake as those days became more common. I believe the sleeve will help me to obtain the "goal weight" that I have never been able to reach on my own.

The time will truly fly. I was skeptical when people told me this when I started 5 months ago... But somehow it my 6th and final nut visit is in 2 1/2 weeks and now I'm getting scared !! Good luck dear

I had my psych eval on Monday and it was very simple. He asked me about me and my immediate family's weight and general and mental health history, and about my childhood. He made sure I understood all of the nutrition information regard pre-op and post-op... talked to me about support groups... etc. I was completely honest with him about everything, including my bouts of self-diagnosed depression and binge eating. He encouraged me to continue seeing a psychologist but he gave me the clear for surgery. My 6th and final nutrition visit is scheduled February 18th. They just weigh me, and talk about how I did that month then we come up with goals to follow for the next month. I would advise you to be very honest and realistic with yourself regarding these. Good luck

When I first started seriously considering WLS a couple of months ago, I literally watched every single one of her videos over a weekend. There are a couple of others, but she has been my favorite. I still watch her new videos and follow her on Instagram. ???? Reading this forum and watching YouTube videos keeps me motivated and focused through this supervised diet!

Good luck ????????

Girl, you are so beautiful (inside and out) and it breaks my heart that you are struggling with this. You are worth more than an arbitrary number on a scale. We can all say it until we are blue in the face but it does no good unless you truly believe it. The scale doesn't measure beauty, compassion, intelligence, love. It measures the force of gravity on your body, THATS IT! Throw away the scale, gauge yourself by how your clothes are fitting and the way you feel physically. If your jeans start feeling tight, then you know that you need to change whatever it is you're doing. You have had a tough year and you need to focus on yourself. Always remember that you are loved and you deserve to be loved. Best wishes with your treatment. I thank God you recognize that the road you're on is dangerous and you're taking steps to heal. That is the hardest part. Now... Off to take some of my own advice. ????????

You look fabulous it always amazes me how much people's faces change with major WL.

Sorry for the long post in advance, I hope I am posting this in the correct section. I am 23 years old. I have struggled with obesity and emotional binge eating since the age of 10. I had an extremely dysfunctional home life and turned to food for comfort because it was the one thing I could seemingly control. I am currently 256 lbs, and I am 5'5". This puts me at a BMI of about 43. My highest known weight was 280 about 2-3 years ago. I was having severe abdominal pains (I think I had a fatty liver but never confirmed this with my PCP) because of the excess weight so I decided to try the Atkins diet. I was pretty successful, lost about 60 lbs over the course of a year and a half. I was so bored with preparing the same food all of the time and the extreme restriction, high fat/protein and absolutely no carbs or refined sugar. I ended up going off of the diet, and gained 40 lbs back the following year. Over the course of my adult life, I have tried other countless diets, pills, and exercises: Weight watchers, Insanity, the Makers diet (very similar to paleo), heavy cardio and resistance training daily, prescription phentermine, etc. I tend to put my all -so to speak- into losing weight and then fairly quickly get burned out and stop altogether. Often times, gaining more than I originally lost on the upswing. I am not diagnosed with depression though I recognize the symptoms and I know that it is something that I deal with as do a lot of other obese people. I had a very close friend of mine get the VSG surgery back in 2011. At the time, we were similar in size. I watched her quickly lose all of her weight with what seemed to be little effort. She has managed to keep all of the weight off without "dieting" or extreme exercise - just healthy eating and moderate exercise. Since then, I have had a few other friends have the surgery and also be successful. A couple of weeks ago, I decided I would look into getting this surgery myself. I have spent hours researching, watching YouTube videos, reading forums, and just generally absorbing as much information as possible. I met with my PCP 2 weeks ago to see what he thought on bariatric surgery. He basically told me that I didn't need it. He only recommended it for patients that were house-bound due to their weight. He told me that it's a marketing ploy and that it doesn't treat the root cause of obesity which causes most patients to gain 80-100% of the weight back after 5+ years. He gave me a fitness and diet regimen to follow and sent me on my way. Obviously, I was not satisfied with this answer because I have been dieting for years and I am still freaking obese! I have only discussed the idea of surgery with my parents and one friend who has had the surgery. My mom is supportive of whatever decision I make, but my stepdad says that I just need to eat healthy and exercise. I don't think I will be telling anyone else because people who have not had weight issues don't seem to understand what it is like and view surgery as an easy way out. I am in no way expecting to lose and/or maintain the loss without some form of exercise and healthy eating and I am fully prepared to do so. It is just so devastatingly difficult to get to that point of maintenance. So today, I contacted the surgeon that performed one of my friends surgeries for an initial consult on 9/21. I called my insurance provider (Anthem BCBS of TX) and they gave me the expected requirements for "approval" which includes a 6 month supervised diet and fitness regimen and I must have a minimum BMI of 40. Over the course of these 6 months, if I lose more than 14 lbs, I will be ineligible for the surgery. My deductible is $2600 and then I am responsible for 20% of the cost of the surgery. I am not really considering going to Mexico because I don't want to be in a situation where I cannot follow up with my surgeon if any issues arise, God forbid. I realize that it will be slightly cheaper out of pocket and I won't have to wait as long or jump through as many hoops, but the risk doesn't seem worth it to me. Thanks for reading would appreciate any advice on what to do regarding my insurance.

Thanks for the positivity! It means a lot. I tend to worry about things too much and psych myself out. I still have a while to go and if it is meant to happen, it will.

Thanks for responding Thinside. I wasn't taking phentermine for very long. I was on it for 2 months straight, stopped during the 3rd month. I was having migraines and issues sleeping on that drug. I was experiencing difficulty formulating sentences, often times I would mix up words and not make any sense. Also, I drink a ton of Water and only occasionally drink a diet soda (maybe 2-3 per week). That is one thing I have learned from yo-yo dieting - don't drink your calories!! That said, no amount of water could satiate the thirst and dry mouth I had. It was horrible. Needless to say, I flushed the remaining pills and never went back to that clinic. In hindsight, I think the dosage was too high. Other than that, I don't have any kind of medically documented record of my dieting. My concern is that I will spend the next 6 months trying not to gain weight but also not lose because then I would be ineligible. I am going to pull up a copy of the requirements on the Internet to make sure I have everything correct because my case worker covered everything in about 20 minutes and I certainly do not want to miss anything. I am hoping that there is no provision that you must lose a certain amount of weight during the 6 month non-surgical fitness program. If it is just a matter of maintaining my weight, I should be ok! Good luck to you nurse_lenora thanks for the info. I am so glad that this website exists.

I spoke with my insurance today, and as expected, they have a long list of requirements and they are only willing to pay 80% of the surgery after the $2600 deductible. I guess it could be worse: I could have no insurance or no bariatric coverage. Not sure if Dr Swanson is in my insurance network, so I may need to look around. I am going to call the office back tomorrow and ask, but as of now my initial consult is scheduled for 9/21. good luck to you!! Hope you hear good news back from your insurance.

I live in Irving and work in Arlington what doctor are you seeing? I've been looking at Dr Swanson in Southlake because one of my friends who had the VSG done with him has nothing but good things to say.