blackcatsandbaddecisions

I have had two doses of the Pfizer vaccine, and my husband has had two doses of the Moderna vaccine. We both had a sore arm after the first dose. After the second dose I felt a bit under the weather the next day, for about 6 hours, then nothing. My husband was a bit tired the next day but otherwise was fine. I would do it again in a heartbeat! I know a very young covid long-hauler who has permanent organ damage from Covid and isn’t sure if she will ever be the same again. I am so excited that both my husband and I are two weeks second dose so we are at maximum effectiveness. When it is available for young children I’ll be happy to get my kids vaccinated too.

That is so exciting! Please keep updating us on your progress.

I am a bit more than 3 months post VSG and I just hit a total of 100 pounds lost! 42.4 lbs lost after surgery. I feel so fortunate to have had this surgery. I feel better in every way and am finally able to get control of my weight, which has plagued me my whole life. I still have 73.8 lbs to go to goal, but who is counting. 😬

I gotta come in and represent the slower post op losers! I lost 38.6 lbs in the first 90 days. I lost a pretty significant amount of weight preop though so It has been 100 days since surgery but I am down 100 lbs since July 5. I think it’s important to remember that your body controls how fast you lose, but your mind and your choices control how much overall you lose and how much you keep off over time. And the more you lose the slower it goes- but when you do the right things it still goes in the right direction!

A few random observations about the difference 100 lbs makes: 1. I am weirded out by how my body feels different- like when I rest my chin in my hand it feels hard because I can actually feel my jawline now. 2. I love getting closer to actual human shaped- I felt like a blob before especially since I was carrying so much weight in my stomach and abdomen. I can actually cross my legs now! 3. I’m not saying I’d feel comfortable in any chair in the world, but there’s a few chairs out there with arms that I am feeling a lot better about nowadays (if you know you know!) 4. It turns out I actually don’t like flowy a-line tunic style tops, I was just trying to hide my midsection. 5. Being able to walk places and up staircases without dying halfway through is so freeing. I feel so much faster and energetic throughout the day. All these improvements and I’m still in the Obese weight range. I’m excited to see how I feel once I’m just overweight, ha!

My surgeons office filled out paperwork for my husbands work, and they just listed laparoscopic surgery and recovery for the reason. They wouldn’t let him have a week off work unless it was FMLA. 🙄

Yes, my MD has a vitamin regimen that is for life. It’s nothing too onerous though, just a multi/d/b/calcium.

I had surgery in November and just told people I was going to rent a house a few hours away with my family for two weeks. It was true, but I was also getting surgery as well. At first nobody commented on weight loss, probably because I had been dieting since July so it’s not like anything dramatically changed. Suddenly this last week I have had multiple comments per day from coworkers and i appreciate the sentiment but I work with hundreds of people and to be honest I’m getting tired of it. I just hit 100 lbs lost, but I have another 70 or so to go. I told my husband, and one coworker actually ran into me at the bariatric class so she knows. I just told one of my good friends a few days ago, because she’s overweight as well and if she’s interested in the surgery then I feel she deserves to know. Other than that, it’s my business and unless I’m very close to someone and I think they might benefit from knowing about the surgery, I’m not going to share it.

I started early February of last year. I had surgery 11/10. First appt was available in March, six monitored visits April-September plus dietician psych, a class, insurance submitted end of September and got my approval early October.

The insurance company is bound by a contract, either between you and them for direct pay, or more likely between an employer and them to provide certain types of care. There’s no risk in calling them, there’s nothing to inadvertently agree to. All they can do is provide information on contracted plan benefits. In the end you need to take responsibility for your own finances and you should confirm everything with insurance yourself. I work with both health care and insurance and it’s vital to have a personal understanding of your plan benefits and how it will impact you. When I called I asked 1. Is bariatric surgery covered? Is there a prior authorization requirement? Can you share with me the page of the plan document that outlines these prior authorization requirements? 2. Are there requirements to see a surgeon/hospital within the plan network, or certain providers in order to receive coverage? 3. Is this subject to the deductible and coinsurance or are there special provisions for this coverage? Hopefully your surgeons office will help you with this, but I never recommend being passive and trusting someone else to do something when there’s tens of thousands of (your!) dollars on the line.

And honestly if they don’t get better then you still have time to switch surgeons. I went to a surgeons office a few hours away from home so I could see the MD of my choice. I did almost all my qualification appointments via zoom so it didn’t really matter. Remember, insurance has a goal of never paying for anything, so they make the whole process a pain in the butt on purpose to save money by weeding people out. I am a very stubborn and goal driven individual so I enjoyed checking off all the boxes and seeing them have to approve my prior authorization in the end. Make ‘em pay!

I hear that for sure. The most important thing is that you now know the plan covers it which is great. Typically you’ll find a 3/4/6 month waiting period with md or dietician check ins every month, a psych eval and a nutritionist meeting. Mine required a PCP letter of recommendation too. It seems like a ton but it’s all over before you know it and suddenly you’re post op being like...oh right now I actually need to lose the weight. I know my surgeons office became a lot more helpful once I had my initial consult- I think they get a lot of people who are interested and flake out, so once they saw I had coverage, I met the qualifications and I was going to jump through the hoops, they were more vested in helping. I read somewhere that less than 30% of people who meet with a surgeon and start the prequalification process end up finishing and getting surgery. Some have insurance changes, life changes, cold feet, etc. The whole thing is a process for sure, but it’s worth it!

I’m actually purchasing jeans for the first time in years- like you billho I had forgotten they could actually be comfortable when you’re not trying to push this extra 100lbs into them. Who could have guessed, right?

The entire process of WLS is filled with frustrations and setbacks- I’m sorry to say this is not likely to be the last situation that’s going to go like this. I’d recommend emailing the coordinator at the surgeons and telling her that insurance company indicated that they have information related to prior authorization requirements and you’d like to know what those are. They can’t submit for prior authorization until after all the requirements are met. I can tell you with my knowledge of insurance I’d plan on your cost being the out of pocket max plus deductible. I rarely see surgery any less than that. On the subject of being ready to give up because of the insurance/office back and forth, I’d really recommend considering if this is the right time of your life to move forward with this surgery. You’re going to need a lot of patience and perseverance to be successful with this whole process, from insurance requirements to getting ready for surgery, to surgery, recovery, weight loss phase, and maintenance. Make sure you’re in the right mindset because in the end it’s your own determination and attitude that will be needed for this to be a successful process.

I didn’t mind being by myself at all- I was super spacey because of the anesthesia so I don’t think I’d have been good company anyway. I just kind of hung out in pre-op and read my book, so I didn’t really miss having company. My kids are younger and I didn’t want to concern them so I never told them about the surgery. They just know I was away for appointments, so my husband wouldn’t have been able to visit anyway since he was with them. I texted him a few times, but the time passed really fast and before I knew it I was getting picked up. In the end it’s just a day or two- I am happy I had my surgery done even during the restrictions because it’s done now.

I really enjoyed reading through your journey. The pandemic threw off a lot of people with their weight loss- I think a lot of us got to our high weights because we are stress/boredom eaters, and the pandemic has been a great mix of incredible stress mixed with boredom. I kind of laughed reading your initial comment hoping that the surgery would change the type of food you liked, because I had the exact same hope. Alas, it’s still the same me and I still like the same trash food I did before. Kudos to the people who leave surgery with their love of unhealthy food gone, I’m pretty sure they’d have had to remove part of my brain as well as my stomach to have me no longer want chips and candy.

Three month surgaversary! 38.8 lbs lost after surgery, 96.6 total loss. Current weight 242.4. For reference I’m 5’10 and started out at 339. I continue to have no issues, I’m enjoying being able to eat pretty much whatever I want although I’m trying to stick to a lower carb diet still. I’ve been exercising some off and on but I really need to kick it into higher gear if I want to speed up my admittedly slower loss rate. I’m actually fitting into non-plus size clothing now, which is a huge accomplishment for me. I feel so much better and just physically comfortable now. I can cross my legs, fit into chairs and actually walk places without getting out of breath. My goals for this month are to lose 15 lbs and fit into my wedding/engagement rings again! I’m super close to fitting into them and I’ve spent more of my 13 year marriage in “temporary” rings than I have the actual ones.

I’ve figured out that I can no longer “eyeball” something to see if it fits. I clearly have no idea what my body looks like at this point. Also in the 15+ years since I’ve worn regular sizes everything about these stores has changed so much I am going to have to relearn shopping I guess. Anybody have any ideas for non-plus size stores that they recommend for a 40 year old who has no idea how to shop anymore. 😅

Today I bought a pair of size 18 skinny jeans from old navy- I’m actually transitioning into non plus sizes and it feels amazing. I bought a dress in xxl and it is too big and I’m going to have to exchange for clothes tomorrow. I’m trying to not buy too much because I still have more to go, but it’s been so long since I could buy a pair of jeans right out of the “normal sizes” that the style I last bought in these sizes was ultra-low rise bootcut, if that gives you an idea of the timeframe.

Yeah the surgeon I used has a self pay price of 10k as I recall. He’s in Oregon and is very experienced, I had about a half dozen people recommend him. I would have used him again in a heartbeat and if my insurance hadn’t covered it I would have paid out of pocket.

I had one post surgery for about 24 hours. I’m really sorry to report it hurt quite a bit when they took it out but I may just have been being a wuss about it. They removed it shortly before I left the hospital the day after surgery.

I am a pro at deflection, so I was always super vague. Where were you? “Yeah, I had to have some time off but it’s great to be back!” Why’d you have to have time off? “I just had some stuff, too much to get into now but all taken care of and I’m back!” If you follow up with a question about them (what they’ve been doing, project at work, random work gossip) that generally ends it because people love to talk about themselves. Then when anyone asks me if I’m losing weight I always say “I’m working on it!” When they ask me how much i have lost I laugh and say “Not the amount I want yet but I’m still plugging away!” I always try to end my answers on a positive note. I’m sure people have figured out that I’m not giving out details but if you’re cheerful about it people generally will stop pressing. Also once you’re done deflecting bring it back to something vaguely related you know they want to talk about and just like that you’re done.

I work with insurance and I can say with certainty it is a zero chance. If it’s excluded it’s excluded and a hundred doctors could say it’s the best thing and they still won’t cover it. The contract says they don’t have to cover it and they absolutely won’t. Unless you change jobs to a company with bariatric coverage you’ve likely tapped out this option. With that being said, there are a ton of people on these boards who have gone the self-pay route and had great success. There are affordable options abroad and in the US and financing available. Don’t give up hope because of the insurance.

Yeah, I’d fire this loser ASAP. Not only is he being an asshole, his views aren’t even supported by evidence, and that is a huge concern from a medical professional standpoint.

I’m glad we are all confused on that because I saw that and my “moving avg” is always higher than my actual weight so what gives? Overall I really like the app though. I like the milestone goals and the weekly average and all the other stuff.