Hi everybody! First post on these forums, but I have been reading them for weeks in preparation for gastric sleeve surgery.
I have just finished all of the pre-op requirements for my surgery team and had my last appointment with them. They are sending in my information to my insurance today for approval! Reading through these forums has been super helpful the last few weeks to make me feel more confident in this decision and has given me information I didn't even think to ask about, but I have a few questions with my surgery date potentially about to be set (the team is confident if/when insurance approves, we can get my surgery in early-mid January! 😊) :
1) For those that have BCBS insurance, how long did it take for them to approve your surgery? I realize it is Christmas week this week, so it may take them a little longer, but don't want to stress myself out thinking I did something wrong if it takes a while, so I'd like to have an estimate of how long this normally takes.
2) For those that have done a gastric sleeve, how long was it before you could lift weights again? I know they are going to want me to walk/cardio ~5 days a week pretty quick after surgery, which I already do, but I actually really enjoy lifting 2-4 times a week depending on the week, so I am curious when you were able to get back to lifting weights or start lifting after you had the surgery?
3) This one is a little more out there, but has anyone that has had this surgery (or others) been allergic to the anesthesia medicine? That is my biggest worry as I have had no previous surgeries before, but am allergic to or have mild-moderate reactions to a lot of medicine and I never know until I take it (Allegra, Aleve, both weight loss meds they tried me on before agreeing I could look at surgery to name a few of the worst ones...) My theory is the hospital would be the best place to have an allergic reaction, and my surgeon team knows of my other allergies and will be able to fix it if something does happen, but I was curious if anyone else had had this worry and gotten through surgery just fine? Just some nerves because med reactions are never fun. 😕
Thanks in advance for any help!