24 Year Old Starting Her Journey

[mrz.mott 42]

Hi! My name is Chelsea, I'm 24 years old, and am considered morbidly obese. I sent an email to my insurance company to see if the surgery was even covered. They invited me to speak with their Bariatric Center, and was informed that I met the criteria needed, and provided me with a list of surgeons in my area on January 26th, 2016. On August 22nd, 2015, I married the love of my life. We first started dating when I was 15, and he was 17. Being foolish, immature kids, we ended up breaking up about 2 years later. However, we always had issues staying apart. My husband is about 160ish pounds, and I'm pretty much twice his weight. Initially, I first starting thinking about the surgery because of him. It isn't always easy to keep up with him, being my size. I wanted to give him a healthier, happier, more attractive wife. When I really started thinking about having surgery, I starting thinking about my own self. In August of 2015, I was having some issues with lumps in my breasts, but in November I was given the all clear, that it was not cancer, rather, just build up of Calcium. One of the most freighting times of my life. I knew then, that I needed to get my life back on track, I needed to get healthy. Like many of us, I've tried dieting, exercising, for months on end. The first month usually being a decent month, the second month, was nothing but a stall, and the third month, I'd gain back all the weight, plus some. No matter how long I would do this, I'd never see any results.

My consultation with my surgeon, Dr. Mohsin Soliman here in Kansas City, was on March 16th, 2016. I was given the requirements of needing to get approval from the Nut and the Psychologist, both of which I had completed within that same week. I was also ordered to have a sleep study done. I eventually found out that I have Mild Sleep Apnea. I was put on a CPAP machine, which I'm not all that fond of. My second appointment with Dr. Soliman was on April 20th, 2016. He had advised me that he had gotten the sleep study results, the approval from the Nut and Psychologist, and I just needed to work on getting approval from a Primary Care Physician. I'm going this Tuesday to complete the remaining blood work to get that all completed. This same visit, he told me that my insurance required 3 months of consecutive visits with a weight loss physician. Which, that is not what my Nurse Case Manager told me. I was advised that there wasn't a specified amount of time required. So, he told me to complete the PCP approval, and we would then submit to the insurance on our next appointment. Unfortunately, I didn't get that completed. I met again with him on June 1st, 2016. His nurse then told me that I was set up for 6 consecutive visits! So in a months time, the required time had doubled. I was hoping to be able to get this surgery done in May when I initially inquired with my insurance, but that didn't happen. So I then brought up the fact that my insurance told me that there wasn't a required length of time. They advised that they were going to call my Nurse Case Manager, and get back to me by June 3rd, 2016. By 1PM on June 3rd, I had called them to see if there was any news. The nurse advised that she was waiting on a call back from the case manager. She then was supposed to try and call the case manager again. Here it is, June 5th, 2016 and I still don't know anything. Dr. Soliman advised that if the insurance doesn't require it, when as soon as that PCP letter comes in, they are going to submit the information to the insurance, so we can schedule a surgery date. So, at this point, I'm just keeping my fingers crossed, because I REALLY don't want to wait until nearly November to get the surgery. I want it now! (I'm not the most patient person in the world.) If I don't hear anything by June 7th, 2016, I'll be calling back again, as I'll have the whole day off.

I've tried a handful of Protein products, such as powders, bars, and already mixed drinks. Some were great, others, not so much. So if you have any recommendations, feel free to let me know what you like!

Actually, any advice that you can give me, would be greatly appreciated!

[LaffeyTaffey 27]

Great post! My advise is to start working on being healthier now. After surgery it's highly recommended that we stay away from carbonated drinks like soda or beer, fizzy Water, etc. So if you're a soda drinker, start to ween yourself off.

I made the mistake of going out and buying a bunch of 100 calorie Snacks and whatnot once I started seeing my nutritionist in March of 2015 and didn't lose any weight that month. So then I stopped drinking soda and lost like 5 pounds in 2 weeks - crazy!

I started going on walks. I was 355 pounds and only 5'5" tall and could barely walk a block at first, but by this time last year I was walking 2 miles at a time a few times a week and by July I was walking 3 miles at a time.

I was reading health magazines and came across a great article about how to cut back on calories and lose weight. I did this by eating a yogurt cup and a small side salad about 15-30 mins before eating lunch and/or dinner. It curbs your hunger so you eat less during the meal. So I ended up eating a lot less carbs, because I started following the rule of eating my Protein first, then a veggie, and last a carb. It gave me a ton of energy!

I actually lost 41 pounds by making those healthier choices before the surgery. That was extremely important to me, because our body loses weight MUCH faster in the first 12 months and after that it slows down quite a bit. For me it's slowed down from losing 10+ lbs a month to losing maybe 4 if I'm lucky. But if we follow the guidelines and use our sleeve (such a amazing tool), then we'll continue to lose the weight!

I hope this was helpful!

Sent from my A846L using the BariatricPal App

Edited June 6, 2016 by LaffeyTaffey

[losingtheselumps 93]

I really like Premier Protein shakes (ready made) 30g Protein, 1g sugar, low carb, etc. I get them in bulk at costco, but walgreen's sells them as well. Good luck with your journey. I hope you hear good news!!

[CelesteMarie 129]

I like Muscle Milk. Not a milk product. Lol. 25 hands of Protein, no sugar. A great go to drink for thirst and Protein is Isopure. (Damn, I should be working for them-I advertise, and recommend them for free, lol.) Each bottle has 40 grams of protein, no carbs, and I just sip it over ice all day. Have up faience and soda before surgery, but not that far in advance) and no headache withdrawals. Good luck

Good things come to good people.