Newbie Here~Have A Few Questions

[Sherry0823 1]

Hi, new to posting but have been reading the posts for a little while..I absolutely love this forum.

My name is Sherry, from Mi. am a Mom of 3 girls and have a 6 yr. old boy. I am in process right now of waiting for my pcp to fax over my paperwork to my surgeon so it can be submitted to insurance. I hope he does it soon..seems I had to keep the 1 year log instead of him and have had my bariatric psych. eval and pick up my report on Mon. That was a 3 week process of an eval and then a personality test and now waiting on report to pick up and get to my surgeon. In the process of quitting smoking..which today is a bad day. BUT I do KNOW I will get through it I have faith in God he will pull me through it. I've seen everyone talking about pre op diets and I've not been told about any yet..maybe he's just waiting for my paperwork. He/surgeon said 4-6 weeks from last Friday for surgery. Is there certain things I need to stock up on for pre op diet and post op? And if my insurance declines can I appeal that? Is anyone having second thoughts about this? I'm not having second thoughts just a little scared of surgery itself. I know it will be a big change in my life as I love food and love to not only eat but cook as well.

[atkinsoncl 62]

Hi Sherri,

My name is Courtney and I live in Pennsylvania. I have a boy, 4, and a girl, 8.

I am waiting for my insurance approval now that can take up to 6 weeks. I went through a 3 month program which included 2 nut appts, 1 psych appt, 2 preop classes, 2 postop classes, 2 appts with a bariatric RN. The bariatric review board approved my surgery, so now it's all on the insurance. I am tentatively scheduled for my sleeve surgery on April 9.

I also quit smoking last June 2011. Just did it one day cold turkey and I can't imagine going back to it. I have no cravings or anything. It was hard the first few days, but then got so much easier. It's nice not smelling like it and coughing, etc. Good luck!! You can do it! The first day is always the hardest.

I am not scared to have surgery at all. At this point, I just want it done so bad!! I have complete faith in my surgeon, so that helps with my nerves. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure I will be nervous, but I don't know if I will get scared or not.

I've heard to get popsicles, sugarfree Jello, broth, and crystal lite mixes for the first week. My first week is all Clear liquids. You will also need to find a Protein drink you will like for the full liquid stage, which is my second week.

My preop diet will consist of a low-fat Atkins diet for two weeks. I'm glad I do not need to do a liquid diet and am able to eat.

Hope this helps! Good luck to you!

[Sherry0823 1]

Thank you so much! I will be getting some of those things stocked up. My surgeon hasn't told me about any pre or post op diet yet. Yes, with the smoking...ugh! quit for 5 days then backslid..today..I was using the patch and doing quite well and dr. said my bp was up 138/96 so he wanted me to go to step 2 instead of step 1. It was hard but I managed..then today forgot to put it on..will try again tomorrow..I have gotten my ekg, an ultra sound on my chorodit arteries and heart, got some bloodwork done and just waiting for my pcp to fax all over to the surgeon which am sure he's failed to even dictate the letter yet. This part and waiting on the ins. is going to be hard..insurance said 7-10 days for approval wait. then surgeon said 1-2 wks. after approval. so..it's just all sit and wait..am sure though am going to have to stay on my pcp's office to fill out the forms as I'M the one who did the year log and passed on to him. He's all for the surgery but procrastinates or something?

[atkinsoncl 62]

I know, it is so hard to wait! Keeping my fingers crossed and praying that evrything happens quickly for you. 7-10 days for insurance is great! Mine can take up to 6 weeks, ugh!! I may not even know before I start my preop diet.

I'm not sure if this will help you, but this is how I quit. They are putting graphic pictures on packs of cigerettes (sp) in September. They are very graphic and not nice to look at. When I heard about the packing, I quit cold turkey. I did not want my kids seeing the pictures of what could happen to their mom. It just all becomes too real with the pictures. Even though they were not on the packs yet, it still gave me good motivitation. Then when I had the urge, I would go on the computer and looked at the pictures. It helped me a lot.

Did you need to attend any preop classes? I attended two and they were great, very informative.