karaserene1985

I'm getting so excited as well.... also nervous! Its about 75% to 25% right now.... I know in about a month and half it will be more the opposite! Some days I feel like I just don't know what to expect so I come on here and search blogs for hours.... other days..... I feel I can't possibly take in anything new. I think I will go crazy before this surgery! Kara

Sorry, I didn't know there was a special section for the monthly sleevers. Congrats on your date!

Sorry, I didn't even know there was a section down here for the monthly sleevers. Congrats on your date. You will be going before me and in Mexico so our stories have different paths, but in the end will have the same outcome. Good luck! Can't wait to here your journey. Kara

I have not seen a thread on here as it may be too early for the May sleevers, but I thought I would start one since I have a May surgery date! Anyone out there getting sleeved in May? I will be having surgery on Tuesday May 24th at 10:30 A.M. with Midwest Bariatric Solutions in Theda Clark Medical Center Neenah Wisconsin. Super excited at this point! I know the nerves will come soon enough! Calling all May sleevers! Lets start this journey together! Kara

Woo Hoo!!! Got my surgery date! I will be sleeved on Tuesday May 24th at 10:30 AM. Not as soon as I had hoped for but any date is better then none at all right? Watch my blog for an updated post this Sunday! Thank you all! Kara

Oh no... "nasty" comments.... I say bring them.... I'm ready...... Thank you for following me! Kara

Thank you for subscribing! I really appreciate all the support I have been getting! A new post will be coming this weekend! Kara

Hello All--- I thought I would start a You Tube Video blog to show my progress. I tried doing a blog on myblogspot.com but just couldn't keep up with it. I would appreciate your support and would love for you all to follow my adventure on You Tube. Below are the links. My introduction was long and took two videos. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cvskeoFbVU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMGsqXV3BsM Thanks for all your support! Kara

Wow, I'm sorry your waiting for your approval. My information was sent to UHC yesterday via fax and the case manager with Bariatric Resource Services called me within 3 hours of it being sent saying I was approved. I know what greatly helped speed up my process was that i called and got an 800 number for my surgeons office to "open a case" for me and then I got a fax number for them to submit it to. I also had been working with the case manager for 6 months making sure I was meeting all the requirements so she would have everything that was needed. Good luck and I hope your hear soon!

I also have UHC and it sounds like we have a similar policy. Mine will also be covered 100% minus my $250 copay for the hospital stay. I have had my insurnace since June 2010 so it has been less then a year and i have met with doctors for years to discuss my obesity so for me it is a pre-existing condition. My information was sent to insurance yesterday and i was approved yesterday. I would do the same as Deb suggested which is to call the case manager who is working on your file and ask lots of questions. Over the course of my 6 months of supervised diet, I probably called her 10 times and she was always, always, very happy to answer and help with my questions. Good luck! Kara

Yes it is very strange the way my feelings changed. I was anxious and frustrated for approval.... Now I'm scared and anxious to get a surgery date and start this new chapter in my life. Very strange how fast the emotions came! Best of luck to all of you who are still waiting.... and sometimes being persistent is a good thing!

My center of excellence had my information for over 21 days and had many "glitches" in the way of it being submitted to insurance. Others were in line in front of me, I had to do an additional month with the NUT because I only lost 4.5 pounds during the 6 months of visits, they went through a computer conversion etc, etc, etc.... I was in contact the with bariatric coordnator weekly because I had not heard anything about it being submitted to insurance. I spoke with the coordnator via email this morning and she stated she would ask transcriptioning to type up my letter today to be sent. Well, only 3 hours after I received that email I got a phone call from my case manager at UHC that I was approved. Now all I need is to set a date! This has been a long frustrating process and I will be so excited to get my date! Now, as long as it does not take my center of excellence an additional 21 days just to give me a date! lol... Woo Hoo.... Finally see a light at the end of the tunnel! Kara

OMG! WOULD YOU BELIEVE THAT AT 4:31 THIS AFTERNOON THE CASE MANAGER FROM UHC CALLED ME TO SAY I HAD BEEN APPROVED?!? THIS NEVER WOULD HAVE HAPPEND IF I DIDN'T STAY ON TOP OF MY SUBMISSION. I KNEW AS SOON AS IT WAS SENT I WOULD RECEIVE A FAST DECISION BUT I DIDN'T EXPECT WITH IN 3 HOURS! SIMPLY AMAZING... NOW JUST NEED TO SET A DATE!

No crying here.... Just lots of frustration.... I think that is why this it is so hard.... I have been doing this supervised diet for almost 8 months now. Work out on average 3 times a week for an hour and a half and I have only lost 4.5 pounds. If you don't count what I gained while my body was getting used to eating all the higher fat more Protein items.... It is very hard to stay motivated and I just want to have the surgery to have the "tool" to help my efforts at losing weight. Its no wonder after 7 months I have only lost 4.5 pounds. The story of my life... Thats why I need the surgery to help. The biggest step to getting the surgery for me at this point is getting approved by insurance and I am having a very hard time waiting...

Hello All, I just need to vent and I thought here would be the perfect place. I was going to have the sleeve done April 15th of 2010 as a self pay. I cancelled my surgery date as I was not comfortable at the time with how fast the process went and I did not have the support of some very important family members. ~~~~ Fast forward to June 2010~~~~ I got a new job with excellent insurance that covers the sleeve at 100%. All I have to pay is my $250 deductible for the hospital stay. I started my insurance requirements which were 6 months worth of a supervised diet and a psych evaluation. The other item was that I need to have the surgery with a Center of Excellence. I located a center only 45 minutes from my home, (15 minutes from work) and that this would be great so close to home and I will have time to better prepare myself for this. ~~~~Fast forward 6 months later~~~~ I met with my nutritionist for 6 months and also did my psych eval. The nutritionist suggested meeting for one more month as I did not lose any weight during the 6 month supervised diet. So I met with her for the 7th month in a row on February 8th. At that time I had all my requirements for the center of excellence to submit to insurance. The center also had their own requirements which was I had to meet with their psychologist and their nutritionist. ( I did my entire 7 months with her and did my psych eval with thier person as well) I also had to have a letter of reccommendation from my PCP. I got a letter from my doctor who I saw for 15 years prior to moving to this area, as well as my new PCP who just did my annual exam and blood work. I also got past doctors notes from previous weight loss attempts as well as copies from my gym memberships showing attempts at weight loss. All of this was sent to the center of excellence prior to my February 7th NUT appointment so they would have everything in place to send to insurance. I also have been going to support groups, and a life skills group that was "suggested" by the center to go to. I have done everything I possibly can to make this easier. I have been in contact with the Bariatric Coordnator since my Feb 7th appointment to find out about my submission to insurance. She stated to me that they had everything they needed and it would be reviewed by the nurse practioner and then go to transcriptioning, after that it would be sent to the surgeon for a signature and then sent to the insurance company. She stated I would get a letter in the mail when it was sent out, but if I was able to get a fax number to send the information to, it would speed up the process. The very day I got the email from her, I called UHC and got a phone number for them to call to open up a case, and the fax number for them to send my information to. ~~~~Fast Forward to Feb 16th~~~~ I still hadn't heard anything about my submission to insurance so I contacted the coordinator and she told me that they are reviewed in the order they are received and mine was next to be reviewed by the nurse practioner. That is understandable I know they have to go in order. So I asked if mine was what a rough estimate of time would be for it to be reviewed. She could not give me an answer as the time varies for it to go through each step.... Yes... that is also understandable.... ~~~~Fast forward to today March 1st, almost 2 weeks from my last contact.~~~~ I emailed the coordnator to once again find out what was going on with my submission as I still have not received the letter that it was sent to insurance. I got a very rude email back saying that they went through a computer conversion last Friday and that the conversion took their time away from processing the submissions and that there is only one N.P. who works for the surgery department who also sees patients etc and that was the hold up on my submission. It has been over 21 days since they have had all my information to send to insurance and she stated on the 22nd the N.P reviewed it and it has been sitting in transcriptioning since. Now I know it seems like I am a Bi*** regarding the submssion, but really.... Does it need to take almost an entire month just to "review" it before even being submitted to insurance. The N.P. told me today she would ask transcriptiong to type up my letter... I just really hope they don't half A** is now and leave things out causing more delay! Sorry, I just really needed to vent about this. ****Crossing my fingers that by the end of the week my information will at least be sent to Insurance so I can find out if I'm approved or not**** Kara

I also have UHC. Do you know if your information was mailed, or faxed? My information should be on its way to them so I am just curious on my turn around time. I was told my be case manager at UHC (Bariatric Resource Services) that she can approve within 24-48 hours if she has everything and it is faxed. Congrats on your approval!

I have UHC but work for Guardian Life Insurance Company. Each policy is different and has there own requirements.

I feel just like you! I had my last nutritionist appointment on February 8th., I had everything I needed to submit to Insurance at this appointment. I hadn't heard anything from my center of excellence a week later so I emailed the bariatric coordnator. I asked her what my status was as they had everything they needed to be reviewed for a week already. She told me that the nurse practioner looks at the files in order they are received on the desk and at that time mine was next to be reviewed. She said the nurse practioner would review it and then it would go to transciptioning and then needs the surgeons signature and then could be faxed to insurance. (I also have UHC). She stated that once it is sent to insurance I would receive a letter in the mail. It has been another week and still nothing. I took the extra step to call my case manager at UHC to get the 800 number and fax number needed to open a case for me and fax directly to my case manager. Speaking with my case manager she stated that once she has everything she can make an approval within 24 to 48 hours. My problem right now is that is has been 2 weeks that my center of excellence has had all my paperwork ready to send to insurance and they still have not sent it. I know it has to be in the order received on the nurse practioners desk, but really how long does it take to review my file, send it to transcriptioning, get a signature and fax it..... I am getting so annoyed... I'm going to wait until Monday and if I have not received my letter that it was sent to insurance I'm going to be very angry. All this waiting has really made me lose my motivation. I'm finding it harder to stay on my diet and work out.... I almost feel like whats the point.... If I at least had my letter that it was sent I would feel stronger and see a light at the end of the tunnel.... I find this no fault of UHC. They have been great throughout this whole process answering every question I had, and returning my calls. It is just my center of excellence that has had there own rules and requirements that I had to wait longer and who is holding up the process.... Anxiously waiting! Kara

Very familiar with Manty, I actually grew up just outside of Cleveland and went to Kiel schools. Its a small world sometimes. Good luck today! I'm sure they won't have any issues doing in laproscopicly. Just curious did you ask Dr. Kemmerling how many sleeves he had done? At this time last year he had only done about 10 of them and had one leak. He did explain the person with the leak had a wide range of issues causing him to be a very high risk surgery. Just curious how much experience he has since last year. I know he has been around for several years and has done tons of the other surgeries. I do have to say, I would like to thank Dr. Kemmerling because I first heard of the sleeve at one of his seminars. I was interested in the band before I heard of the sleeve that day. I see his commercials on tv all the time for his seminars and I think where would I be now if I had never gone to his semianr last January! Hey.... remember to walk, walk, walk today! That's what they all say! Let us know how it goes! HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

Wow.... good luck tomorrow! I am also from Green Bay. I actually was going to get sleeved last year by Dr. Kemmerling on April 15th but was a self pay and my mother was not very supportive. I have obtained insurance since then so now am currently going through the insurance hoops. My insurance requires the surgery to be done by a center of excellence and Dr. Kemmerling is not. I will be having my surgery with MIdwest Bariatric Solutions out of Neenah. I am quite happy with going through Midwest Bariatric Solutions rather then Dr. Kemmerling. When I met with him everything went so fast. I had a 5 minute appointment and then he said your good and we scheduled surgery. There were no preop requirements. It was very fast. I don't think I was mentally prepared. With my insurance requirements, I had to do a 6 month supervised diet, and a psych eval. I think I am so much better off w/ MBS then Dr. Kemmerling. I feel so much more prepared. In case you are wondering, I am 25 years old, 5'8 and currently 316 pounds. I wish you luck on your surgery tomorrow. It is a great V-day gift to yourself. I'd love to keep in touch since we are from the same area. I have not met anyone else from GB or the surrounding areas on here. I am hoping to have my surgery by mid March. I have all the requirements together and MBS should be submitting to insurance either the end of last week or the beginning of this week. I'm so excited to finally get this going. It seems so long since I started this process. Once again good luck with Dr. Kemmerling. I've known a few people who have had the surgery with him.

A pre-op diet is required to shrink the liver. All surgeons have different pre-op diet requirements. Mine is the same diet I have been doing for 7 months. High Protein, low carb. I don't have to do a liquid only, or one meal only ect. I get 3 balanced meals each day w/ low carbs.

I have UHC and am going for my 7th month check up with my nutritionist today. As long as I show a drop they will be submitting my info to insurance for approval. I had to do a 6 month supervised diet (now in my 7th month) and a psch eval for UHC. For my surgeons center (center of excellence) I had to see there nutritionist for at least two months, and there psychologist. have 6 months worth of supervised diet, personal letter from my primary care doctor indicating the necessity for the surgery. I did everything through there center to make sure I am meeting all requirements for both. I called twice to verify if the sleeve is covered and it will be..... AT 100%! I have great insurance and my only out of pocket cost will be my copay of $250 for the hospital stay. Everything else is 100% covered. I am hoping after my appointment today my nurse coordinator will submit to UHC and I will have a quick turnaround on a decision. I do not have any comorbities but I am 25 years old, 313 lbs, and have a BMI of 47.5. I have also included notes from my doctor from the last 4 years showing my weigh in, and meeting with her to discuss my obesity. I meet all UHC requirements so I don't see how they could deny me but I am worried! Hopefully she submits it by the end of the week to insurance and I can finally be on my way.... Once you had everything in to UHC how soon did you hear a decision? I am hoping to have the sugery mid to late March.... I've heard some of you say within 24 hours. That would be FANTASTIC, because then I could finally have a surgery date!

I work for an insurance company and right now it is our busy season. "open enrollment" All areas of the company are on mandatory overtime. My husband has been unemployed for over 2 years and is also a full time student. He lost is unemployment 4 months ago so I have been working additional overtime over the mandatory to compensate for the money lost by unemployment. My husbands school schedule does not allow him to find a part time job so I am the only one bringing home income. As far as getting off for the surgery I have excellent benefits here. I will use 5 days of sick time and then short term disability for the remainder when taking time off for the surgery. That won't be a problem. I am going to have to start cutting down the additional overtime I'm doing anyway because I joined a Bariatric Support Group last night that was recommended (not required) by the psycharisist. I will be going to that every Thursday night for the next 7 weeks. I think you are right about the stress.... I have so much going on in my life and stress is a huge factor when trying to lose weight. Sooner or later I am going to have to cope with the fact that I need to cut down the overtime to spend more time taking care of myself.... Starting Monday... I've decided to plan out every day w/ a set schedule.... Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday Alarm: 3:00 AM Wake up: 3:15 AM Get ready for work out: 3:15-3:30 AM Work out: 3:30-4:30 AM Get ready for work: 4:30-5:30 Drive to work: 5:30-6:00 Work: 6:00AM-5:30 PM (3 hours of overtime) Drive home: 5:30-6:00 PM Cook Dinner/Eat dinner: 6:00-7:00 Relax/ Do homework/ House duties: 7:00-9:00 PM GO TO BED: 9:00 PM Sleep: 9:00 PM-3:00 AM ********Start all over again******** Thursdays Alarm: 3:00 AM Wake up: 3:15 AM Get ready for work out: 3:15-3:30 AM Work out: 3:30-4:30 AM Get ready for work: 4:30-5:30 Drive to work: 5:30-6:00 Work: 6:00AM-5:30 PM (3 hours of overtime) Drive to support group meeting: 5:30-6:00 PM Support Group: 6:00-8:00 PM Drive Home: 8:00-8:30 PM Relax: 8:30-9:00 PM GO TO BED: 9:00 PM Sleep: 9:00 PM-3:00 AM Saturdays Work 8:00-2:00 Relax/chores/etc rest of day Sundays Relax/chores/etc All day I know to some of you this may seem crazy.... but I still need to work the overtime... and I still need to get the excercise in.... I think this will be the only way..... My journey will begin on Monday morning.... I figure I'm already waking up at 4:00 to work overtime... I might as well wake up an extra hour early to work out....

I am supposed to do low carb high protein. How can I get less then 20 grams of protein while staying low on carbs without starving myself? Did you mean less then 20 grams of carbs?

Typing from my phone so I apologize. Just got done at my Nutritionist appointment. I am down from last month, but she would still like to see me again next month. Insurance requirement is met, but its up to the center of excellence if they will send it off to UHC. My surgery will be approved at 100% if I have the surgery at one of UHC's centers of excellence, but the center has there own requirements as well. They want to see a drop in my weight during the 6 months. I can only hope they send my supervised diet info along with my psych evaluation to the insurance for approval and then give me one month to continue to try and drop the weight. My Nutritionist said my diet looks good, I just need to cut out the sides, mayo, ect. I also need to try and get some exercise in.... I'm going to try this month even if its before or after a 12 hour work day..... here's to hoping they send it for approval and I lose weight this month to make the center happy! Ugg..... frustrated...... Kara