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I was told not to take meds like gas x bc it keeps the gas from being expelled... try just letting the gas come out naturally. It has worked well for me. Best of luck!

. I have Aetna Health Maintenance Organization..Im currently 270 with a BMI of 41....I know i qualify with a BMI >40..I'm hearing that Aetna requires a 2 year weight history. Will they deny bc I havent been 270 for the last 2 years. My weight fluctated from 225 to 270...

Welcome! This is a wonderful place for inspiration! Im 330lbs so I know what u mean about saying ur weight. I never told anyone my weight for so long n my boyfriend of 6 yrs didn't even know. I decided to tell bc I feel like I'm gonna be broken from this n it's time to stop being ashamed! Good luck Sent from my iPhone using RNYTalk

That is some bs... hope everything works on your favor . 🤞🏽

I have B&BS and I am with true results. So you should be fine.

Ok now I am officially confused. I went over a week ago and got a fill. I only had him do .25 cc's because I was afraid to be too tight. I did fine for about 4 days and actually lost 4 lbs. but now everything gets stuck. I can get down oatmeal..or wheat thins if I chew them to mush. Otherwsie its coming right back up. Last night I took one bite of a turkey brat, with no bun and the bite was TINY. It instantly got stuck and I was dry heaving for an hour. And it wasn't just "BP-ing" I literally threw the food up, stomach acid and all (sorry tmi) So I haven't eaten much in the last 2-3 days and I weighted myself this morning and NADA! It still hasn't budged. How is that possible? I know if you don't eat enough calories you will not lose but I thought that was over time. I just don't get it. I'm miserable and I'm still not losing. I don't know if its stress related or whatever reasons behind it all of a sudden getting tight but I don't feel stressed out-and I'm not a person whos terribly prone to stress. So I don't really know what to do but I am back at this awful place that I was at about 4 mos ago. My band is so unpredictable and touchy I am terrified of eating with other people or to go out to eat bc I literally have no idea what its going to do. That is not a normal way to live and I can't keep throwing up. I'm so confused :smile2:

I am going back to the Dr today. I do eat very slow, since I am a year our I know better than to get pushy with my food esp after a fill. Its not even that half way through my meal I get stuck so its not that I'm eating too fast or too much, it will literally be the first bite. I am finding that I look for things like chips, pretzles, Cereal, salad (slider foods) because I know they aren't going to get stuck. That is where I came to my conclusion to go back in and have the .25 taken out. I don't get my period...ever. I have the Implanon and haven't had a period since 2008. I also don't drink any liquid calories unless I'm going out and then it'll be vodka and Water, otherwise I only drink water, diet tea, crystal light etc. But beleive me I haven't been drinking for weeks-my stomach is pissed enough. What I don't really get is that I was up to 6cc's before, and being two weeks out with 5.25 I can't handle it. I dunno this band can freak me out some days if I think too hard about it. All I know is I can't sit on the bathroom floor crying bc I'm freaked out I will have to do this the rest of my life. There has to be a happy medium..

Lifecare is like home health. When a patient is too far gone for home health and not bad enough for a long term facility they call Me. Yes my number is 13000, I think that you might not have to do the 6 month supervised diet, just call BC/BS, they should be able to tell you everything you need to know.:thumbup:

I know I keep given bits and pieces I am so excited some things are coming back to me one of the prescriptions my Dr. gave me was for nausea,pain,and to treat reflux even thought I don't have reflux and never did he said he wanted me to take it everyday for a precaution. I also think you guys should talk to your caseworkers about having your insurance company to pay for your Vitamins too like mine does I have BC/BS and my caseworker hooked me up. Since we have to take them for the rest of our lives and I also will be using my flexable spending account to pay my 25$ copay.

I'm unable to keep anything down bc of the band not nausea . My first pregnacy I gain like 70 lbs obviously pre band . Just wondering if anyone else had had any problems like this . My band doc is worried and wants to x ray band but my obgyn thinks baby is growing fine ? I don't know what todo . Kinda freaked out . Some days i can't drink water

Ask and then ask again about OOP costs and then be prepared to pay a lot more. A friend of mine has BS of Idaho and her deductible is $3500. She had a hysterectomy this winter that was "approved" by insurance. But after all was said and done, she had to fork out almost $9000 for all the expenses insurance wouldn't cover, despite approving the surgery. As for me, I am self employed and have BS of ID HSA with a $5000 deductible/$6250 max OOP. (The only policy I can afford thanks to the "affordable" health care act...my old policy was MUCH better) Individual policies do not cover WLS, so I was totally self pay and went to an International Center of Excellence in Mexico and spent $250 more than my max OOP would have been even if insurance did pay. So instead of a down payment on a new truck, I have a teeny tiny tummy and I'll take it!!

So like i said above, this week I'm going though PMS and i've noticed that the entire week I've been hungry or with the need to eat. Has anyone gone through this, I actually ate all day long today and it's driving me crazy bc I've read that it's not supposed to be like this at all. Please Help !!

1-I can't tell you about insurance bc my ins pays for NO wlsI paid cash. 2- I can say the pain was pretty minimal for me. I was given medication in the operating room and went home (it was an outpatient procedure) with liquid Lortab. I never took a dose of Lortab. For me, the pain was very minimal. But I can say I did have some nausea the first 24 hrs.

I was told to stop BC prior to surgery (instructions were "stop now" at my consultation). So, I was off of it 2 months prior to surgery. At my one month follow-up/first fill, I'm going to ask if I can get back on it...I've got a boyfriend 2,400 miles away that I'm seeing again at the end of March!

I was reading through the binder I was given on Friday at my consultation. There is mention about stopping all medications...including Birth Control??? :biggrin::eek::biggrin: WAIT WHAT??? Did anyone else stop taking their BC for 90days before and after their surgery? I NEED my BC otherwise I am an emotional train wreck plus the stress of the surgery and new life style... Please please please tell me I don't have to give up my BC....:biggrin:

I also got contradicting information. My surgeon told me 2 weeks post op I could resume my bc pills. My nurse told me not too. I am planning on taking them and listening to the surgeon. I had to stop taking them a month before I had surgery for the risk of blood clots so the time frame doesn't matter for me. I think he said it was okay since the pills are soo small. I am planning on asking the dr. at my 1 month post op appointment.

yeah I found out my premium is really high because I am part-time...but, it is worth it. I'm going with a doctors office who knows the insurance very well. It is a 3 hour drive but I feel very safe to know that they know what they are doing. I will have double coverage...but my primary insurance does not cover anything related to weight loss surgery. So, my secondary which is bcbsfed hopefully will cover everything.... what I wonder is will my primary cover those two 100 dollar co-pays? And, if I ever lose my fed plan... will the primary (who says doesn't cover anything) kick in and pay for follow-ups and fills, etc. related to the surgery.

I am not a federal employee......and I agree - BC/BS is one of the best insurances to have for this procedure. Just got my hospital bill - I owe less than $20 - day procedure - no overnight stay.

Hi there - this was a new rule when I was in the approval process for BC/BS and my family practitioner allowed me to write up my own journal based on my previous visits and include my weight. So although I officially did not do another 6 months of diet and exercise logs - my previous office visits for various reasons were counted. I typed it up - doc signed it and it worked. Good luck!

About a week... My doc Office took care of all this - I went directy to surgeon - 5/31 had tons of test due to age and never going to the doc - no supervised diet - was approved on 6/20 after shrink appoint on 6/14 - surgery 7/17 When I called them (bc ca) they said it was covered under my policies if medically necessary - bmi 42 - high blood pressure and slight sleep apnea.. I qualified

Well let me comment on how I feel! Cigarettes are different from weed along with alcohol. No place in anything that I have read you cant smoke weed. Unless you are her nurse or doctor STOP BEING HER JUDGE AND JURY! If you didnt have **** to say but bs then you need to keep **** to yourself. Things you missed in elementary school+

I have Highmark BC/BS through the railroad so I'm sure it's not exactly the same, but it took them about 25 days to approve me. They told me they have 30 days to approve or deny, and they were always very helpful when I called and spoke with them. It actually took me longer to get my surgery date then for the insurance to approve, that took a little over a month before I had my surgery. Good luck, I hope it all works out.

i have heard (could be a myth though) that if someone loose weight very very slowly the skin will shrink back. it makes sence somehow,the skin has time to adjust.......but i don't know if there is any truth in it or just bs.

I know there's the Mirena that's low hormonal but I don't qualify for that because my daughter was a c section. I never went into labor. So my ob said that the Mirena was a no go. I know there's the one you put in for 3 weeks and take it our for a week. But I don't think I can be putting it in and taking it out. It's just weird to me. I hate side effects of BC. But i don't wanna risk getting pregnant so soon after my surgery. That's what scares me.

I just read the thread about Gabriela's "nightmare" journey with her sleeve and someone suggested it might have been a "false" posting because she hasn't been back to post again in a long time. As someone with a similar story, I'm here to tell you a. she could not have made that up and b. getting on the computer to post isn't exactly a priority when you're fighting her kind of battle. Five months ago tomorrow -- may 10 -- i was admitted to the hospital with multiple leaks and became septic. i too had stents and drains put in. my friends and family tell me i was close to death... the next two months were miserable...no energy...being fed only by IV...five antibiotics for infections... in july, after a CT scan showed significant improvement, my stents were removed. PROGRESS! After an Upper GI without the stents, my doctor came into the room shaking his head. I was still leaking. The stents had to go back in. They are still in, three months later. Last week, I was at the hospital twice, once for another Upper GI (again showing improvement), again for radiology to try to fix the challenges with my drains. Meanwhile, my drain site (the area on my side where the created a hole to insert the drain) LEAKS. It's disgusting in that gets all over my clothes, even with gauze...the drainage looks infectious, but cultures show nothing dangerous. But, hey, why not do yet another round of antibiotics that make me lose my appetite and have diarreah? The Dr.'s and radiologists all can't explain it -- I've been trying to get relief for three months -- they say it's nothing to worry about. Easy for them to say when I'm the one change my clothes and dressings three times a day. They had me start flushing the line last week. The saline goes straight to the 'exit wound' and out of my drain site all over my skin. If I forgot to mention the dry heaves in the early days of my stents, here's that news. Oh, and I throw up certain foods but never know what might work and what won't. Of course I use the guidelines provided to all sleeve patients. I too have "referred" pain in my left shoulder and my abdomen. Mild pain killers don't help and I don't need anything stronger. I'm not complaining. I'm alive. I pray and trust that I will recover. Yes, my surgery was in Mexico but a very well-respected sleeve surgeon with many success stories. But that's irrelevant. Leaks are clearly defined as a possible complication regardless of your surgeon. I'd had the band removed five years ago and that may have played a role (adhesions and scar tissue). One last not -- since my insurance didn't cover the sleeve, it won't cover the complications. So I have about $75,000 in medical bills. I'm self-employed and haven't been able to work since this all started. Thanks for letting me share my story. The jury is still out on regrets. I know God put this challenge in my life for a reason and I'm prepared to see it through. And if I don't post again or respond, please forgive me. I'm probably laying in bed with a heating pad on my achy shoulder or changing my dressing...or emptying my drain...or... I WILL SURVIVE. Before you go through with surgery, consider that you could be one of the one percent (?) that has leak complications. I didn't want to believe I could be. Let me close my saying I treasure all of your success stories, for those of you without complications, and wish you continued success.