I'm Doing It!

[kalí̱ ygeía 45]

Hello! Newbie here!

I received my insurance approval a week ago. My pre-op appointment is on the 21st and I'm scheduled for surgery on Nov 6th. I have read hours upon hours of people's experience. I have devoured this site and others as well. I want to believe that I'm mentally ready for what's to come, but the reality is that I won't know if I am until I'm fully into the process.

Thanks to all of your contributions to this site, I have a clear picture of the many possibilities. The gas pain, the incision sites, the stalls, the liquid stage, the emotional roller coasters... the list goes on and on. I'm praying for the best, but preparing myself for anything. All I hope is that I won't regret it. I've read enough to know that there is a regret phase that most go through. I just hope I don't stay there! LOL

I am 5'5 with a BMI of 34. I tend to fluctuate between 200-210 for the last 7 years and at most have never weighed past 213. I am a Type 2 diabetic. My A1C climbed to 7.4. My body responded well to a low dose of metformin so after 3 months I'm at 6.6. I DO NOT want to travel down the road of medication and I also want to do away with fatty liver. My stomach looks as if I'm 8 months pregnant, because my weight is mainly distributed towards my stomach. I've slowly stopped living life to the fullest. I am holding on to the thought that the gastric sleeve surgery will help me move towards a healthier self.

I look forward to the support from those who are walking this journey.

Please share the greatest and most important thing to keep in mind while going through the journey.

[GreenTealael 25,353]

❤️ CONGRATULATIONS ❤️

[kalí̱ ygeía 45]

Thank you!!!

I'm concerned that the sleeve might not be the best option for me since I have gastritis. I've had soooo much discomfort this past week, but my surgeon doesn't seem to be concerned. I'm going to bring it up at my preop.

I'm also going to see if I can get tested for H.Pylori as the symptoms are similar. Not sure how it might affect my surgery date. I almost don't even want to address it, but obviously I have to! 😑

[JazzyJess20 32]

18 hours ago, kalí̱ ygeía said:

Hello! Newbie here!

I received my insurance approval a week ago. My pre-op appointment is on the 21st and I'm scheduled for surgery on Nov 6th. I have read hours upon hours of people's experience. I have devoured this site and others as well. I want to believe that I'm mentally ready for what's to come, but the reality is that I won't know if I am until I'm fully into the process.

Thanks to all of your contributions to this site, I have a clear picture of the many possibilities. The gas pain, the incision sites, the stalls, the liquid stage, the emotional roller coasters... the list goes on and on. I'm praying for the best, but preparing myself for anything. All I hope is that I won't regret it. I've read enough to know that there is a regret phase that most go through. I just hope I don't stay there! LOL

I am 5'5 with a BMI of 34. I tend to fluctuate between 200-210 for the last 7 years and at most have never weighed past 213. I am a Type 2 diabetic. My A1C climbed to 7.4. My body responded well to a low dose of metformin so after 3 months I'm at 6.6. I DO NOT want to travel down the road of medication and I also want to do away with fatty liver. My stomach looks as if I'm 8 months pregnant, because my weight is mainly distributed towards my stomach. I've slowly stopped living life to the fullest. I am holding on to the thought that the gastric sleeve surgery will help me move towards a healthier self.

I look forward to the support from those who are walking this journey.

Please share the greatest and most important thing to keep in mind while going through the journey.

Congratulations! I too have made the decision to have the surgery, but I am in the early, early stages. I meet with my doctor for the first time tomorrow.

Because you're a newbie too, can you tell me how you filled out all of that information under your name? (Current weight, goal, BMI, etc.)

[kalí̱ ygeía 45]

5 hours ago, JazzyJess20 said:

Congratulations! I too have made the decision to have the surgery, but I am in the early, early stages. I meet with my doctor for the first time tomorrow.

Because you're a newbie too, can you tell me how you filled out all of that information under your name? (Current weight, goal, BMI, etc.)

Good luck with at your appointment tomorrow! I'm sure you must be excited. Will you be self pay or looking for insurance to cover it?

If you go to your user name and click it on it, there will be a drop down with several options. Scroll down and click "my surgery." It should take you to a page to enter all the info. I believe that's how I entered it. There were other stuff you can enter there too.

Hope that was helpful. I, too, was lost and wondered how the information was entered, so I explored around until I found it. Am glad I can be of help to someone else now!

[JazzyJess20 32]

10 hours ago, kalí̱ ygeía said:

Good luck with at your appointment tomorrow! I'm sure you must be excited. Will you be self pay or looking for insurance to cover it?

If you go to your user name and click it on it, there will be a drop down with several options. Scroll down and click "my surgery." It should take you to a page to enter all the info. I believe that's how I entered it. There were other stuff you can enter there too.

Hope that was helpful. I, too, was lost and wondered how the information was entered, so I explored around until I found it. Am glad I can be of help to someone else now!

Thank you!

I will be going through my insurance. Hopefully. I know its covered and I'm fairly certain, health/BMI-wise, I am a perfect candidate. But we shall see!

I hope to see updates on your journey!

[kalí̱ ygeía 45]

3 hours ago, JazzyJess20 said:

Thank you!

I will be going through my insurance. Hopefully. I know its covered and I'm fairly certain, health/BMI-wise, I am a perfect candidate. But we shall see!

I hope to see updates on your journey!

That's quite the relief knowing that the insurance will cover it. Out-of-pocket in the states can be so expensive. I found peculiar that when I asked my surgeons office what my share of out of pocket expensive would be, they said they'll know AFTER they bill the insurance. Okay. It would be nice if I knew before hand. Don't they want to know that I can cover my share of the expense? Some business models don't make much sense.

I'll definitely post updates throughout my journey. It helped me so much to read other's post that it's the least I could do.

[ms.sss 15,593]

On 10/17/2020 at 11:23 PM, kalí̱ ygeía said:

Please share the greatest and most important thing to keep in mind while going through the journey.

Manage your expectations and try not to compare yourself to others (technically, that's 2, but you get what I mean, lol)

[Doinmything 9]

Congrats!!

May I ask if there were any problems insurance/Dr wise with your bmi of 34? I have similar stats, did they count fatty liver as a comorbidity? I have that too, so hoping that'll help my case.

[kalí̱ ygeía 45]

4 hours ago, ms.sss said:

Manage your expectations and try not to compare yourself to others (technically, that's 2, but you get what I mean, lol)

😂 Sorry, I should have asked what are the most important things! Thank you for your response. When you say manage your expectations, are you referring to what I'm expecting to lose?

4 hours ago, Doinmything said:

Congrats!!

May I ask if there were any problems insurance/Dr wise with your bmi of 34? I have similar stats, did they count fatty liver as a comorbidity? I have that too, so hoping that'll help my case.

Yes, they did count fatty liver as a comorbidity. I'm currently at a 34BMI, but at the time everything was submitted to the insurance I was at a 35 BMI. They wouldn't cover me at 34. It had to be 35 BMI plus comorbidities.

Fortunately, when I was weighted at the doctor's office their scale read a few pounds higher which was a relief! Otherwise, I would have been denied by the insurance for not meeting the 35BMI. The quarantine helped with those extra pounds I needed to reach the required BMI. However, I have since lost a few pounds which puts me back to 34 BMI. I'm close to the border of 34 and 35 that I can easily go back and forth.

[RTL1234 99]

Congratulations! I’m in the pre-op phase too. I’m all done with my pre-op stuff, but they are behind with Covid. So it will probably be December for me. Ugh I want it to hurry up! The more I wait, the more I panic.

I did want to say, the testing for H. Pylori was apart of my pre-op and initial labs. So I would check and make sure it wasn’t included?? Just a suggestion. One of my family members had H.Pylori and she was miserable. Oh it was so awful! I hope that it isn’t it!

[kalí̱ ygeía 45]

3 hours ago, RTL1234 said:

Congratulations! I’m in the pre-op phase too. I’m all done with my pre-op stuff, but they are behind with Covid. So it will probably be December for me. Ugh I want it to hurry up! The more I wait, the more I panic.

I did want to say, the testing for H. Pylori was apart of my pre-op and initial labs. So I would check and make sure it wasn’t included?? Just a suggestion. One of my family members had H.Pylori and she was miserable. Oh it was so awful! I hope that it isn’t it!

Thank you! I'm going in for my preop appt this morning. I imagine that my diet will start soon.

I did do the H. Pylori test! I was convinced that I had it, because of how miserable I was feeling. My PCP's office called and said it was negative. However, when I went in for the consult regarding endoscopy/conoloscopy the doctor there said the results were positive! I was shocked since my PCP said negative. The nurse had to do a double take, because I told her that I was informed that it was negative. The doctor came in and explained that it indeed was positive. Anyhow, I was given antibiotics and an anti-acid. After the 2 weeks treatment, I was feeling AMAZING. My stomach was no longer feeling bloated. I was so happy.

Then came metformin. Here I am feeling miserable again. I'm not sure if it's metformin or I need to get a test for H.Pylori again. I'm going to ask the surgeon. Is it my gastritis, metformin, or H.Pylori is back? Ugh... can't wait to kick the health issues to the curb. Go Sleeve! 😆

I know December feels like a long way right now, but before you know it, you'll be posting what a success your surgery was. Try to use this time to keep informed and do your research. Keep your mind busy on positive things which means you night have to avoid the news and politics! 😜

I spent time on this site and some other forums reading everyone's experience. One could never know how our bodies will react to the surgery, but I'm not going into it blindly. I'm making a conscious decision knowing of the many possibilities. A common thread that I noticed is that the individuals who did have some complications, were still happy that they went through with the surgery. I found that to be a remarkable testament.

Exciting days awaiting for us.

[RainbowBrite57 153]

Congratulations & I hope you are feeling better! I, like you, spent so many hours on this site & on the internet as a whole. I made myself a binder with different categories that I refer too often. Best of luck to you!!!

[kalí̱ ygeía 45]

41 minutes ago, RainbowBrite57 said:

Congratulations & I hope you are feeling better! I, like you, spent so many hours on this site & on the internet as a whole. I made myself a binder with different categories that I refer too often. Best of luck to you!!!

Awww, your avatar use to be one of my favorite cartoons as a kid! Love it! Thanks, I am feeling better today.

I had my preop and I bombarded the surgeon with questions. Fortunately, he was nice and didn't seem annoyed. LOL

I didn't think to make a binder. That's a brilliant idea! There's so much information out there. What did you include in your binder?

[VickieRenee 56]

2 hours ago, RainbowBrite57 said:

Congratulations & I hope you are feeling better! I, like you, spent so many hours on this site & on the internet as a whole. I made myself a binder with different categories that I refer too often. Best of luck to you!!!

What a great idea! Thanks for sharing - I think I'll make a binder this weekend