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Hey, I'm 5 days later, 3/30. I have 165-170 pounds to lose, so it looks like we are in a similar situation. Good luck to you, I look forward to hearing about your success!

Wow, congratulations! You look great. I see you've lost 172 pounds, did you lose that all in a year? I have 165 to lose, and I'm feeling kind of overwhelmed, but you have inspired me!

I'm on day 4 of my 2 week liquid pre op diet, and I'm having similar issues with digestion and stomach cramps. I've also had 2 really intense charlie horses since being on this diet. What are you having for liquids? My diet is 3 Glucose Control Boost drinks and 2 100 cal ff yogurts. The thought of Boost and yogurt is making me gag at this point, and I still have 10 more days. I am sooooo hungry, but I want to make my liver as small as possible. I just hoping that the hunger goes away post op.

Thanks for the responses guys, I did actually go there, and made some progress. The insurance lady finally called my insurance company, and the level 2 appeal with my surgeon is going to happen this week. Good to know that some of you have had your appeals won on the second try. I have hope!

Hi, I'm having a major issue with my surgeon's office, specifically the insurance coordinator, and I'm not sure what to do about it. So back on 2/17 my insurance denied my sleeve because it is considered investigational (although they told me the procedure code was covered initially, grr...). I called my insurance after the denial to get more info, and basically they said that I needed to send in an appeal letter, but more importantly they needed to do a peer to peer with the surgeon, and that he had 7 days from the denial to do the peer to peer. I called the surgeon's office. The insurance girl (who is the only person there who handles this stuff apparently) said that she would give the doctor the info to call my insurance and do the review, and the she would contact me when she knows more. Meanwhile I went ahead an scheduled a surgery date of 3/30 as a self pay. I don't really want to pay for this myself, it's going to take all of my savings, but I have to have the sleeve at this point to improve my quality of life. Anyway, a few days later I called my insurance to see if the peer to peer had been done yet. They said no, and that it was the 7th day after the denial, so the doctor had to call by the end of that business day to schedule it, or it wasn't going to happen. I called the surgeon's office in a panic. I asked the insurance girl if she could please, please ask the doctor to call and schedule a peer to peer that day, as it was the last day to do so. She laughed it off, said that the insurance co. would talk to the doctor regardless of when he called, and for me not to worry. Well, the peer to peer never happened. Unsurprisingly, on 3/2 I was denied my first appeal. I called the insurance girl again on 3/3 to tell her of the denial. She is still telling me that the doctor is going to call for the peer to peer, even though I'm telling her that the insurance company is saying the chance has passed. I email her a copy of the denial letter, she says she will tell the doctor again and call me if she hears anything. Oh, and she has the most annoyed attitude with me every time I call. I now have one more chance to appeal this before 3/30. I spoke with my insurance co. this past Friday, and they said if I can get a letter from my doctor explaining why he thinks the sleeve is the best option for me over RNY or the lap band I would most likely win the appeal. The insurance co. has to have the second appeal and letter from the doctor within 30 days of 3/2. So, I'm going to call the surgeon's office Monday morning and speak with the sassy insurance girl again to tell her about the letter I need from the doctor. I know that I'm going to get the same BS blow-off again. I'm so frustrated I want to cry or scream. I've already missed one opportunity with the peer to peer review, I don't want to miss this one. My question; how pushy can I be with this insurance girl? Do I have any right to demand a letter from the doctor within a specific time frame, or is it at his whim? To be honest, I don't even know if the doctor knew about the peer to peer, or knows I need his help in the appeal process. I feel like ever since I told this girl that I would self pay if I didn't get approved she's been blowing me off. Short of going to the office begging and crying, I don't know what to do. Any advice? Thanks, andrea ps: sorry so long!

Hi, My surgery is scheduled for March 30th, and I've been having the same fears as you recently. My daughter will be 2 in April, and I keep thinking about something happening and leaving her motherless. I'm scared of of not waking up from the Anastasia, or getting a deadly infection, or dying of a blood clot post op. I've even cried over this the past few days. I keep telling myself that the odds of dying in a car accident on the way to the hospital are probably greater than dying from the surgery or complications from surgery. I'm sure all will go fine! I'll be thinking of you on the 15th!

This is interesting. At my meeting with the nutritionist she told us that after we are sleeved we would never be able to swallow a pill larger than an M&M again. That sounded weird to me, and it looks like she was wrong. Good to know, I thought I would be crushing Advils for the rest of my life.

Hi all, I recently got my sleeve date of March 30th!! I'm supposed to start my 2 week pre-op diet on March 16th which consists of Boost nutritional drink and light yogurt, but I'm not sure what to do until then. My eating has been out of control for about the last week and a half (when I got my sleeve date). It's as if my brain is telling me that I better "get it all in" or something while I can. I'm already at 289 pounds, I'm scared that at this rate I'll be near or over 300 by the time the 16th rolls around. I have some old Nutrisystem food lying around. A few days ago I gave that a try, but I was so hungry at the end of the night that I caved and binged out. Actually, that's why Nutrisystem didn't work for me in the first place. I also tried tracking my calories online, hoping to eat about 1500-1700. Again, I had eaten all my calories and by the nighttime I was starving. God, I can't wait to get this sleeve... I'm even considering starting my pre-op diet now, but I don't know if I can just eat Boost and yogurt when I know that I don't really have to yet. I'm not worried about not being able to stick to the diet 2 weeks before surgery, I'm scared of the medical consequences on that one. So if anyone has any suggestions, advice, anything for my pre pre-op eating I will be grateful. Thanks, Andrea

Hey Marie, How did everything go? Good I hope! I'm in Michigan too, and I'm having my sleeve on March 30th at the main St. John hospital in Detroit. Who is your surgeon? Mine is Dr. Meguid. I look forward to hearing how you are doing! Andrea

Hi everyone, thanks for the replies! jeani - sorry to hear that you got denied. I hope your appeal works out. I called my insurance company with the procedure code my surgeons office gave me for the sleeve, and insurance said it was a covered procedure... so I think I'm okay there. I just paranoid that they will say it's not medically necessary. I've decided that if insurance doesn't cover it I'm going to Mexico. I'm hoping to get an answer this coming week, I'll keep you guys posted.

Hello all, First off, let me say that I've been sneaking around this board for a few weeks now, and I can tell it's a great resource for sleeve support and information! I'm Andrea, 29 years old, and hoping to have the sleeve procedure in the next few weeks. My weight is at an all time high right now of about 280. I went to the hospital seminar on January 13th and had my first appointment with the surgeon on January 20th. I have already done the psychological evaluation (and passed it), and the nutritionist appointment that explained the pre and post op diets. I thought I would have a surgery date by now. I called the surgeons office yesterday to see when I could schedule my date, and they told me something rather surprising. Apparently they haven't gotten an approval from my insurance yet. They told me that all this time they have been waiting for my chart to come back from dictation (I'm not sure what that means) and they are now just faxing my information over to the insurance. Also, I was told that it can take up to 15 business days for an answer. So now I am totally freaking out. I thought I was really close to having this done, and now I'm not even sure I'll be approved. According to the surgeons office my insurance only requires a BMI over 40 and a letter of medical necessity. I have the BMI, and my doctor that has been treating me for years wrote a letter for me saying that I've been obese for years, I'm at a all time high weight, I have high cholesterol and metabolic syndrome, and a family history of diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease. The letter never specifically says that it is a medical necessity though. It just says that I would strongly benefit from surgery. Do you think that will be sufficient for approval? Does anyone have any experience with these types of letters? I have Premera Blue Cross Blue Shield btw. Any info with insurance approvals would be greatly appreciated! I am actually losing sleep worrying that I'm not going to be approved. I've been so excited about this surgery, and reading everyones posts on here has made me even more excited. The sleeve sounds like my chance at finally having a normal relationship with food! Thanks

Hi, I'm from Michigan. I have my first pre-op appointment on Jan 20th.