Rainy Days

I got my test results back and unfortunately I do have mild sleep apnea. Apparently I slept enough because she said the quality of the test was excellent. I stopped breathing 12 times a hour, which is mild and she believes my sleep apnea will go away after losing weight with the surgery. So, that was a bright spot in the bad news. Now I wait for the call to go get my new machine.

Are you currently on blood pressure meds? This might be a sign to get to your primary care doctor to get that more checked out. I have high blood pressure and I have recognized some things that I can do to make sure my pressure doesn't spike at a visit. First, get there early. Rushing to an appointment can set me off. Second, once you are there, allow enough time to relax and listen to calming music/ocean sounds/etc for a few minutes. Then, go in to your appointment with a less-stressed feeling. My blood pressure is always normal when I do those things (plus take my meds). But if I get caught up in stress or traffic, then I am sure to be high even with my meds. Good luck!

My home study unit didn't require me to turn it off or on. It had a green light that the technician told me would stay on, and it was on before, during, and after my test. Sorry about your mixed results! I hope the insurance finds in your favor. I'm guessing they will because the medical diagnosis code for sleep apnea doesn't specify mild, severe, etc. Good luck! My insurance doesn't care about sleep apnea as a comorbidity, it's all on BMI. But my surgeon requires the sleep study, so that is why I did it. I'm hoping I don't require the cpap machine, but my husband said he'd be surprised if I don't get it. If so, I'm hoping it's just mild like yours and will be corrected with weight loss.

I *might* have had 5 hours of sleep, but I'm not positive. I agree, FreeTheSkinny66, It was very uncomfortable. And now I keeping thinking about how I will handle the mask if I do need a machine. I believe my problem was just the cannula tubes up my nose, so maybe I'll be okay.

One surgeon that I had considered seeing had a sheet with how much did you weigh at age 10, 15, 20, etc. And they also wanted to know what diets you had tried. I thought that was a good way of remembering my ups and downs on the scale. I filled that out and brought it to my surgeon's visit. I actually had to reference it in my psychologist visit too. But basically the surgeon just wanted to know which diets I had tried and how much I had lost and gained with them.

I meet with the pulmonologist for a sleep study consult next week. Not real happy with that, but my surgeon required it before the upper endoscopy.

Congrats Fantod! You were sleeved by Northwest Weight Loss Surgery, correct?

I'd recommend calling your insurance company and getting them to send the policy on weight loss surgery to you. My insurance company had a nurse case manager explain everything to me and send me the policy for my reference. For my particular plan, I had to be over 40 BMI at the first appointment, but during the 3 month weight loss they were fine with me going under 40 BMI.

for those mentioning hot food cooling down too much: I read that using a small plate on a coffee cup warmer works. Thanks for the suggestion on that app! I will need to download it. I'm a fast eater and always done before anyone in my family, so I certainly need help with this!

oh yes, the restaurant booth issue. Once upon a time ago, I was seated at one booth and was immediately too scrunched because I carry most of my weight in my abdomen. So I asked to switch booths and the same problem happened. Then to my embarrassment I realized it wasn't the booth, the problem was me. Now I always ask for a table instead of a booth. It will be nice to sit in a booth and even have enough room for someone to sit next to me!

I work a desk job. My surgeon said she likes people to take 7 work days off, so I will do that. If necessary I will take a couple of half days after that, but I'll play that by ear. And if I feel ready to work sooner, I can always come back earlier.

Do you all remember when the Powerball was at a record high of 1+ Billion dollars in January? Well, a bunch of people at work were talking about what they'd do first if they won. Lots of people mentioned vacations, new houses, etc. But the very first thing that flashed through my mind was getting weight loss surgery. I kept thinking about it and decided that I needed to research the possibility. In addition, I have been planning a Disney World vacation for 2017 and honestly wasn't that excited about it. A lot of the beds at WDW are only double beds and I knew I couldn't fit in that with my husband. And all the walking would do me in. Plus potentially not fitting into some rides. Now I have started my journey to WLS and I am so excited that I get a fresh chance at the life that I want.

I had a great appointment, thanks for asking! I saw the psychologist, Dr. Havellana, who was amazing and gave me the thumbs up for surgery. I saw the exercise physiologist and dietician who gave me info and goals to work on for the next three months. And I saw the surgeon Dr. Chock, who was great. She recommended the sleeve, which is what I was hoping for. Like you know, I have to lose 5% over three months. They gave me a diet that focuses on Protein. I'm down a bit already, but it's the keeping it off that matters so I'm going to have to really give my best effort. I don't want to return on May 20th and find out I didn't lose all that I have to. The insurance doesn't easily give a second chance at this. I'm hoping for a July surgery date but I have to work my time off around my coworkers, so we will see. I have a great nurse case manager with the insurance company and she is helping me navigate everything. I have to do a sleep study next. So how are things going for you? You are over 8 weeks out, right? How are you feeling and how is your energy?

I just saw my surgeon for the first time yesterday. I was open to either option, but rather hoping on the sleeve due to less recovery time. My surgeon said either was appropriate for me, but recommended the sleeve because with the bypass you can't have NSAIDS (aspirin, ibuprofen) anymore. I already have knee problems and don't like to take prescription pain relievers. In addition, my surgeon mentioned that the bypass can alter the ability to take other meds due to the digestive system being rerouted. If I had been a higher BMI or diabetic, it might have been worth the medication issues on the bypass though. So the right surgery for one person might be different than for another.

I imagine her confusion was due to the different requirements in insurance companies and surgeons. My surgeon required me to see my PCP and get my height/weight stats faxed to them prior to scheduling my initial appointment. My PCP was confused about only needing the stats, and she wanted to write up a whole essay on why I needed the surgery. haha

I got insurance approval for the initial visits! Since I am traveling from so far, the NWWLS office was able to make 4 appointments for me in a single day. I'll be seeing the psychologist, the dietician, the exercise physiologist, and the surgeon all on February 18th!

I got the ball rolling this week. My insurance only allows me the choice of two WLS centers. Swedish required me to go to a seminar (that is 2.5 hours away from me) before I scheduled an appointment and NWWLS didn't... so I called NWWLS. The people on the phone are so nice! Anyway, I got surprised that they require me to go into my primary care doctor's office and get a letter with my height and weight. After I send them that and fill out the history forms, they will schedule my first appointment. So I see my primary care on Friday!

Congrats Frank on facing the fears and getting through surgery! I wish you all the best on the rest of this journey. Your story made me think it would be a great idea for me to write a list of why I'm doing this. So when I get a little antsy prior to surgery I can hold onto the reasons this is the right thing for me. Thanks for updating us!

The hardest person to discuss this with was my husband. He is naturally thin and doesn't understand my struggle. But he was wonderfully supportive. I have involved him in helping me decide which type of surgery I want. Now he is all on board because he sees how excited I am about this. I told my youngest son (age 12) and he just took it in stride. I won't be telling him the process of the surgery because he will just worry. I will tell my oldest (age 23) when I see him next, and he might be concerned, but I'm sure he'll end up supportive. I will also tell my boss and coworkers when I'm ready to request time off for the surgery or pre appointments. Since I work in the health care industry, I won't get any grief. We all see how damaging obesity is on your health. Anyone else, I won't be telling. I don't much care if random people approve or not. I am doing this for my betterment, not theirs.

I'm glad to hear you had a great experience there! And I'm so glad to hear from another Prov employee! Could you tell me more about the 3 months medically supervised weight loss? I see your stats and they are similar to mine with being barely above the 40 BMI before surgery. I spoke to a nurse case manager with insurance that said they go by the first visit weight. Was that your experience? Could you tell me more about the 3 months weight loss? The case manager told me they want a person to lose 5% over 3 months. I'd love to hear your experience on all this!

Hi Michelle! I am considering NWWLS for my surgery, so I'm glad to hear you liked Dr. Chock. Wishing you all the best on your progress!

Hi Seattle area! I grew up across the Puget Sound in Silverdale but now live in Portland, OR. My insurance only covers weight loss surgery at Swedish or the Providence in Everett, so I'll be traveling up there for my surgery. I haven't picked my surgeon yet, but will be hopefully figuring that out in the next couple weeks so I can get moving on this!

I am new to this journey. Just this last week I called my insurance to ask what the qualifications are to have weight loss surgery. I am just above the 40 BMI so I asked the insurance's nurse case manager what happens if I lose enough weight during the 3 month required weight monitoring to put me under 40. She told me that they base the approval on the weight measurement from the initial visit, not the 90 days later. In fact, they want me to lose 5% during that 90 days. I highly recommend calling your insurance and asking them the questions, it really reassured me!