RainbowBrite57

I think it’s a great idea. It would be super convenient! I say go for it!!! 😃

I'm a natural worrier when it comes to things I can't control. I had my 2nd of the 6 weight loss doctors appointments required by my insurance for WLS surgery at the beginning of this month. I am scheduled for my next appointment on April 6th. I am getting very worried that the doctors office will end up closing due to coronavirus precautions and I'll miss my appointment for the month of April. If that happens, I'll be back to square one unless insurance allows some kind of waiver due to the circumstances. I know there is absolutely nothing I can do about it and that only time will tell, but I wish I could mute this inner voice of mine!

Here's hoping that both of ours works out exactly as it's supposed too!

From what I've heard, the liquid diet is to shrink your liver so there is easier access to everything for the surgeon. I've heard some surgeons don't have their patients do it though so I'd check with your doc on that. I'm starting my journey as well, 2 1/2 months into my 6 months of appointments. Best of luck to you!!!

That is a fantastic idea!!! 🌟

Oh yay, I'm glad y'all think it's a fun plan! 🤗

Hi, I could really use some advice. My back isn't in great shape. I've already had a L4/L5 spine fusion and now my L3/L4 is herniated. I know I am going to need some type of surgery to help with the pain I'm experiencing but my pain is currently controlled with medication and a spinal cord stimulator. I am really wanting to get the gastric sleeve surgery before I have anything done to my back. I'm hopeful the pain will reduce some and recovery would be easier with less weight stressing my back. My concerned mother really wants me to take care of my back before I have weight loss surgery so I'll be in a better place pain wise. If someone has been in this scenario, I'd love your feedback. I'll also take any other advice y'all want to give me! Thank you!

That's good to know, thank you! You hear so many things from different people that the truth can be hard to extract. 🐵

It's reassuring the number of people who've had the sleeve and have had no or few issues. I'm happy people are chiming in with their experiences, it's so helpful! You make a good point of not being able to do anything more if we revise to RNY from the sleeve but I'm thinking that's a chance I'll take. Especially because of the undernourishment factor. I hope you are able to decide soon!

I'm sorry to hear about your disc and the pain it causes. It's fantastic that your pain has greatly subsided! I hope my pain will diminish for at least a little while after my WLS. Like you said, we'll probably have to have surgery at some point but the longer we are able to postpone it the better, especially until we've healed from WLS and have healthy eating habits established. Congratulations on starting your journey!

I'm glad you asked this because I am in the same boat. If I avoid the trigger foods then I don't have heartburn. I'm not sure what I'll end up doing, but I'm leaning towards the sleeve. At least it can still be revised to RNY if necessary.

Thank you so so much for sharing your experience with me! You've put my mind at ease on a few things and gave me valuable insight. I'm glad you've been able to put off the fusion for this long. I hope when you do have the fusion done that it provides you with relief. Thank you again!

I apologize for just now responding. The stimulator has been a blessing. Without it I wouldn’t be able to work. I did have an issue with one of the leads in my spine slipping down and my stimulator batter implanted in my left buttock migrated all the way up to near my love handle. I honestly think my surgeon wasn’t the best. Now that the lead has been replaced & the battery moved to the right buttock the stimulator is doing its job well. I still have pain everyday but it’s not nearly as bad as it was. I hope you get insurance approval soon. You’ll go through a trial run first & I suggest going about life as normal during that time to see how it’ll help you in your day to day life. Bit of advice, after spinal stimulator surgery really follow the doctors orders about bending, twisting, raising hands above head, & reaching. My lead slipped because I got a little to active about 2 weeks out. Your body has to heal & scar tissue needs to form to keep the leads in place. That was a looong response. Sorry! Big congrats on your VSG! I can’t wait to be post-op! The very best luck to you.

This is so encouraging! I know my experience won't be identical to yours but I have hope that I'll be making the right choice if I have wls surgery first. Congrats on having the surgery and I REALLY hope your pain stays far, far away!

Congrats on your awesome success! Your reasoning makes complete sense to me, thank you!

Thanks for the imput, y'all! I really needed to hear other opinions. It really is a chicken/egg situation. 😄 The steriods are a big thing to consider. I will bring all of this up with my bariatric surgeon. I have had issues finding a good orthopedic doctor but I'll seek one out asap to get their advice as well.

I apparently have an unusual insurance question on my hands because my insurance company doesn’t seem to be understanding my question. For surgery approval, I am required to do six months of weight loss appointments with my general practitioner. At my initial consultation my bariatric surgeon told me to be very careful with how I do my six months of appointments because he’s had patients mess up and not get approved because of the how they did their 6 months due to their insurance companies being very strict. What I’m wanting to know is do my appointments need to be spread out 30 days apart, which is going to be really hard to do with my doctors busy schedule, or can they just be once a month without regard to the number of days in between? All of my appointments are pretty much at least 20 days apart except for one appointment that’s I think 17 days apart. I did reach out to my surgeons office first but was told that I need to contact the insurance company to find that particular detail out and when I call them I get the runaround. I have Anthem BC/BS. I’m sorry if this is a really stupid question. I’m terrified of messing this up!

I've decided to start all over with appointments at the bariatric center I'll be getting surgery with. They know exactly what insurance needs so it'll be much more simple. I'm losing 3 months of progress but I'd rather do this now instead of getting to month 6 with my current doc only to be told it was done wrong. I didn't do this originally because it's a long way to drive each month but my sanity is worth it! 😋 Thank you all for your feedback!

Thanks y’all! I’ve been seeing my general practitioner instead of my bariatric surgeon for the monthly appointments because the surgeon is about 45 minutes away. I’m thinking about changing over to doing these appointments with the bariatric surgeon though since they know exactly what insurance requires. I might lose three months of progress if I do that but hopefully not.