PRE-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A

Just have to report that I'm one baby step closer to getting my band, although it's still a ways away! Last month, I made the decision to change PCP so that I could get the surgeon I wanted. I had to wait for Nov. 1st for that to go into effect, then had to schedule an appoinment with my PCP. I saw my new PCP for the first time today. What a doll! I was so worried that she'd be judgmental or lecture me about trying a diet first, and crap like that--Like I got to be 286 pounds yesterday. But she was sweet and impressed that I had researched all bariatric procedures and the local surgeons and understood the process. I would like to get banded at the beginning of June becaus…

Hello Forum Members! This is my first time in the Forum, I'm currently waiting for insurance approval. I have Blue Cross/Blue Shield from Illinois. I'm 40 years old and have Sleep Apnea/High Cholesterol and Acid Reflux. I have attempted for years to loose wait and like many I end up doing the 'Yo-Yo Dieting" My Primary Doctor recommended for me to have the "sleeve Gastrectomy". However I was told the that the Insurance would not cover the sleeve gastrectomy because is considered an investigational Procedure. So if in fact is not covered, my doctor suggested the Lap Band. Can someone tell me their experience with the Band?

Can you all tell me what the diet is that your doctor recommended before and after the banding? I'm going to my seminar soon and am reading that you all have done some kind of diets before and after and I was just wondering what it is! THANK YOU! Breanne

Getting banded November 24 and can't wait!! I've been reading all the info on things to drink post op. Prior to my surgery date I started buying foods and drinks I will need. One of the things I bought was Slimfast because the article said it was acceptable so I bought 3 cases of different flavors. Now I read another article that has it as a "no no". Has any one been using Slimfast and let me know how your tolerating it. Thanks:biggrin:

I am on my third day of this medifast diet, it's so bland!!! The tomato soup looks like barf! and tastes almost as bad! The oatmeal looks like gruel. Ugh, I have to be on this for 14 days prior to surgery. (fatty liver) I can hang for 2 weeks, but I googled medifast and found their website. People actully use this for long term weightloss!! I can't believe it, I've been on many diets but never one so yucky!! Knowing that I have only a week and a half left and there is a light at that end of the tunnel makes it doable! :leaving:

I know there are a gazillion protein drinks, shakes and powders out there. I also know everyone's taste is different....however, there are a lot of products that are just plain yucky to a LOT of people, and also some that are either NOT BAD or pretty good to many folks. Can you give me some feedback on the good, bad and the ugly on this? Thanks!

I couldn't be more annoyed. Four months ago I took the written exam for possibly having sleep apnea (along with the myriad of other tests). Long story short -- I asked twice if I was "OK" with the apnea thing. Since I had heard about every other test and nothing on this. The office assistant was too lazy to look and said "If you haven't heard, then you're good.". Guess what!?! Today they think I have sleep apnea and I need to do a sleep over for more analysis. My surgery is next week!!!! Do the sleep apnea results postpone surgergy or just change what the anesthesiologist does????

I've been feeling so bloated and gassy and I haven't even been banded yet. It must be my age I'll be 50 in March. I used to have an Iron stomach ....that is not the case any longer. After banding how long did it take for the gas from surgery to go away for you? thanks

So, I'm being banded on the 10th of March. My Protein of choice at this point is from NOW foods. I'd like to hear other opinions about protein sources.

I don't want to sound like I'm whining, but I have given up most all other bad vices. I stopped using tobacco products 11 years ago, I haven't had a drink of anything alcohol in 12 years. I even stopped drinking soda pop 4 months ago. Other than my weight and not getting enough excercise I live fairly healthy. My lap-band surgery is on 11-25-08, and amoung all the other things to prepare I'm told I have to give up coffee, and all other caffine products. All this time I thought coffee was a guiltless pleasure that I truely enjoy. I don't know how I can function, especially without that afternoon pick-me-up. I tried going cold turkey, but the headaches and withdrawl symptom…

Hello everybody! My name is Candy and I'm looking into the lap-band for the 3rd time. (1st time found out I was pregnant before even taking the class, 2nd time just couldn't afford it). A quick bio: I'm 36, I'm a mom of a 1 yr old and a 3 yr old, I've been overweight my whole life yet was "healthy" until 7 years ago. I have type 2 diabetes, diverticulosis (had surgery to remove part of my colon), IBS, and I'm on my 3rd Invernal hernia. My bmi is just around 40. At this point, WLS is my last chance to be a good mom and live to see my boys grow up. I have an insurance company (lifewise of Oregon) that up front says absolutely no bariatric procedures, but the insurance age…

just wondering if everyone has to have an upper gi before banding. only test that kinda freaks me out. Gitrdone:eek::cool2:

Hi everyone, I am scheduled to attend a seminar on Nov. 20 and trying to get the ball rolling a little before I attend. What kind of letter do I need to ask the doctor to write to my insurance company? Also same question for the psychiatric eval? if anyone can help me I would be so appreciative! Thanks, Jennifer

Hi Everyone! I was just wondering if anyone has any ideas to spice up the pre-op Optifast diet. Where I am getting my surgery done, they only allow us to have 3 chocolate optifast shakes a day and 2 cups of veggies. I have been trying to drink the shakes for the last week but I am really struggling to finish them due to the taste. Luckily, I haven't cheated at all but I am worried about how I will do in the second week. The only suggestion the clinic could give me was to add coffee to make it like a mocha (not that great). I have also figured out the peppermint covers the smell but its getting old fast. Any help I could get would be great. Cheers!!

Hi... i have my pulmonary exam on tues... what can i expect... do you think they are going to send me for a sleep test????

So my doc quoted 17k..I live in Orlando. I will be paying for it through financing so getting the best band for my $ is important. I want a skilled doctor ....not willing to risk my life in a non qualifiied surgeon. However a friend of mine also paid out of pocket through financing and paid 6k????? What is the status quo? What are you guys paying or what is your 411 on this? thanks in advance Slim:confused:

I have been having digestive and gall bladder "spells" can they take my gallbladder out with the lb procedure?

I'm having my banding Nov 24. On my upper GI the Dr noticed a hiatal hernia and is going to repair it at the time of the banding. He said this was common with alot of people. If anyone else had this problem was the recovery time any longer and how much pain afterwards. I'd appreciate any comments you can share. Thanks to all

I know this has been asked before, but just wondering who has and been ok for surgery. I'm on day 6 of a 14 day diet, which includes one 4oz piece of lean meat and green veggies plus 2-3 protein shakes. I haven't cheated but I'm gettin twitchy :rolleyes2: Thanks...

Hello, I am just starting on this exciting journey, scheduled my first informational seminar on Dec 10th and then I'll begin the 6 month requirements requested by my insurance company. I was curious as to what tests you need to have done before surgery, is it standard things? I had my gall bladder out in 2005 and had to have an EKG and chest X-ray before my surgery, also I know they do blood work. Just preparing for what is to come. Thanks everyone.

its all new to me i just learned about it one month ago, and i have an appt for consultation on Nov 16, i am scared to have procedure but have struggled with my weight since i was 16, need to lose about 60 pounds:unsure:

:thumbup:I am 63 years old and weigh 250 lbs and am 5"2 I am from Columbia SC and am on Medicaid and have tryed every diet on the market .I will lose maybe 10 to 15 lbs. but after that I just start gaining it back I need to find A doctor who will take medicaid to pay for the surgery:confused:

Dont mean to sound stupid but there are a bunch of threads about constipation and I am having the opposite problem during this pre-op diet. Is that normal?

Has anyone gained weight on their 6 month diet? Okay, so on Monday I got in to see my nutritionalist lady for my 4th month of my 6 month diet. Last time I saw her I lost 4 pounds. She was thrilled. I neglected to mention to her that I was violently ill the week prior and I didn't eat for 4 days, so there's the 4 pounds. Well now I'm going to go in there and probably will have gained 10lbs. No joke. If I had a scale that went up to my weight I could tell for sure. I weigh probably about 385. I'm dreading going to see her. I keep thinking that I will tell her about all my stresses. Filed bankruptcy, repossed car, sick husband, marriage trouble. You know the normal life s…

:redface:Hi all, I have never posted before, but feel like I need some support. I am at the starting line. I went to the seminar 6 months ago. A month later my insurance changed and the hospital near me didn't work with that insurance for the weightloss program. Well as luck finally has it I am getting new insurance next month that they do work with. I got really excited, but then these thoughts started running through my head. I really need this I have a bad back and had surgery and will face more if I don't get my weight under control.Also just other weight related health issues. My concern like I'm sure many of you had is what if I have this done and can't handle it a…

Hi All, I have my appointment with the bariatric coordinator this month. I hope after that things go much quicker. I still need to attend a support group, get a letter from my PCP stating they support my decision, take the psych eval and nutritional consult, and then talk to the doc. I have all my paperwork ready to go. My question is this though. Due to Aunt Flo, I caught myself twice this week eating when I wasn't hungry. I also know I tend to be an emotional eater. So, I am nervous now that if I can eat when I am not hungry now, then how in the heck can I be successful with the band if I don't get this under control? I really, really am at my wits end with be…

After lap band surgery, how long until you were able to go back to work? Drive? Thanks.

The liquid diet seems prety expensive, I know a case of Optifast is like 70.00 dollars a case. :eek: I know that most doctors want you on a liquid diet before & after surgery. Are there cheaper products that work as well as optifast, Or can I just create my own liquid diet with slim fast, & glucerna or boost ? I have great insurance but they said they don't pay for the liquid diet. Can I have some advise. Thanks Doc

Hi Im due to be banded mid Dec , my surgeaon has used both Allergan and J&J band and has no preferance, he has given me info on both and website info and said decision is ultimatly mine. Anyone have any input right now Im leaning towards the J&J but havnt made a final decision

I went to my drs today and seen him for the first time except the seminar. He asked me how much weight I needed to lose, I said about 95 pounds. He said a successful weight lost is 55% of your weight so I should lose 55-60 pounds. Of course I want to lose more than that! Can anyone explain what he meant. If I work hard at this I can lose the rest, right? The lady that does the insurance said it takes about a week for her to get my paper work ready, then the submit it to the insurance and they have 45 days to respond but normally respond in a 2-3 weeks. I have seen so many of you say you got an approval in a few days, I didn't know it was going to take that long. Then …

I haven't been here for a while. I lost my job and insurance in November of last year. I got depressed because I had just been given my surgery date, January 23, 2008. I had an awesome doctor and the surgery would cost me nothing because I was a Kaiser employee. I was devastated. Well... my husband just got a great job... with benefits. My insurance kicks in December 1. I am so excited. I don't know if I have to start over again or if I can just call and get put back on the surgery list. It will cost 500$ now but it is soooo much better than self pay and I am truly grateful. I will keep in touch and let you all know what is going on and I thank you all for the help I…

I have not spoken to a Dr. Yet when I speak to my regular doctor he just says diet and exercise. Well I have gone from 185 to 340 over a period of 7 years. I am 31 years old and only 5'5. I have pretty good insurance. I am a school teacher. How should I go about getting the process started?

I'm a Newbie and just starting into this (I apologize now, if there is a list on this site, but I couldn't find it). My insurance is Highmark PPO Blue (BC/BS) of PA. I have a low BMI (36/37) so I'm learning that I need to document as many comorbidities as I have with my PCP -eg. my insurance needs 35-40 BMI "with comorbidities (eg., hypertension, cardiovascular heart disease, dyslipidemis, diabetes mellitus type II, sleep apnea" (note- comorbiditieS, plural). While at an initial information seminar at the hospital I was surprised to see Asthma (I developed adult onset Asthma a few years ago) on their list of minor comorbidities during the slide show as obesity related (st…

Just wondering how many of you went in for surgery to wake up being told your liver was too fatty and couldn't do it. My dr doesn't require a pre-op diet and I'm worried. If you did wake up with no band, what was your BMI? Mine is 48. Thank you, Leilani

Did anyone's Dr. require them to stop smoking in order to have surgery done?

okay, I have read alot of posting on how people have cheated on their pre-op diets and it seems like nothing! I was suppose to start on monday and have not done well! I have eaten donuts yesterday and freakin pie today! I know tomorrow I HAVE TO DO BETTER! I go for my surgery on Nov 14th! I really wasn't nervous at first but the past two weeks I am really eating and just going wild! I need some advice and some encouragement! thanks:confused::smile2::thumbup:

okay next week is my month three appointment. I am having a horrible time trying to lose weight. After my month one appointment i wasnt really trying to lose weight because i knew i would be restricted after surgery.. so this was my time to get in what i could. lame i know... wish i would have found this site before hand. Anyways after my month two appointment i had gained almost ten pounds!!! Then i learned that i need to show that i can lose weight before surgery, so i put my butt in high gear and did what i could to eat way better. Honestly i stuck to the diet to a "T". I ate under my intake of calories i was supposed to a day,and kept a daily food journal. Well i went…

Wow! I am so excited to find an online community for people undergoing lap-band surgery. I am not getting much support from my friends here, so having friends online will have to do! I'm a 20 year old college student, and I've struggled with my weight all my life. I've gained 50 pounds since coming to college and am at my heaviest right now. I tried NutriSystem, Phentermine, traditional low-cal/exercise plans, SlimFast, hypnosis, Weight Watchers- EVERYTHING and nothing worked. Surgery was the final option. I'm having my surgery with Dr. Lord in Pensacola. I went to his informational seminar in August, had my initial consult/1st nutrition appointment/psych eval/blood …

Finally after a year of jumping through hoops for my insurance company, they have approved my surgery and I am excited to say I will be banded November 17! I was seeing a doctor locally that was out of network and they said that they could ask the insurance company to let them use in network benefits. The day I got my approval, they said no they couldn't use in network benefits and I would have to pay $3,000 out of my pocket. Ouch!! So the closest in network doctor was 3 hours away. So I went to see him and he scheduled my surgery for the 17th of this month. AND since I am using an in network doctor, the insurance will pay 100% of the surgery. The only bad thing is …

Has anyone had their period on the day of surgery? If so, how is this handled.

Well I am on day 3 of my pre op diet. I think the headache is gone, finally. I have been on a diet like this before , so I know it was going to happen. I been doing good, no cheating. I do think about food, but I just reread instructions from my doctor. NO FOOD... I do keep thinking, " is this all worth it", will I be able to be normal again. But then I think. I have never eaten "normal". I think about what it will be like not to shop in the plus sizes. ( I will be there for a while still) but the real thought that this is happening. I am going to lose the weight this time. One of the scariest things I have been reading is that many people only lose 50% of their excess w…

Hi everyone - I went to the seminar last Saturday (the first step!) and had my paperwork with my history, diets, etc., all done and submitted by Monday. They said to be patient as it would go through a preapproval process with our insurance company and a nurse would call to go over the form with us, but it may take some time for the nurse to go through it all. I know I'm going to have to get a lot of patience through this process (something my husband says I don't have a lot of!). Can anyone give me an idea of how long it may be before I hear from the nurse about receiving the form and the next steps? Thanks! bambam

Hello to everyone. This is my first post. I started here because I just made up my mind that I want to have the lap band. I haven't even gone to a seminar yet, but I have been researching different weight loss surgeries for months now. I am worried now because I haven't been on a supervised weight loss program for 6 months, but from past experience, I can't do it. I looked in to this about 4 years ago when I was 6 feet tall and 268 pounds and they told me I "wasn't fat enough". Also, the doctor was trying to force gastric bypass surgery on me, which I definitely did not want. So here I am 4 years later, weighing 335 pounds and miserable. Once I go to my semi…

So i got my approval on thursday while i was out of town, soooooo excited. I have my preop consult on wednesday 11-5 and surgery for tuesday 11-11. If anyone has any advice on what i may need to get to make the post op healing a little easier please share and any advice at all for the surgery itself as well as the postop. Thanks so much!!!!!!!!!

How long after surgery before you were able to drive? 11 days until surgery and I'm trying to get everything organised for the kids. Thanks in advance

I am so excited. I finally got my surgery date. I've been waiting and working through all the insurance hoops since February. Now that it is only six weeks away I'm nervous, happy, scared. Part of me wants it done TODAY and another part of me wants to find the nearest chinese buffet. :thumbup: I should be getting my surgery instructions this week. Then I will know more. This place has been a Godsend to me. I don't post often, but I do lurk a lot and read a lot....thanks to all of you! hugs....cat:girl_hug:

It took me 3 years to come to the decision to do this, and once I did I was ready to do it. Now I'm 2 weeks away, and I'm actually doing this! I had my upper GI yesterday, they gave me some ID stickers for my surgery (whoa) and I have already bought some sample protein drinks to see which one I like the best. I'm not nervous, or scared, and I certainly don't have any doubts about what I'm doing, but I have got serious butterflies in my tummy everytime I think about it. I guess it's more excitement than anything. I feel like the life I always wanted is about to begin, and I just hope that I'm able to be strong and do what I need to do to make this work.

Hubby and I went to the surgeon yesterday. He has his surgery next Tuesday, Nov 16th. He started the liquid diet today. Tonight he is having a hard time - he is taking diet soda, crystal light, cottage cheese, canned peaches, 1/2 banana. I got him some slim fast drinks. Any other suggestions. He is starting to get a little nervous now.

I have been lurking for quite some time and saw my surgeon today. I will be self-paying since I have Kaiser and my BMI is not high enough. I do have hypertension and am pre-diabetic. Both were learned recently. I understand having to pay for the surgery etc... but what I really would like to know is has anyone else had to pay for the stuff required before the surgery, or did Kaiser cover it? My surgeon requires blood lab work, 12 lead EKG, psyche eval, physical for General Anesthesia clearance and chest xrays prior to surgery. Did Kaiser cover these expenses for anyone? I called and spoke with an advice nurse and will not hear back until Tuesday.

Hey out there! I live in the Corpus Christi area. I am thinking about using Dr. Griffin. Has anyone else used him? He has an opening in Nov. and I want to fill the spot. I am a self pay, ready to complete all the pre-op consults, test, so forth. Now he thinks maybe I am feeling rushed... NOPE I want it done the sooner the better. Is there something I am missing here? Should I have to wait until January? I don't want to! Let me hear some advice from anyone out there. Thanks so much and I can't wait to be one of the banded ones!!!!:thumbup: