Six month waiting period

[vdavenport 0]

I have completed all of my pre-reqs for surgery but my insurance company requires I be under a 6 month program with my PCP. I was wondering if there are any other people who have 5 or 6 months to go.

Also, for those who have already had the surgery who had to wait, how did you do it without giving up? Some days I want to eat whatever I want and others I think about how it will effect me in the long run. Are there any suggestions on how to carry out the next 5 months while I wait for my insurance company to approve the surgery?

[Lillie24 2]

Hi V... I started my 6 month supervised diet in November. I am 4 months into it now and it really has gone by really quick. I pass the time by preping. I have read books, I'm on the site everyday, and I practice chewing more and eating slowly. All that in addition to cutting out soda and not drinkin while I eat. I really have looked at this 6 months as a prep coarse. I hope this helps.

[chrisdirects 0]

I also had a mandatory 6 month waiting period, which actually turned into almost 8 months while the insurance company took their time getting the approval squared away and we got past the terrible winter weather.

During that time, I visited the nutritionist at my surgeon's office monthly...we worked on getting some of the behavioral changes squared away, like not drinking at the same time I ate (that still seems a bit unnatural), and switching to smaller portions. Too, my surgeon required extensive preoperative testing, and it took awhile to get all those things done- I think I visited every specialist in my local area, lol!

In my mind, part of the philosophy on the part of the insurance companies is to make you go through more or less an endurance exercise, to test your resolve in having this done...if they are going to lay out $15-$20K for what used to be considered elective surgery, they want to make sure that you are fully committing to the new lifestyle that will make the investment worthwhile. I know several people who gave up on it in the preop stage...but perhaps their expectation was unrealistic to start with. Once you have the surgery, it's DONE, and your life will change forever, so it's best to work out the doubts in advance (at least the big ones :scared2:).

The time will go quickly, believe me...and it's definitely worth the wait!

Best to you!

Christine

[rldm 0]

I also had to do 6 months of evaluations, dietician appts. etc. I did my 6th appt on Feb 23rd and my information was sent to the insurance on the 24th. My insurance approval came back on March 8th. I am on my preop diet now and waiting for the surgeon's office to give me a date for surgery.

What I did for the 6 months is bought beautiful, small plates for myself and started eating off of them. I also bought small silverwear, really baby silverwear and started using that. I stopped eating in front of the tv and tried to get my Water intake to where it needed to be. I also started trying Protein shakes to see with ones I liked and which ones were just horrible.

Believe it or not you will appreciate these 6 months. It will give you time to start changing the way you think about food and how you eat. I promise that the time will go by much faster than you think it will.

Hang in there!

Rita

[BetsyB 9]

It's hard, when you're ready to go, and have to wait.

I had a three-month supervision---but the actual time between seminar and surgery was around five months, due to the holidays. I tried really hard not to view it as a "waiting period," but rather a time to really prepare myself---both emotionally and physically--for the surgery.

It helped that, during that time, I was still seeing my surgeon routinely. Gaining weight would NOT have been favorably viewed at all! But even without that sort of external control, I made a conscious decision to start living the way I imagined I'd live post-banding.

That doesn't mean I adopted exactly the same eating habits. But I did adopt many of the behaviors, such as not drinking while eating, taking small bites and chewing very, very carefully, and so on. I tried different Proteins to find one I really liked. I tried different bariatric Vitamins, too.

I also looked at the time as a good time to get to know my doctor and his staff better. This surgery forges a long-term relationship, so being really comfortable is a bonus.

I know the wait seems like an eternity, but you can turn it into something positive, and gain a lot (not weight!) during the time.

Good luck! I know it doesn't seem like it, but you will be banded before you know it, and the wait will have been well worth it.

[new_journey4me 1]

I too have had to endure a 6 month program, which seemed like it was going to take forever. But I'm finally on my last visit on April 14, which will be my pre-op visit. They will go over everything that I will need to know - well they've been doing that, but this will an hour or longer.

I'm really really starting to get anxious...and nervous. But mostly excited! When I started all this is August, I thought it was going to take forever to get here, but time flies right on by. Even with waiting an extra few months in the mix...I should have been banded by now, but the first nutritionist they sent me too, kept canceling so I lost 2 months. But that's ok, I got over it. The only thing that stinks is that I'm going to Disney in May and I figured I'd be banded and pretty much good to go...so that's a bummer.

So I'm hoping that I will hear something by the end of April and will be having surgery as soon as I come back from vacation in May... so the rest of this month and all of April it's time to really start focusing on what lies ahead for me. My biggest thing is quitting smoking...hasn't been easy. Other then that I'll have no problem with giving up diet soda and whatever else, my head is in the right place. Good luck everyone - it'll be here before you know it!

[jlcarey1 0]

Ok so my question is this: Did you all have to pay for the dietician?? Does the insurance cover that as well??

[honk 780]

While my insurance did not have a 6 month diet requirement my surgeon had a lot of test/classes that I had to attend. It would have been 2.5 months from the time of consult to surgery.

One week prior to the surgery my neurologist told me that he could not support doing the surgery because the bloodclot I had suffered five months earlier had not been sufficiently resolved. I was heartbroken. I had lost my required weight (30 pounds) and just wanted to have the surgery.

From that point it was another 4 months. I would agree with a previous poster that this is a good time for you to start living a new life style. Determine what causes you to make the wrong food decision. What foods trigger you to eat more.

Some research says that when you eat with a crowd you eat more. My experience is that my friends and family who are thin helped me eat less when we were together. I could see when they stopped eating. Waaaayyy before I would have stopped.

I really like the 90/10 philosophy. If you eat correctly 90% of the time; you can allow yourself to have fun 10% of the time. One of my issues with dieting is that for months I could eat boring low fat food; but eventually I needed a break. One thing led to another and stopped eating correctly and eventually exercising. I gave myself permission to have treats on occation; but you know what thin people do that all the time.

[Angera 2]

I had a 6 month deal as well. Hated it at first, but determination is an amazing thing The 6 months flewwwww by very quickly. In the end I was able to see those 6 months as a blessing because it gave me time to really put myself under a magnifying glass and see what i was doing that was making me gain weight and work on fixing them.

I had a lot of people shocked that i wasn't so stressed out come surgery time, i tell them it was because i've had 6 months to really think this one thru!

My insurance DID NOT cover these appointments, I had to pay out of pocket for each one.