CTGirl08

Once your doctor submitted you to your insurance company for approval, did anyone contact the insurance company themselves to check on the status? If so, how did you know what department to call?

Just need to vent for a second. I’m so frustrated. My bariatric group requires 6 months of nutrition, psych evaluation and an exercise class. It won’t schedule surgery until after you’ve completed everything. As an attorney, it’s really hard to book things on my calendar with no real idea when the surgery would be. But I was told that surgery is often 4-6 weeks after the last nutrition appt. Mine was 6/25, so I was thinking late July to early August. I finish the last NUT and she tells me they’ll submit it to insurance. But then they come back and say, oh there’s all this blood work you need to do too. I was frustrated because I could’ve already done that if they’d told me I needed to. Especially since some stuff they test for, like H-Pylori, takes time to treat. I took the tests and thankfully everything was great...except my white blood cell count was high. Turns out I was diagnosed with a sinus infection the day after I went for the blood work. I just finished the antibiotics today, but the doc said I should be fine to be retested over this past weekend. I waited till Tuesday for good measure and it turns out it went up (only slightly), not down. My WBC was totally normal just in March, so it’s not that I “run high” as some say. I’m sure it’s just that I’m still somewhat fighting the infection and it’ll go down soon but it’s surprising it hadn’t gone down at all. And it’s so frustrating that I now have to get tested again. But I don’t want to go too soon and risk it still being too high. So how long do I wait? And I still don’t understand why I can’t get a date. Obviously if the WBC doesn’t come down, it’d have to get cancelled. But it’s totally screwing with my job and the people I work with to have no idea when this is happening. Thanks for letting me vent.

The incredible temperatures in New England the past couple days has given me concerns about post-op dehydration. Yesterday, I sat outside in almost 100 degrees for over 6 hrs. I probably drank over 180 oz of water in that time and was still noticeably dehydrated. It got me thinking what I would have done post-surgery, as I am not anticipating being physically able to drink that much water. Has anyone had issues with dehydration in high temperatures,

I quit 6 years ago. I decided to throw everything at it. So I went on Chantix to help with the physical addiction; Wellbutrin to help with the mental part; for the first couple weeks, I used an e-cig when I really had a craving; gum; mints; not drinking alcohol; etc. Good luck!

Thanks for the responses.

Did anyone else have the H Pylori breath test as part of lab work? Does anyone know if a positive result can affect insurance approval?

Thanks. How can we see the list of dates?

Looking at you’re name I’m wondering if you are from Connecticut. If so, I can tell you that I got an approval quicker than that and so did another friend. Best wishes! I am in CT (near New Haven). I see your surgery date is soon. Good luck!!

My birthday is in August too and I’m also hoping the surgery will happen before then. Tomorrow is my 6th of 6 nutrition appointments and that’s the last requirement I have to complete. Then insurance approval and get a date. My surgeon’s office said it’s usually 4-6 weeks after you complete all of the requirements, so I’m hoping for early August.

Been over 300lbs for at least the past couple years. Started this pre-op process in the fall at 351. This morning I weighed 299. I’m very happy to have reached that milestone. Next goal is to be under 275 by surgery (likely in August). Seems totally doable!

I thought there was no dumping with sleeve?

I haven’t had my surgery yet but in trying to lose weight before the surgery, I have struggled to try to find more convenient healthy options. One of the things I had to admit to myself is that, just because I’m busy and don’t have time, there’s always a healthier option. Starbucks actually has a sous ve egg white thing that sounds gross but is awesome and way better for you than the wrap. Or a piece of grilled chicken from a fast food place over chicken wings. I also realized that it was possible to buy things that involve very little prep like: The seasoned tuna packets have low calories almost no fat and a lot of protein and involve no prep. Part skim string cheese. Yogurt. Protein pudding. Chicken sausages (get ones that are already cooked and you just need to heat up). Rotisserie chicken. Cottage cheese. Hard boiled eggs. Protein shakes. Smoked salmon.

Exactly. I weighed roughly the same in high school and totally thought I was so fat. Now, my goal weight is 175.

Thanks. I’m now following you on IG. I’m preop and have been trying to picture sample plates in my head so this is very helpful.

@sillykitty I can completely relate to this point. This is frankly my biggest concern going into WLS -- that I know at least a tummy tuck will be inevitable because, as a single person, I cannot imagine dating someone new with all that loose skin.

I recently switched insurance companies, but I had BCBS of Western NY when I started this process. Requirements were 6 months of nutrition visits, 1 psych eval and 1 exercise class. No endoscopy.