acadiamom

Hi Kat, Something that helps me get in enough Protein is to include a Protein shake snack during the day (either mid-morning or mid-afternoon). Since I'm lazy, I just buy Myoplex Lite chocolate shakes. I get them at Walmart or BJ's (both at very good prices). They have 20 gm of protein in 11 oz. I also try to target 60+ gms of protein per day.....I like fish, so eat a fair amount of that. Three oz of salmon has 17 gm of protein. I also like Greek yogurt--a 6 oz container of nonfat Fage (the brand) has 15 gm of protein. Since I don't much like cottage cheese, the Greek yogurt does more for me....I add fresh strawberries and some Splenda in the morning. I also make a tartar sauce out of it to go with the fish. Good luck!!

Hi Joann and welcome to the other side! Isn't it a good feeling to finally have that band in place? I was banded on November 19th....give yourself time to rest and heal....I'm getting ready to go back to work on Monday, which should be doable once I'm off the puree diet! :wink_smile: You have been such a support for everyone on this forum...best wishes to you for a speedy recovery!

Hi everyone! It's so exciting to see us all on the other side now.....although a few of us have experienced some bumps, all in all, it looks like we're doing great. Look at those weight losses!! :wink_smile: My surgeon is pretty conservative about the whole food thing. I'm still on purees until later this week when I'll transition to soft food. I still have no hunger or appetite and have to set timers to eat. How about others? Are you experiencing anything like this? I was banded on the 19th and also had a hernia repair done. The surgeon had a little surprise there....much more extensive than the scans indicated and in a tricky spot...but I'm all "repaired" now! My recovery has been uneventful, although my port incision is still kind of scabby. The pain was pretty minimal. I'm exploring a new form of exercise for the winter....I got a mini-trampoline which should keep me moving when the weather here in the northeast is nasty (like to day when it was 9 degrees!!) Best wishes to all! Let's keep up the great work.....

Hi Harold.....are you ready for tomorrow? That's our big day! I'm on clear liquids all day today....how about you? And as far as the medic alert thing goes, my surgeon recommended getting one. They give their patients a pretty comprehensive booklet on what to expect before, during and after, and this was in the special discharge instructions....there have been some pretty good points made here....the NG tube is a case in point. Good thinking!

Heather, we're all thinking of you today and hope everything went well! I'll be in your shoes tomorrow morning.....like you, I'm ready to be on the banded side of my new, healthier life! Good luck to you and be sure to let yourself rest, recover and walk!

Good for you, sistasassy! These posts from all of you who are "post-band" are really helpful. I go in tomorrow morning for my surgery--and thanks for the warning about the hernia repair....I'm getting that done too! I plan to follow that walk, walk, walk advice......

Yup....tomorrow morning, bright and early.....I can't believe it's finally here! I think my DH is more worried than I am, however.....I'm looking forward to being on the other side...good luck to all of us!

You are in my prayers....I hope this finds you home and ready to begin your new banded life! I'll be right behind you next Wednesday (the 19th)....

Hi Trayrenee...I'll be joining the bandster world on the 19th too! I'd love to buddy up with you. As you do, I have a friend and colleague here at work that was banded a few years ago. She's a wonderful support person....but having someone else who's at the same point would be great!

MT you have a real flair! I thoroughly enjoyed reading about your experiences...not because you had some bumps along the way, but for the entertainment value. You have a gift! You also have a wonderful outlook, which I'm sure is going to serve you well in the coming weeks. I'll be joining the world of bandsters on the 19th!

Hi Cappy! I'm just so glad to finally have a date after my insurance hassles that I'm actually enjoying the preop diet...sick, huh? It's feeling good to be losing weight and feeling full after a small amount of food or a protein shake. I think it's going to be good preparation for the real thing. My surgery is on the 19th....coming up FAST now! I'm so ready....:rolleyes2:

Hi there, I have UHC and am scheduled for surgery on the 19th--I'm telling you that right off 'cause that's the good news! The bad news is that it was a struggle with UHC since I did not have a BMI over 40 for 5 years. The first thing you need to do is review your husband's insurance plan booklet (paper or online) and see just what is stated for WLS coverage. I had the standard NIH guideline coverage (BMI 40+ for 5 years or 35+ with any of the listed comorbidities (e.g. diabetes, hypertension, sleep apnea, etc.). I also had to show evidence of a medically monitored weight loss program.) I had all that and was denied on the first submission. My PCP wrote a letter (actually I wrote it and told them this was to let them see what UHC needed...they ended up using it verbatim) which was filed with my appeal. I was again rejected. At this point I got my corporate advocates group involved, since there was no reason UHC did not approve this request. It's been a fight, but they finally approved the surgery. If you have not yet had a sleep test, you should do so--especially if you don't have any of the standard comorbidities. Keep me posted on how you're doing, and let me know if I can help. If you want a copy of a PCP letter template, I can send it to you if you provide your email address (you can PM me). Be persistent! These insurance companies reward their reviewers for high denial rates!!! There are others on this forum who sailed through with little difficulty....but I think many more have struggled, and not just with UHC. Good luck!

Go to Quick Links (above right) and select Edit Signature. There is a place to enter the HTML code for the weight tracker and any other additions you might have. Just copy the address into the appropriate box and hit upload. It will show you a sample when you're successful. You just repeat for each additional item.

Thanks for sharing this information, Roxy! It's very helpful for those of us whose dates are coming up....mine is the 19th. If I recall some of your earlier posts, you seemed really ready for your surgery....your head was in a good place. I think that's important. I was supposed to have surgery in September and it was delayed d/t insurance problems. At first I was really upset and angry, but I've come to think all things work out for the best. Right now I feel really ready. I've been doing a preop diet and having no issues sticking to it to the letter. My head is just in a good place. Keep us all updated on your progress!! Lisa

Maggies it's so good to see you doing so well after surgery! I'm in the preop diet phase (and happy to be there after all of the insurance hassles I went through!) & doing well. My surgery is on the 19th (2 weeks from today!!!). It must feel wonderful to be in losing mode!! (And I also had to have a sleep test and wondered why--I didn't have sleep apnea, right? Wrong!! And I'm sure that was one of the deciding factors that finally got me approved....) Keep motivating us with your progress! :biggrin:

Hi everyone! Our week is coming up soon....my date is November 19th and like the rest of us, I CAN'T WAIT!!! I've started my preop diet--not that my surgeon required that--but since I had insurance hassles and my original September date got cancelled, you know the story.....I wasn't really watching my diet at all. I've dropped 9 pounds so far having high protein shakes for 2 meals and a reasonable real food meal for the third. Good luck to all of us!!!

I was denied on the first two rounds. My surgeon was the one to contact UHC to see just what they needed. I involved my PCP and had him submit a letter with the information UHC required (I actually wrote the letter as a sample for him--he ended up using it verbatim). I was still denied on appeal. I finally got my corporate advocates people involved and they worked with UHC. I was approved last week and will have surgery on November 19th. It's important to be persistent, but I found that the doctor's office will get more information than they will give to the patient. I have a sample letter from the PCP if you want it--PM me with your email and I'll send it to you. Good luck and don't give up!!!

So old goat, I'm with you! My goodbye was tonight with Mexican food and margaritas! We have the same surgery date.....maybe we should be buddies! (Although my kids would call me the crazy bird lady rather than old goat...:smile2:....I have six parrots....) Tomorrow I start a preop diet to get things going. I share some of the other posts issues....insurance problems and a cancelled initial date sent me into a tail spin and a 10 pound gain. I need to get my head in a good place now and I think a preop diet is just the way to get ready.....

Hi everyone! I'll be joining the Notorious Novembers on the 19th and I can't wait! After having my original date in September cancelled due to insurance problems, I was thrilled to get my UHC approval last Monday and a firm surgery date later that day.....best of luck to ALL OF US!!! (I may need instructions on the sparkly label thing!)

Well, persistance has paid off! After my corporate advocate "clarified the intent of the corporate plan" with the appeals manager at UHC, they re-reviewed everything and I was approved last week (I only just heard on Monday). My surgery is now scheduled for November 19th! Upon appeal, I had supplied a letter from my PCP (that I actually drafted for them) as well as some additional weight loss program information. It never should have been denied in the first place, though.....for those of you who are still fighting, keep going! I saw an earlier post that said the WLS was restricted to BMI over 40....I'd double check your plan since that is not in alignment with NIH guidelines. UHC tried to deny me the first time saying my plan stated only aboe 40 BMI, but they were wrong.....I reviewed a copy of our corporate plan and it included provisions for BMI over 35 with co-morbidities.

You didn't believe me, did you? I didn't know I had sleep apnea either....as a matter of fact, I had been nagging my husband to get tested because I had been listening to him stop breathing and then gasp for years. He had sleep apnea (no surprise!), but the BIG surprise was when I was tested. I figured this was the surgeon being thorough and they would not find anything.....was I ever wrong! I have a pretty severe case and I never even knew it--of course hind sight, etc, etc....I had a lot of the symptoms...snoring, tired during the day, headaches upon waking, etc. Get that test! I'll send you a PM and let you know the latest with our corporate friends....I'm hoping I'm almost there now. According to the latest report, UHC "now understands the intent of our benefit plan"....SHEESH!!!

Hi Joann--I always read your posts with interest....you've remained so positive and supportive even while playing your own waiting game for surgery. I'm so happy that you have a date now! I'm still in insurance limbo, but am trying to remain optimistic. (How naive was I? When I started this journey earlier this year, I thought insurance would be the least of my worries!) I was supposed to be banded on September 9th, but am still fighting with UHC. Their denials make no sense to anyone who has reviewed my records, but who knows why any of this is happening? I have to believe it's for a good reason.....I've taken some positive steps to resolve things, working with my corporate advocates group (and I KNOW how lucky I am to have insurance and this kind of help available to me!) and contacting obesitylaw.com. (I had a pleasant surprise from them...based on what I sent, it looks like I am eligible for an appeals through Allergan's appeals/advocacy program. The lawyers at obesitylaw.com handle the case and there's no charge to me. I'm hoping it doesn't come to that, but I'm appreciating that I have still one other avenue to explore. On another note, I've known someone for many years who finally was diagnosed with a gluten allergy several years ago. Up to that point, she suffered so much dietary distress and no one could tell her why. Now she, like your friend, needs to read every label carefully and avoid gluten religiously. The good news is that her health improved dramatically once she was on the right regimen of food. Now she pretty much knows where to shop and what to buy to maintain her health. Good luck to your friend! Lastly, my psychologist also recommended Mindless Eating. It's a great book! He also suggested Weight Loss Surgery for Dummies. I've read both and they were both worth the purchase price!

Interesting m&nsmama.....I work for a large, east coast-based pharmaceutical company.....maybe we should talk more :tt2:....if it's the same one, I have a copy of the booklet I could send you. Also, I learned from our corporate advocate that the surgeon's office has to make all the contacts in order for the company person to get involved. If I had submitted the appeal than they could not help me. I agree with the other posts about having an advocate in the surgeon's office. The group I'm working with are just great.....they are working tirelessly to help me get this resolved, calling UHC and collecting medical records as needed. I find it interesting that with UHC it seems the "requirements" are as varied as the different people at UHC who provide the information! For my appeal, they specifically told my surgeon during their "peer-to-peer" conference that I needed a letter from my PCP with my weight history and co-morbidities, not medical record copies. That is what we supplied (and to ensure the content was right, I wrote a sample letter for the PCP so they would see what was needed. They ended up using that letter verbatim). I think it's important to keep pushing as many ways as we can. I'm so irritated by all this......I SHOULD have been one month post-band by now!! My surgery date was September 9th.....

I'm going through something similar with UHC. I first checked with my corporate plan document to see what was covered. WLS is covered with pretty standard guidance--BMI 40+ for 5 years OR 35+ with any of the listed co-morbidities. I also needed evidence of a medically-supervised weight loss program. I fit the second category of BMI and had participated in a 6mo hospital program a couple of years ago. I thought insurance would be the LEAST of my problems....NOT!! They denied me on the first submission for not having a letter from my PCP with weight hx--and this was just a couple of days before I was to have surgery. My surgeon first talked to them, then we sumitted everything they asked for in an appeal. My appeal was denied, with them telling me that I didnt meet the 40+ BMI requirement. I have a corporate advocate involved now that is working with UHC to straighten this out and have also contacted the attorneys at obesitylaw.com. They came back saying I definitely have a case and that it looks like I can use Allergan's (the maker of the Lap-band) appeals/advocacy program at no cost to me. I'm hoping that one of these actions finally settles everything. Your company should have a written plan booklet (paper or online) that you can reference for the exact requirements in your plan so you can see just what you need. Good luck!!! I know how frustrating this is.....we have to keep pushing back on these companies....:smile2: