RiahRiah

I haven't lost any weight in the past 2 months either. I am having my gallbladder removed tomorrow... I am going to take the opportunity to go back to protein shakes for a while to jump start again. Hopefully. The last fill I got was too much and I had to go back and get it removed... I was doing so well now I am starting to feel like a complete idiot for not sticking to everything the way I am supposed to..

i have told my mom,dad,uncles,grandmother, friends at work, boss, mother in law, husband... my mom has told some of her good friends, and some random poeple we don't really no. I haven't heard any negative comments at all. at least not to my face. everyone has been really supportive and happy for me. Some of the people at work know I am not supper close to but they haven't acted any differently and seem to kind of ignore it. I am glad that I have told everyone I am around on a daily basis because it will help me be accountible. That just me, I think it is a personal situation and everyone has different relationships... at my old job there is NO WAY i would have told anyone. but I work in a medical setting and everyone is pretty familiar and sees lots of patients going through this so it wasnt as strange or a big deal at all.

Thanks! I'm trying. Thats why I went to the DR as soon as I wasn't feeling well weeks ago thinkin I would have plenty of time. Now I'm worried. BUt everything will work out. I'm keeping only a positive attitue from here on out.. :thumbup:

Congrats everyone on their surgery's this week. Can't wait until the 30th. Had some bumps in the road this week. I am so sick. I've missed work all week. I went to the doctor probably two weeks ago and was told I just had allergies and that I would be fine. I was given an antibiotic and felt better a week later. Then this weekend started feel awful again. Got to see my PCP this time and she put me on a stronger anti-biotic she said to call if I dont feel better by tomorrow so that we can try something else. She wants me better ASAP so I dont have to reschedule my surgery. I do too. I am so bummed. I have eaten through my PTO time I was saving for the surgery at work. Now I'll be on Leave without pay the week after surgery. But, everything will be ok. I asked my hubby if he thought I should push the date back theres no way either of us want to do that. I've been waiting for this for so long. Good Luck to everyone and thanks to everyone for posting their stories love to hear every detail. :-)

I was really nervous myself until I had my pre-op appointment with my surgeon. I talked to her and I feel only excited now. The nurse came in and talked to me for a few minutes and flat out told me that the people who follow the doctors instructions and do what they're supposed to have the potential to loose half of themselves. she said most of the time when people come in and they arent loosing the weight a year down the road they have been cutting corners and not doing what they're told. now i know obviously there are some cases out there where people have complications and everything. But what has been really helping me lately is thinking about what if I don't have this surgery? Then I will probably NEVER loose the weight on my own. And I am just not willing to be obese for the rest of my life. I have done this enough. I don't have a tremendous amount of health problems right now. I suffer from PCOS, infertility and thats pretty much it right now but if I don't loose the weight the list is going to keep getting longer and longer. I would trust the advice of my surgeon and go with that. Also, have you tried any support groups that your doctor may offer? I have heard that it's a good idea to check those out to speak to others face to face and get their opinion. Especially if they have gone through the process with your surgeon...

Hi Ausiemum, We share the same surgery date. I am starting to get moer and more excited everyday. I don't have to be on a pre-surgery diet my doctor just said to eat low-fat until surgery. Good Luck with everything.

My surgeon didn't put me on a pre-op diet but the nurse did mention to me to eat low-fat and said that they had one girl who they took into surgery and they couldn't operate b/c of her liver size. they said that she had eat out the whole week before surgery b/c her family kept wanting to "treat" her because she wouldnt be able to have any of the stuff after surgery. They said thats the only time they have really had it happen. she ended up getting banded two weeks later.. but if that happens she ended up with two anesthesia and hospital bills instead of one.. which would really suck.

thanks, i have been trying to take everything on here with a grain of salt. I had my pre-op appointment yesterday and Dr. Trahan put me at ease. I am amazed at how nice and helpful everyone is. I am so glad that I found Dr. Trahan because she has been amazing so far with my questions and has made me so comfortable. and Lillian has been extremely helpful as well :-) thanks for the advice

congrats to everyone who's already had their surgery! Hope everythings running smoothy. Just had my pre-op appointment yesterday... I had picked realize band before and switched to the lapband. My dr. said that it was totally up to me and that there werent any huge differences. I liked the lapband website better than the realize website b/c for some reason the realize one wont ever load for me at work?? so anyway. I am on my way. no real pre-op diet. they told me to watch my fat intake and eat lowfat. They said that sometimes they have had patients have family memebers etc treat them to dinner out the week before surgery and they end up with their liver enlarged. she said i should be fine and just told me to watch what i eat but that I didn't need an actual diet to follow. I am more excited now than nervous since I talked to my surgeon. she explained how everything would go and now i am READY.

It's been quite a while.. but it doesnt feel like that long. I have been through my six month diet with my PCP .. which my last appt was at the begning of july. This wasn't so bad. The worst part of the 6 months had nothing to do with the diet it was acutally the psych eval... I knew my dad was bipolar.. but never thought I was myself. I went to the first psychiatrist and she okayed me for surgery but wanted me to seek a second opinion about a mood disorder :thumbup:. So trying to decide on a psychiatrist in town who was covered by CIGNA was a nightmare.. I had decided to try on doctor and she never even returned my calls to set up an appointment... so she was out. When I finally found my psychiatrist I went in for yet another evaluation and at the end he looks at me and says "you probably already know what I am going to say...." I almost starting crying right there. I guess it was always in the back of my mind that something wasn't "quite right" about my moods and some of my behaviors, and with a family history of bipolar disorder I can't say that it was totally out of my mind. I am now bieing treated for bipolar disorder and I feel better than I have in YEARS. Its amazing, I didn't ever think that I didn't feel normal but man oh man do I feel better now. :closedeyes:. So, my surgeon's office needed my new psych dr to fax over med notes or a letter saying I'm being treated just in case CIGNA questioned everything since the other psych said I needed a second opinion. That was a pain in the butt! It took a week just to get them to fax over paperwork... ughh. Finally they were able to submit everything to CIGNA on 7.14.10 and on Monday I was anxious - the lady at my surgeon's office told me it would take 2-7 days to hear from CIGNA. Called on Monday and Cigna said APPROVED . I called the office right away and let them know and the lady called CIGNA to get the auth number, called me right back and said "how about august 2nd" I was so excited.. called my husband right up.. and OF COURSE, he couldn't get off then soo had to schedule for August 30th. Which is ok b/c that gives me some more time before surgery to prepare myself and my family. Now I can't keep myself from obsessing over surgery... I am constantly on the web looking everything up. Checking out different protein powders in the stores.. looking over and over my post op diets. I have never had any surgery before.. so I must say I am really nervous about surgery. I have no idea what to expect. Even though I have read and read about it.. I know that I will be a bundle of nerves on that glorious Monday. My pre-op appointment is 8.11.10 I really hope that hubby can get off to go with me, other wise I will be all by my lonesome. This has already been the most empowering and incredible experience I have had. In the past I went through so many let downs after let downs, dealing with PCOS, infertility etc. Now I am filled with hope and so excited. I am going to actually get to be the person I see in my head AND... I may even get to be a Mommy...

I know this thread hasn't been used in a while... Dr. Katherine Trahan is doing my surgery on 8/30/10. My pre-op appointment is on 8/11/10. The staff has been wonderful so far. I was approved quickly with CIGNA. Any advice? How are the support groups?

That is Great! I cannot imagine. I have been shopping in the plus sizes since I was 12. I am a size 24 now so this gives me lots of hope. Congratulations and keep up the good work!!! You go Girl!

the doctors only accept what insurance is willing to pay them if they are contracted with the insurance carrier. . . which could mean that they are out of your particular network but they contract with your insurance company and are part of another network... then they may accept what the insurance company pays.. less your deductible and coinsurance if your insurance company applies part of the bill toward those.. it can be tricky and insurance companies do whatever they can not to pay the bill so always check before hand just to be sure. I work in a physcian billing department so I see this all day everyday.. it is really confusing and sometimes insurance companies tell you one thing but it isn't necessarily the case for that physian or hospital so always make sure you double check and Always get the names of the reps that you speak to and when you speak to them.. and if possible get it in writing :rolleyes2:

I have a ?.. I haven't been to my pre-op aptt yet but I was wondering.. is everyone on a pre-op diet? I thought I had heard before that not everyone has to do a two week pre-op diet but maybe just a couple of days? Just wondering. I have been on the 6 month physician monitered diet for approval from CIGNA until the begining of this month when my six months was up. My doctor just stuck me on weight watchers and I lost some weight but not that much. My surgeon had told me that this was pretty much just to get approved for surgery that it was not a huge deal if I didn't loose a lot Pre op. Also.. as you all are preparing for surgery what are you grabbing from the grocery store to prepare?

Hi! I was diagnosed with PCOS probably 5 years ago. My husband and I were going through fertility treatments when my doctor found a large cyst durring an ultrasound. I had to stop taking my clomid until it was checked out further. He thought that the cyst may have to be removed b/c of it's size and he wanted to make sure it wasnt cancerous. I was refered to someone else who after an MRI and an exam advised that there was no need to remove the cyst at this time that it wasn't harming me and had probably been there for a long time. I have friends however who have had them burst? and it has caused a lot of pain in which they have had some removed... I guess it just depends on your situation and your body. I wouldn't worry too much. If you are really concerned you could always get a second opinion. In my case I was lucky to have two doctors review the information and they both in the end decided that I did not need to have it removed.

HI Melissa, My surgery is on a Monday 8/30 - I was kind of bummed b/c my surgeon could have scheduled me for 8/2 but my husband couldn't get off from work to be there with me and he really wanted to be.. so I went with 8/30 b/c he already has the whole week off. I took off Monday-Thursday but let me boss know that I may take friday off as well. I kind of got lucky b/c Labor day is the following Monday and my offices are closed so if I end up taking off friday I will get even longer w/out going back in case I need it which everyone has been telling me most likely I won't need that long. I have told almost everyone about my surgery. I work in a medical setting in a billing office and even though there are quite a few people that I work with we are all pretty close so I told my friends at work, my supervisor, my classmates at school and of course my family. I haven't been embarrassed at all and have not had any negative reactions at all from anyone. Everyone- especially co-workers have been really excited for me and supportive. They eat A LOT at work it feels like every week there is some reason to have cake, ice cream, and pizza not to mention everyone orders out almost everyday. I am glad I let everyone know what I was going through so that they can choose healthier options and encourage me on my journey. GOOD LUCK with everything!!:thumbup:

August 30th Here! Can't Wait! Good Luck to everyone.

Hi Healthy1- My surgeon submited the paperwork to CIGNA last wednesday and they approved it before Friday. I called to check on Friday and they said it was approved- I gave the office a call and they went ahead and called to get the authorization number and scheduled my surgery. I received the letter in the mail today from Cigna saying it was approved. I was expecting it to take forever and was presently suprised. I was shocked that it was so easy to get approved- other than the 6 mos diet with my PCP and the other evaluations. But for me time went by pretty quickly. My surgeon's office even had an opening on August 2nd which I could have taken but b/c my Husband and I already had vacation time scheduled from work for the end of the month I stuck with that. My surgeon's office told me when they first submited the paperwork that it usually took 2-7 days to get a response.

Hi Shauna! I have an august surgery date as well. I was just approved by CIGNA and have my surgery scheduled for 8/30/10. I have been going through the approval process for a little over 6 months now and am so excited. My nerves are starting to kick in now though b/c I have never had any sort of surgery. Good Luck on your journey!

I am fairly new to this process. This week I have been doing all of my first appointments. I met with the Nutritionist yesterday and they are not who I will be seeing for the 6 month diet that CIGNA requires it was just an appointment to let me know what to expect after surgery. I got the feeling the entire time that the nutritionist was trying to talk me out of having the surgery. She made everything that I had to eat after surgery sound so terrible. I guess they may try to weed out some people who aren't really serious about this ? I kept countering her with positives explaining that anything I give up is well worth it compared to everything I have gone through and do go through with my weight. Has anyone else had a similar experience?:thumbup:

I had been thinking about weight loss surgery for probably two years and always nervous about mentioning to my PCP. She has been on me to try and loose weight before and I always felt guilty that I hadn't lost anything when I came in. My last physical (October 09) I mentioned to her that I still hadn't lost any weight and that I was really frustrated- She brought up the Lab Band and refered me to a seminar. I was totally suprised and so releived. Since you haven't seen a PCP before I want to say not to be nervous PCP's are there as a HUGE part of your healthcare tream. They are there to help you find the right specialist and usually are writing your referals etc if you have a managed care insurance plan. If you don't feel comfortable with that PCP then they may not be right for you. You can always call CIGNA or go onto the mycigna web site and see who all of the different PCP's in your area are. It is really easy to switch online if you feel that you need to and you can see all of the doctor's credentials etc. Another thing is that I'm sure the surgeons office works with many different pcp's they may be able to recommend someone as well. I bet your PCP will be glad that you have your healthcare in mind and that you bring up your concerns- it only makes it easier for them to get you on the right path if you are willing to contribute to your own success.

I had my first appointment with my surgeon last week on 1/6/10. It was really simple and I wasn't as nervous as I thought I'd be. I pretty much just sat and chatted with my surgeon for a little while and they got my height and weight. Then their coordinator came in and explained what my insurance company requires and what I need to do next. Now a few days later my nerves are setting in. I have set my appointment for my PCP and the nutritionist and then the psych consult. The psych consult makes me supper nervous. I have had issues with depression in the past and last year had an incident where I was hospitalized over night. I am doing much better now but I always wonder what other people will think. When I was in the hospital I was evaluated and they let me go home and said I didn't need to see a psychiatrist or therapist. I know that the psych consult is not to keep me from having surgery but to make sure that I am prepared for it. My doctor said the main thing that they will be checking on is my support system and how I plan on dealing with everything, and a year ago I was having issues dealing with my infertility. Since then though my marriage and my relationship with my family has greatly changed I am more open about my feelings and my husband has been better about talking with me and making sure I get my feelings out. I am saying A LOT of prayers and I know that God will make sure that whatever is best for me will happen.

I had my first appointment with my surgeon last week on 1/6/10. It was really simple and I wasn't as nervous as I thought I'd be. I pretty much just sat and chatted with my surgeon for a little while and they got my height and weight. Then their coordinator came in and explained what my insurance company requires and what I need to do next. Now a few days later my nerves are setting in. I have set my appointment for my PCP and the nutritionist and then the psych consult. The psych consult makes me supper nervous. I have had issues with depression in the past and last year had an incident where I was hospitalized over night. I am doing much better now but I always wonder what other people will think. When I was in the hospital I was evaluated and they let me go home and said I didn't need to see a psychiatrist or therapist. I know that the psych consult is not to keep me from having surgery but to make sure that I am prepared for it. My doctor said the main thing that they will be checking on is my support system and how I plan on dealing with everything, and a year ago I was having issues dealing with my infertility. Since then though my marriage and my relationship with my family has greatly changed I am more open about my feelings and my husband has been better about talking with me and making sure I get my feelings out. I am saying A LOT of prayers and I know that God will make sure that whatever is best for me will happen. :thumbup:

After discussing my upcoming journey with diets and trying to get approved and when/if I do get approved for the band w/my DH I am getting worried myself about HIS eating habits. Thanks for the tips!

Ok so I am still super excited about my first appointment next week. I am so ready to get this show on the road to a new me. I know that I will feel so much better and be a lot happier. I have been thinking the last couple of days because it seems like this is always in the back of my mind. How is my husband going to cope with my diets etc. I doubt he will be jumping on the diet band wagon. But I can't see myself still cooking regular meals for him and eating differently myself. I told him today that he will have to come into the kitchen with me to watch how I cook his faves so that he can do it on his own. LOL. Don't really see that happening either. He is supportive of my efforts I am sure we will figure it all out when the time comes. He will have to indulge himself elsewhere.