cheesefiend

UNUM administers our FMLA and yes the surgery was covered under short term disability. In my case the short term disability didn’t kick until 5 (or 7 business days) so I covered those first 5 (or 7 days) using vacation leave. You can call UNUM directly and they should be able to answer your questions, no need to talk to HR.

Someone in my nutrition classes had the same issue and i think the nutritionist said it could be the milk based protein shakes? I remember her suggesting some kind of protein water and any water vs milk based shake. Good luck!

My mom helped me for about a week. I live alone so it was nice just to have someone there for moral support, to check on me, to bring me water,shakes, and popsicles from downstairs; and to figure out what meds I needed to take & when since I had all these new things to take (pain meds, nausea meds, gallstones prevention, acid reflux, stool softener...vitamins). I could have gone without help and recovered alone if I had to, but it was nice to have someone take care of me. As people have said, everyone’s recovery is different. I had pain for about two weeks, but pretty manageable by around day 5. I was not expecting the first few days to be so rough. I think I thought it was going to be like getting a cavity filled, obviously never had surgery before lol. The first few days of gas pain in your chest and neck/ shoulders are NO JOKE! Nobody told me about this beforehand ... probably a good thing. Mom can give you shoulder rubs I took off two weeks but probably could have physically managed the couple hours you are talking about in week 2 if I really had to. I was super tired, though, so work requiring me to put in a ton of prep and a lot of thinking would have been really tiring, if that makes sense. Best of luck with your approval and surgery!

You should call your insurance company directly to see if the paperwork has been submitted. My coordinator was very poor at communicating as well and i got most of my information directly from the insurance company. When they didn’t have something, i called and let her know I knew. You need to light a fire under her otherwise it can drag out.

I guess I am lucky- I was only on purees for 2 weeks. Some other things I tried- make chicken or tuna salad (pureed in a food processor), FF refried beans with a little cheddar melted on top, mashed potato/sweet potato. Also on my list from the doctor: oatmeal, grits, cream of wheat, blended lean cuisines, blended meatloaf (add broth to blend), 16oz cottage cheese mixed with a box of jello and chill, or make jello with 1 c of boiling water & blend with 16 oz cottage cheese then chill until set.

I am 5'8 and my nutritionist told me I should be getting 80 oz because I'm taller.

I’m dying for real food but have a few days left. First week post op for me is liquid (not just clear liquid) so I’ve been living on: - Premier protein chocolate &vanilla shakes...i blend half a shake at a Time with some ice. I also added 1.5 T of PB2 to the chocolate to make a peanut butter chocolate shake...pretty good - outshine no sugar added popsicles. I ate 7 of these yesterday so decided i need to cut down lol. They are really delicious though - FF non fat Greek yogurt... light n fit has some pretty good non chunky flavors like vanilla, toasted coconut, and strawberry cheesecake - Quest cookies n cream protein powder w/ Fairlife skim milk (milk has 13g protein /cup). There is a recipe to make cookie& cream ice cream using the powder, so I must try that soon. This powder only has 1 g sugar per serving and 2 grams net carb (taking out the erythritol which doesn’t raise blood sugars) - Unjury chicken soup flavor protein powder- this stuff is a life saver since everything else is sweet! I haven’t had much trouble getting in my protein and water after day 2 but am definitely feeling hunger. I hope that goes away when I can start to eat solids! PS Milk of magnesia is a life saver. I hadn’t had my first BM yet and the nurse told me to try it so I took 30mg and within a few hours I was all cleared out with minimal pain.

Cottage cheese was on my liquid phase.

Congratulations! I bet you feel amazing!

Meggs...Thanks! I remember my surgeon saying that too now. I’ll be waiting patiently 😂

Hello Everyone! I was sleeved 5/24 and recovery is getting better every day. The first day was pretty bad in terms of pain and nausea for me but much better 4 days out now. How soon after surgery did you have your first BM? Lol. I have lost probably only two pounds. I started my period 2 days ago plus the lack of BM may have something to down with it?

Cigna denied me for the sleeve surgery on the basis of records not including a "nutritional evaluation" by a physician or RD AND because one of my diet visits did not include any exercise information. The doctors office keeps telling me the doctor will do a peer to peer to try to get it approved on the basis that they must not understand that the diet visits I did were with a RD. My question is - did anyone have a specific nutrition evaluation in addition to the diet visits- similar to the psych eval? It has been two weeks and they have no update for me on when they will do the peer to peer and I do not want to sit around wasting time dragging this out because the insurance person at the office is incompetent/not doing her job. Can I get a separate nutritional evaluation done and send it on my own? Or should I start the appeal process and if I do that does it take away the ability to do a peer to peer? I'm very frustrated with how this is going, and want to do whatever I can (short of switching doctors) to push this along.

I am just starting on this journey and have an insurance verification questionnaire from the surgeon with whom I have a consultation next week. One of the questions is " Is a Bariatric Center of Excellence required"? I have Cigna Open Access Plus, and when I spoke to a Cigna rep earlier she couldn't tell if a COE is required or not as it didn't say. Does anyone have any recent experience with this Cigna plan and know if a COE is required?