kaytiebugs

My docs self pay plan is like $14-15,000. A lot of insurance plans cover it, have you checked yours? There are financing options.... carecredit and capital 1 healthcare loan, as well as others but I'm not familiar with them.

I know exactly how you feel!!! I got approved today too!!!!

I know no one really wants to hear a cry baby, but I need to vent. So, in the beginning when I was filling out my 800 page application (after the seminar) one of the requirements was to call my insurance and get my benefits details. Apparently I spoke with the town idiot. She told me that my bariatric deductible was $1,500 and I was responsible for 20% of everything after that UP TO my $2,000 annual MAX out of pocket. So.... here I've been thinking I only needed $2,000 for months now. Well things are getting close to wrapping up and I was talking to one of the nurses at the surgeons office, just making sure I understood the financial part completely. She said that didn't sound right and it looked like my expense was going to be $3,500. The $2,000 was ONLY for my 20% and the $1,500 would be ON TOP OF that amount... so $3,500 total. I just called to verify and she's right. Holy effin cow. It just seems like one thing after another, as if God just really doesn't want me to have this surgery. I was SO FRIGGIN CLOSE. Everything was about to be submitted (and will still be submitted) and I would have a date soon! Now I have to magically come up with another $1,500!!! Not flippin possible. I applied for financing.... got denied. It'll just have to wait EVEN LONGER. My hubby gets a student loan check in late Dec/Early Jan and we'll use that.... but no one seems to understand how it feels to have to wait EVEN LONGER!!! I've been working on this crap since JULY!! I started researching in MARCH and decided to start looking at doctors in JUNE!!! So I've already been hoping and dreaming for so flippin long. Now I have to wait even longer. I seriously just want to go home from work right now. I've been crying half the morning. No one understands how emotional this whole process is... or the sense of desperation and feeling of hopelessness.

You know... those little tube packets you put in Water. Are they bad? I know they contain artificial sweeteners.... Do they give anyone reflux?

Can someone explain a bit? I need something to keep me motivated but I don't know what this nike challenge is about. Can someone fill me in? Thanks =)

I asked them... they said no. The surgeon requires payment up front, and the hospital's primary business is bariatrics, they require payment up front too. Frankly.... I don't blame them. I work in a medical billing office and know what it's like to try to get someone to pay something they owe. I wouldn't want to hand out free services if I were a hospital or surgeon either. Also, bariatrics is a little different... almost all docs require payment up front. When you are sick and need your appendix removed before it ruptures and nearly kills you, the situation is a little different.... you don't have time to save and you legitimately need to have the surgery right then.

Hi everyone!! I'm looking for a website. It doesn't have to be specifically for WLS patients. I'm hoping to find something where I can track my food intake easily, my Vitamins, Water, other nutrition goals, exercise, meal plan suggestions, exercise suggestions, and motivational/inspirational suggestions. I've tried sparkpeople.com and I love it, I just need something more structured... something that is harder to skip... something with a bit more accountability. I like sparkpeople, but I really want to find something that has more of a community feeling.... and it would be nice to find one that was more geared to people trying to lose a signifigant amount of weight. I'm getting the realize band.... does there site have any of this? Anyone want to suggest any other sites? Thanks!

So I guess I'll be checking out the daily plate!

I had my deductible $$ saved in the bank for months now. Well.... things happen.... we've dipped into it little by little and our bills are behind so bye-bye $2,000. I have to start from scratch. F#$%ing great. My DH just doesn't understand the absolute disappointment I'm experiencing. If all else fails I'll be able to have surgery in Dec/Jan. My doctor just submitted everything to insurance (and ins states it only takes them a few days to approve)... so I was expecting/hoping to have surgery within the next 3-4 weeks... 4 max. It's easy for him to think Dec/Jan is only a couple/few months away..... but for someone who has been anxiously anticipating surgery for months now, it sounds like years away. I just got off the phone with Capital One healthcare finance and got DENIED... friggin great... I don't even know why. My car loan is through them and my credit is fine. My score isn't HIGH, but it certainly isn't low. Thanks for letting me rant..... feel free to offer some sympathy and/or encouragement..... I'm off to find stuff to sell on ebay. Adios every designer thing I own and all of my clothes that are too small (that I was hoping to wear again, guess I'll just have to buy new ones later on).

I don't know what to do. I feel like such a victim. I'm trying to quit soda.... cocacola to be exact. I'm a SERIOUS addict. Coke gives me this good feeling in the pit of my stomach that no other beverage can do (except the occasional gulp of pickle juice... but I can't drink that all the time lol). I don't know what it is about coke, but it's so friggin satisfying. I have moments (in the evening at home) where I just absolutely CRAVE coke... like I HAVE to have it. As soon as I drink it I feel RELIEVED. How oh how can I kick this habit? What's the best way to do it? I seriously need help here. Another addiction I'm battling is food.... how can I kick my addiction to things like chicken wings???

I'm looking for a decent tasting substitute to traditional mayo and butter/margarine. I don't like kraft lite I know that. I really want a good tasting mayo substitute... I love tuna salad and would love to include it in my post op diet. And butter... some are good, and some 'just do'. What do you like?

I went to one last night, as part of my pre op requirements. I originally planned for this to be the only one, but after going I really see how it is of great benefit. I just wish there were more bandsters.... the majority of attendees at my doctors meeting were bypass patients. Either way, I enjoyed the meeting. Does anyone attend meetings regularly? What benefits do you see in it?

I've heard that your taste changes post op. Do things literally taste different? Or you're just wiser and want to make better decisions?

You should tell him. I didn't want my DH to know my weight. He knew my weight at one point but I've gained like 40lb since then and I REALLY didn't want him to know. I gave him my psych eval thingey (4 pg evaluation) and it had my weight on it. I totally forgot about that! When he told me he knew my weight I literally turned blood red and cried. He was kinda irritated with me for crying and said he's my husband and I shouldn't hide it from him.

I'll be okay wearing pajama pants the day of surgery and the following 3 days, but after that I'll probably need to wear some regular pants. How much of the swelling will still be there on day 4 post op? What kind of pants could you wear? The incisions are above the navel, right? Do you think I'll be able to wear pants that fit loosely and comfortably now at four days post op? TIA!

I am so excited!! It's like my body is just buzzing or something. I'm so happy. The surgeons office just called me and scheduled my consult for next Friday!! Wow it all seems like it's going so fast. I just mailed my app like a week or two ago! I want it to go fast, but at the same time I feel more comfortable with things going slow. But as I type that I'm thinking "NO! I want my surgery YESTERDAY!!" Super excited about consult!

I'm not banded yet, but I've always experienced either no weight loss or a little weight gain around my period. I don't weigh myself for a few days before until after my period. Your body retains a lot of water and is bloated. It'll go back down, and probably lower than pre period.

I understand why the shoulder pain happens... but how long before it stops? Does Gas X actually help the pain? If not, what does?

You should really quit. Then you can be like me... one of those former smokers who bugs the hell out of smokers and reminds them how they are slowly killing themselves every single day, remind them of soinso who died from cancer, remind them how ugly wrinkles around the mouth are after years of smoking, remind them of how bad they smell, remind them how much better life is without smoking, remind them how much money they will save, etc etc etc etc etc..... I call my mom on a regular basis just to bug the crap out of her about smoking. She'll quit one day, I swear.

My two little pennies worth..... I tried for weeks to quit caffeine. I was friggin MISERABLE! I gave up. I only drink 1/2c of coffee in the morning though. I MUST have it. I know I'm going to quit a few days before surgery and avoid it for a few weeks post op. If I don't feel like complete and total crap 3 weeks post op without caffiene I'll quit for good, but I spent 3 weeks falling asleep at the wheel and going to bed at 8:30... I can't live like that. I'm giving up a LOT LOT LOT of stuff, and I don't know if I can give up my energy. Without caffeine, I am practically useless.

Alcohol is a stomach irritant. Plus risking vomitting in the early stages isn't a good idea, and drinking alcohol would only increase the risk of vomitting. Many docs require you not drink for long periods of time (mine says 1 year).

This hasn't happened to me personally, but I'm just wondering why it would. The only thing that comes to mind to me is if someone is/has had an eating disorder, some sort of abuse, some sort of serious issue that has not been treated (like serious, not just bipolar, something that you might be put in the loony bin for), unrealistic expectations, etc. Has anyone ever been denied for being just a little off (because face it, we all are). Some of the q's on my eval were like "Do you think people in general would lie to get ahead?" Well YEAH! But I put no.

I would like to do some sort of mental exercises... self exploration... something... to help mentally prepare myself for post op life. Does anyone have any good resources? books (not really books about the surgery, something that is more directed at helping mentally prepare for everything)? Web sites? I'm just afraid of the things that might happen to me mentally post op.

I'm pre op. Whenever I don't eat much or skip a meal I get a serious headache that usually doesn't go away until I eat, take some meds, AND take a nap. Will this continue post op? I'm not sure if this happens because my brain is hungry or because my stomach is hungry.

CONGRATS!!!!! :cool2::thumbup::smile::thumbup::thumbup::w00t::w00t::w00t::w00t: