funygurl

18 days until surgery!!! I'm very excited but was shopping for food to last me until Thursday the 22nd when I start my pre-op shakes and bars. I was so nervous and started panicking because food has been my life as long as I can remember and having the tiny stomach really got me thinking I was going to be losing out on so much. I realized I don't need to over eat and binge to make myself feel good. I'm excited for the surgery and all the wonderful positive changes it will bring!!

when i wrote my letter I put things in it like all the stuff I can't or won't do because of my weight and things I want to do like ride a roller coaster again and feel comfortable in my own skin, and being in a swimming suit etc. A big thing for me was putting that I wanted to be happy. Just be honest with it because you're the one making the changes and you should be honest with yourself, not just putting things down so the doctors can mark it off the "to do" checklist. ' Hopefully this helps!!! Good Luck with everything!! =D

if i am ever reading anything and someone wrote an abbreviation that I don't know i will just Google the abbreviation and it should pop up .... hope this helps =)

So I've been on the site a while now and have gotten tons of useful information so thank you all so very much!!!! I've been doing a required weight loss program through my doctor ( insurance prerequisite) and just heard from insurance that I was approved for surgery! It seems like it took so long but I finally have my surgery date =D October 7th is the beginning of my new and improved life =D I'm very excited since I've been overweight for all of my life. It will be here faster than I know it and I will keep you all updated! Please feel free to send me helpful tips on stuff that has worked for you through your journey

I'm 23 and have the same issues with overeating and binging and with your surgery date so close I would definitely recommend getting in to see a nutritionist/ dietitian to help at least prepare you for after surgery. I assume the eating is emotional reasons so hopefully you're seeing someone or at least making progress with that. I wont have my surgery until July but it still makes me nervous because I'm afraid if I don't have my binging under complete control that I will mess up my surgeons beautiful job =0 The surgery wont fix everything, it's there as a tool for weight loss so the whole point of seeing someone is to help prepare you for after surgery so that you continue making healthy choices and you keep on having successes =D Good Luck with everything!!! Cheryl

Medically supervised program refers to some sort of followed program that you check in with your doctors about weekly or monthly. I have the same requirement and for my health care they have what they call a shared medical meeting once a month were its a group of people and you have a leader- usually a dietitian or the weight loss program leader- who discusses ways to help change habits we have learned along the way. During the meeting you are called out of the room and weighed and speak with your doctor to make sure you're on plan and are doing well. It's mainly getting you to make smarter choices and help with changes after the surgery. They have us track food and exercise and bring those along. Most insurances require that along with the medically supervised program you have a steady weight loss before the surgery so it goes hand in hand. I also did a very low calorie diet with shakes and bars which I checked in weekly for but that also qualified as a medically supervised program.its all to make sure a person is set up for success after the surgery so I would check with your health care provider to see what they offer. As far as the insurance accepting the surgery I don't know what to tell you. Every one is different and I would definitely talk to your weight loss doctors about it as well if you haven't already. I also had my primary doctors write recommendation letters for the surgery for bettering my health- which was also part of the presurgery requirements for me- but if you have yours do the same they can always help better your chances and/or counter the denial if that's what the insurance decides. I don't foresee it being a problem though... I called my insurance people and asked lots of questions and focused on the requirements and had them send me a copy. If you qualify for the surgery based on the requirements I don't see why they would deny you. Good luck with everything!!!! Cheryl