MSinger

The clothes... I have so much clothes waiting for me... Having the energy to get up at 530am to work out like I used to. Not being so darn sweaty. Feeling comfortable to start dating again. Not feeling my belly on my thighs when I sit >.< Having one chin. That would be nice.

Ugh... sorry to hear that. I'm private as well and had my mom blab my health drama to extended family as well. It sucks, but what's done is done. Just stay focused on yourself and your journey. Hopefully, your family will be supportive or at least respect your privacy, but if all else fails then you do you and forget any comments. Good luck.

What @Walter.Sobchak says. They have no right to know, and if they try to press them for information, I'd recommend reporting it to HR.

Call your insurance and find out what their requirements are. Some companies require several months of nutrition visits, some don't... and some companies have their own bizarre requirements. There really is no way that I know of to expedite the process. You either meet their qualifications for surgery, or you don't, but every company has their own process. Good luck with your journey!

Congrats. I wish you a quick and painless recovery!!

Are you getting in enough fluids? I'd recommend speaking with your Dr about this. Elevated creatinine can happen from dehydration, working out too hard, increased protein intake. I'd also recommend checking in with your NUT in case you may need to make adjustments to your diet.

I'm having gastric sleeve surgery, but I'm scheduled for 5/23 as well. Good luck to you!

I'm another person who can testify to Wellbutrin helping me quitting smoking. It took a few days for the medication to adjust, but after that, I had zero interest. Previously smoked for a decade. It works. I was eventually able to wean off the wellbutrin after 2 years. Never picked up smoking again. I suggest you talk to your Dr and see what they offer or suggest. Smoking now will slow your wound healing and increase risk for complications.

Going out and eating as much as the people I'm with is something I soooo look forward to. I'd easily put away double what they ate, plus dessert.

Congratulations!! Please check in (when you are able to, of course) and let us know how it went. You got this!

My Dr's office submitted paperwork to insurance on 4/24 and it has been an uphill climb since then. Paperwork fell through the cracks for over a week despite my calls to check status. I'm not going to get into details, but if there is one thing I recommend is to be your own advocate. If I had not called as many times as I did, who knows how long my paperwork would be sitting around untouched. Unfortunately, you gotta double and triple check what you are told. Anyway, I got the news today that I'm approved by insurance...yay!!!

Yes, the chewables are bariactive and the B-12 nasal spray is called nascobal.

Surgery scheduled for 5/23. Pre-op diet officially starts tomorrow, but I started it last week. I had a few off-plan meals over this past weekend, plus some wine, but I'm back on track today. It just stinks to have to go through the rough first few days again.

I start tomorrow. I did it last week as a sort of test run and it went well. The first three days were the worst, but after that, it got much better. Hang in there!

Something is missing here.. why are you mentioning bread when it sounds like your primary issue is not eating meat? Bread is not a substitute for meat. Are you taking in adequate levels of protein? Did you have a discussion and about non-meat protein sources? Do you have a list of protein-rich foods you plan to use as an alternative to meat? That comes first. Protein first - even if your NUT said bread is ok.

In short.... no. If you take in fewer calories than you burn, you will lose weight. That may become more difficult as you lose more weight, but it still holds true. You, as well as the people around you, might not be used to how your body changes, but that does not mean you are "meant" to remain at a certain weight.

I'm pre-op for the gastric sleeve, but I signed up for a service like this. From your description of the nasal B12 spray, it sounds like it could be the same company. My surgery isn't until the 23rd of this month, but I signed up last month and already have my first shipment on hand. As promised, the cost was $25, and insurance was billed for the rest. I had 4 weekly nasal B12 sprays, chewable calcium and vitamin D, multivitamin, and iron supplements mailed to me. They also have pill versions of the vitamins that I can switch to once I can take them. I decided to go this route because after researching the costs for the vitamins online, it was more expensive to get them myself. Hopefully, I'll be able to tolerate the supplements after surgery, othewise, everything seems on the level. ETA: I took another look at your post and it is the same company - Nutrition Direct.

You look beautiful in both pictures and your face absolutely does not look hollow or too thin or whatever else may try to tell you. You also make a good point where after weight loss people think it's ok to make comments about your body, but somehow it's unacceptable to give it right back to them. Some people just want to poop on your parade. One of my coworkers had weight loss surgery. Prior to going under, she was very open to people and didn't mind word getting around that she was doing it. By the time she was taking her medical leave, everyone knew why. She had some complications and needed extra time off, but came back to work 6 weeks later and had already lost a significant amount of weight. Again... everyone knew why. But people STILL came up to her concern trolling her with questions about if she had cancer. She played it cool, but I would have gone to HR. Of course, some of it can be people just are not used to seeing you this way, but I feel like under no circumstances is it ok to make negative comments when you are working towards a healthier life. Congrats on your success

40g definitely seems too low for someone who just had surgery. My NUT recommends 60-75grams per day, but I'm hoping to aim for 90g/day. Your body needs protein to heal, particularly after surgery. Maybe your NUT said 40grams for the immediate post-op period since it's so difficult to meet 60+grams right away. My team frequently acknowledged that I will probably not meet my protein goals for the first 1-2 weeks, but any further than that it would be considered a problem.

Hey all, I'm currently awaiting insurance approval. My BMI at time of submission to insurance was 42 or 43. I'm easing into my preop diet now, but I'm worried that by time of surgery my BMI may go under 40. My question is, if insurance approves surgery and you go below 40 BMI prior to surgery, will there be any issues with insurance paying for the surgery? Thanks!

Good luck with the preop diet. The first few days are rough, but it does get better.

Good for you!! How far along are you into the liquid diet? I'm on day 5 today (voluntarily decided to start my liquid diet early). It's going ok. The first 3 days were horrible, but I got through my carb cravings. The problem now is I'm craving fat so hard! I cleaned out my kitchen, so I'm just gonna power through it. Congrats on the loss

I am sorry to hear that, but if there is one thing I would suggest is to keep hounding them. Here's what's happened since I last posted about having to nag the process along: 1. I was told my paperwork would be submitted to insurance on the 21st. I called insurance on Monday the 24th and the told me they haven't received it yet. The CS agent was nice enough to call the physician's office to ask for the paperwork to be sent and called me back to confirm she got a hold of them to request clinicals. I agreed to call back in a few days to make sure it's in process. 2. Called insurance on Wednesday the 26th. The insurance agent took a mintue to search but did find the paperwork and told the review is currently pending. 3. Called Friday the 28th - pending. 4. Called Tuesday 5/2 - pending. 5. Called again this morning to check status. The insurance agent told me they did have paperwork, but that it WASN'T being reviewed because some billing codes were missing. I tore up the phone line letting them know that I have been calling every other day to check status and have been told every single time up to now that review was pending. There was never any mention that codes were missing and my review was on hold. I asked if my case could be rushed, and she said "we're not going to do anything with your case until we have codes submitted to us from your Dr's office." I know the codes myself because I review the same type of surgery, but she would not take them from me. Ugh... So I called my Doc's office, told them what's going on, and asked them to call me back to confirm the missing information was faxed. The surgery scheduler called me and told me she spoke with my insurance and, without getting into too much boring detail, they instructed her to submit the paperwork in a way that I, as an employee of this same company, know is incorrect. So..back to calling insurance. I asked if it was true that they only wanted one sheet of paper sent, and she read the transcript of the last call on my case. Apparently, the surgery scheduler hung up the phone on them during the call. I was at a loss and felt like I was stuck between some ridiculous tit for tat between insurance and the Dr's office. So the insurance agent offered to call the surgery scheduler and let her know exactly how to submit the so it doesn't get lost in the tracks again. Tomorrow I'm supposed to call my insurance... again... to verify that clinicals were received, and that they were received correctly. This isn't a life-threatening surgery, but as frustrating as it is for me, I can only imagine how it could be for people chronic illnesses or immediate medical needs falling through the cracks like this. Anyway, like I said... keep at it. Good luck!

Yep. I'm waiting to hear back as well, but so far I've had to do a good bit of double-checking to make sure it's not at a stand-still. I called the psychologist a week and a half after my eval and she processed me that day. I called the surgeon's office and they said they would submit to insurance last Friday. I called insurance on Monday to confirm they received clinical from the surgeon's office and they did not, so they called the surgeon's office to request it be sent and told me to call back in a few days. Called today and they told me they "just received" the clinical. I feel like I'm having to nag everyone involved to make sure the process is moving. Good luck, everyone!

Hello all, I found out through my insurance that they will only approve VSG as an outpatient surgery going forward. They used to approve 1day inpatient at the same time as the surgery review. I'm feeling nervous as I don't think it's reasonable to expect people to go home on the day of surgery, plus, when I spoke with my surgeon he told me to expect a 2 day inpatient stay and that he usually does not find himself discharging patients on POD1. Like most people, I've read case after case of VSG surgeries and I have yet to come across a person who went home the same day. My impression was 1 day inpatient was reasonable, and of course I'd understand staying inpatient for a second night if my pain or nausea was out of control, or I was not tolerating fluids. Has anyone done VSG as an outpatient? If you stayed inpatient, how did you feel right after surgery? Did you feel like you can go home that night?