dawn7672

Hi all, had my pre-op visit w/my surgeon today. I was told that I would get my date today, but the surgical scheduler was not there today,and that I will get my date wednesday of next wk. for Jan. 09. I am hoping for the 7th, or the 14th. I jsut want to start this process early. I forgot to ask about the pre-op diet, but I planned on doing one for 2wks prior to my surgery date regardless of what the req. are. I enjoy my protein shakes now, and hopefully it will be the same afterwards. I have already made my menus up for the first 8 wks. So I am ready. I have thought alot about my "last meal", and decided to taste alittle of everything I will change from a regular user of to a once a month partaker of. I realized yesterday that when I eat chocolate, after about 30min. my stomach didn't feel so good. I haven't eaten chocolate alot lately because I have been trying to keep to a more healthy lifestyle. I don't think I will be missing it as much as I thought. Well, I will post when I get my date on wed.

Kimberlyea, what ins.do u have? I think some don't require much, just a referral from your primary. My ins. (BCBS) required that I take the 5 nutrition classes from the program that my surgeon is affliated w/ and I had the visit w/ my primary, sleep study, ekg, psych eval., barium swallow, and something else I can't remember rt. now.

I received my call today from the surgeon's office and my pre-op appt is next friday (12th), so hopefully, I will get a date then. I like new year hottie's Dawn

Hi all, I just got my approval letter yesterday, so I won't find out atleast til next wk. when I will get my date. I'm hoping for the 2nd week in Janurary. I'll keep checking in. Good luck to all who have their date. Dawn:thumbup:

Hi everyone, just wanted to let you know that I got my approval letter today. I am soooooooooo excited. My paperwork was just faxed over on Monday (24th), and the letter is dated for the 25th. That is quick. I was thinking I wouldn't hear anything til the 2nd week of Dec. I will give my surgeon a call on Monday. I will keep everyone updated. Thanks for listening, Dawn:thumbup:

I am sorry to hear of your frustration. I am waiting to find out if my ins. will pay for the surgery. I attend the nutrition and support group that was a req. of my surgeon, and the one thing everyone who comes to group says, it is the support and follow up that keeps you on task. If you are not meeting the min. wt loss targets of 1-2lbs/wk. start w/ your food journal. I realized once I started journaling again how much I actually was consuming. It was the food choices that cause me to go over the cal./fat limits. Once I changed that, I started to lose and become more aware of what I'm doing. It is a process, but you can do it. Good luck, Dawn

I had to have an ekg, lab work, psych consult, sleep study, and nutrition classes. And in south Jersey, the doctor and hosp. have a program called new beginnings, and we have to join the program prior to paperwork being submitted to the ins. co. If your insurance requires a 3-6mon diet, this program will assist you with that and report back to ins. co how you are doing. It also provides support groups for you as well. I enjoy the program very much. I have completed all but one class, which I take on Sat. and then my file will be sent to the ins. co. I also needed to get a history of previous attempts at wt loss in the last 5yrs. Hopefully, I will know something by Dec. I would love to get it done in Jan. My highest wt was 260, I am currently 235.4. When I met the surgeon I was 247 and he req. me to lose 10lbs. I have met that goal. I am 5'4. Bmi is around 40.? I would love to be around 150. So, hopefully all works out well.

No not yet. My chart will be faxed over to the surgeon on the 10th of the month, I have one more pre-op class to take and my chart (pre-req ) will be complete. I was told to check with the surgeon or ins. company after 10 days once chart has been submitted. Let me know how you make out. I think I'm getting a little nervous about whether I will be approved or not. Dawn

Just spoke w/the nurse at Dr. Goldsteins nurse on thurday, and was informed that I have a low vit b1 level, and my insurance does not require any wt. mgmt. program for approval. I went to the new beginnings program that is required that I attend for the nutritional and beh therapy, and it went well. I have 5 classes to attend and will go to support group meetings weekly. I will met w/my case manager at the end of Oct. and if at that time I have loss the required 10lbs pre-op and have everything on my checklist complete, I will get my chart faxed to the surgeon and it will be submitted to the insurance company. I had set in my mind that I would have to wait 3-6months and now it seems like I could be waiting less time than that. I am not sure how to feel. I will start my 1500 cal diet on monday. Just went food shopping for the meats and will do the rest today. Thanks for listening. Dawn

I have keystone health plan east/BCBS POS. I don't have a problem waiting, but if I could go in Dec. that would be great. I will do the nutrition program anyway so, it will be a monitored program anyway. I start next thursday. I will be starting the monitored 1500cal. diet and will start back at the gym on wednesday and sat. So once I submitt my paperwork, it will show 1 month on program monitored diet and exercise. I hope not to get a disapproval, but if I do, and have to wait 3-6months, that will be ok. I want them to know that I am seriously trying and giving it my all.

I don't think he uses the Lap Band. I did not see any thing in his literature or in the seminar.

Met w/ Dr Adam Goldstein today, and am ready to start my journey. I have made my first appt. w/primary for tomorrow night. and will make the appt. for pulmonary and ekg within the next 2wks. My insurance company he said, from his experience, is pretty good. They are not as difficult to get approvals. They are going to check to make sure how long I have to participate in the New beginnings program (wt. mgmt), but they believe it's only 3months. He also let me know that when everything on the check list is complete, I will come back for the pre-surgical consult and have everything submitted to the insurance company. I am soooooooooo excited. I'm hoping to get thru this procedures in the next 45days, and will try and start New beginnings this wk. I have to call tomorrow and make the appt. I am sorry for rambling, just so excited. Dawn:thumbup:

You look great. I am very proud of you. You are almost at your goal. Congrats Dawn

HI Claricey, That is great. I had my appt w/primary on 9/10 and also got my EKG done during that visit. I made my appt w/Pulmonary for the 18th, and will have the barium swallow that morning, so since I have to be npo for that exam, I will wait 'til the 18th for the lab work. On Monday, I will run to Bally's, WW and Curves for my hx of wt loss attempts. Then on the 25th I have my initial meeting w/New Beginnings. That would complete my list, except for 3-6month monitored wt program. I also have to have a Chest xray before I go to the pulmonolgist. Not sure why, but I'll have to call my primary and get that done on tues.

Here's my update: I meet w/PCP tonight. Made my appt. w/New beginnings for the 25th of Sept. I will do my lab on Saturday Morning(9/13/08) So, that will leave me with; Pulmonary, sleep study, barium swallow(for hiatal hernia), EKG, and wt. loss records for the last 5yrs. The 5yr. history will be pretty easy, because I only did Bally's, weight watchers, and Curves. So pretty easy to get those records. I'll keep u posted. Dawn

Thanks, Dawn

I am proud that you made that choice to tell your mom. What a load off your chest. Sometimes things are easier spoken to those we love than to keep hidden in our hearts. What a blessing you will be to your family. Your success will be an inspiration to someone who needs that motivation to make a tough decision such as this. Congrats! Dawn

Thanks,I will make sure I PM u and let you know when the first support group I'm able to participate in. It's always nice to go thru this w/someone. Dawn

Hello everyone, My name is dawn and I am considering having this procedure done. I went to a info session last wk and will be going to my consultation in two weeks. I am open to all advice and suggestions on how to proceed. My dr. is Dr. Goldstein. Part of Virtue Health system and new beginnings. Anyone who is familiar w/this particular dr. and can offer some incite re; your experience will be appreciated. Dawn

Thanks for the info. I go for consultation on the 9th. then I will make my appointment for new beg. I don't mind the $1750 ( don't need the gym, i am a lifetime member at bally's, isn't that funny), but I was looking into their program for my kids (3) for fitsmart, so this would be cheaper than placing all 3 in the fitsmart program. I had a actually place a lock on my pantry and refrig. and deep freezer today. My kids eating is getting out of hand. I need to be the example, and as much as I have tried to show them the rt. things to do, it never seems to be consistent. I want to do the rt thing. I believe that this is the rt thing for me. I would love to keep intouch w/u thru this process. When r u going to go and get banded?

Thanks. I hope to be able to ask all the silly Quest. I need to during this process. Dawn:thumbup:

I know what u mean about the extra expenses. I'm not sure exactly what the final costs will be for the new beginnings program as of yet, but I do like the set up. I hoping to take that time to really focus on helping not only myself, but my family as well. the tools that I will learn from that program will be beneficial to them as well. I was looking into that program (new beg. ) earlier this year for my children aka. fitsmart, but could not change the sched. they were on at the time. I would love to keep in touch w/u during this process. Thanks dawn