geno5150

Once your doctor submits the paperwork, call BCBS the next day to make sure they have it. Then call them daily and ask if you have been approved. Once you are, it will take at least a week or two from the time they make a decision until they actually mail the "official" approval letter to the doctor. To speed up the process, you can ask them to fax a copy to the doctor in the meantime so you can move forward with the process while the "official" paperwork is en route. That can save you a couple of weeks of sitting around.

While it may seem like there are a lot of horror stories, I think those sleevers tend to post because they need extra help and support (and rightly so) as those situations are really far from the norm. For every one of those, there are a hundred that go just fine. Sort of like how the evening news never reports on the thousands of airplanes that land safely every day or the millions of people that drive to work safely without any incidents. We assume everything is otherwise fine so we can focus help those that really need it.

Providing your specific plan does not contain any exclusions or craziness and you meet the fairly simple requirements, it should be easy sailing.

I saw this thread and was all excited until I read it and found out it was about WLS and not simply bashing my idiot co-workers. Don't tease like that.

Part of me is here, but I left 60 pounds back in July or August somewhere. I doubt I'll ever see them again.

The liquid, pureed and soft food stages suck balls. I consider it penance for being a fatso and something you just have to endure. And I mean that in the nicest way possible . You'll come out a stronger person.

You don't want the water to wash the food through your sleeve too quickly. You'll do better with hunger the longer it sits. With that said, I do have a small sip of water after I finish eating- it seems to help me psychologically feel "done". My surgeon was okay with it as long as it was only one sip and after the meal. I also use it to take my PPI so it sits in a full stomach and fully dissolves.

I started on regular food at seven weeks out. I think I have eaten just about everything in the grocery store since then. Lettuce/veggies/fruit were fine if chewed well. The only thing I've had trouble with is pasta-esque stuff which I don't really plan on eating anyway.

Call today, then tomorrow, then the next day and repeat ad infinitum until they give you an answer. You are paying a buttload of cash for them to answer the phone, so put them to work.

My surgeon is near giving up on the band completely due to the high complication rates. He does nearly (I'm told) as many band to sleeve revisions as he does bands alone.

http://www.cigna.com/assets/docs/health-care-professionals/coverage_positions/mm_0051_coveragepositioncriteria_bariatric_surgery.pdf According to CIGNA's medical policy, a BMI of over 40 is all you need to qualify as long as you have done the other hoop jumping. I am guessing this is a paperwork error and an appeal from the surgeon will fix it. I know it may not seem like it, but insurance companies don't really try to disqualify as many procedures as they can as a rule. They are one of the most heavily regulated industries in the USA. Because of this, most of them employ more lawyers than doctors- that's where all the red tape comes from.

I don't think there is an exact stall date for people. Generally it happens first between 3-5 weeks. I had one in my second week. I had a second in week 6. I wouldn't worry about jump starting anything- instead you should temper your expectations. If you go a month without losing any weight and see no changes is measurements or clothing sizes, then you may want to talk to your doc or nut. And stop weighing yourself every day. That will only drive you crazy. Two pounds a week is great progress for normal weight loss, so you are probably way ahead of the game right now.

I had to do a few shots prior to surgery. I let my four-year-old daughter do the last one. She loved it. I then pretended it gave me superpowers and had a fun day playing with her before getting cut open and not being able to lift her for six weeks. So, yes.

I have never had sex with your husband, so I will say no. In all seriousness, I am seven weeks out and still get pains from time to time. I think part of it is due to starting to use muscles again that haven't been used in a while.

It's perfectly normal and has affected, I would guess, the majority of the people here. I have no idea why. If you have lost your taste for things that you shouldn't be eating, take the victory I say.

Really, the biggest holdup is jumping through the insurance hoops, so it really depends on how long it takes to get the approval and the requirements of your particular coverage has. The doctor/hospital could operate that same day if they chose to, so probably once you cross that insurance hurdle they can get you in much quicker than normal. With everything you've already been through, VSG will probably be a piece of cake. Best wishes and good luck to you.

As long as you are staying around your calorie guide line of 800-1000, I don't think it will matter how you break the calories up. They don't recommend grazing because people do a lousy job of keeping track of how much we eat. You won't fail for only eating 59g of Protein instead of 60, and you surely will not stretch your sleeve without a severe effort that would most likely put you horizontal after every meal. Just be sure you keep your calorie total around 800 and you will be fine. Just take that much food with you to work and when it's gone, be done eating. Try to increase your liquids as well. The heartburn may also be making you feel hungry when you are not, so you may want to talk to your doctor and get something to take care of that, too. Good luck.

The number on the scale started with a two this morning for the first time in decades. That leaves 99 to onederland. Do we have a term for this milestone? Twoderland sounds dumb but I'm not coming up with anything better.

For me, it felt like the stomach pain you get about 2 seconds after getting kicked in the boys. That lasted for most of the first two days. Like everyone else said, the pain meds you get take care of most of it.

Just tell them "diet and exercise". Honestly, I was conflicted about telling people, but about two weeks after surgery I put it out on Facebook and let the whole world know. I've had a 99.999% positive response- it's no real secret I was a dieting failure so I saw no reason to lie about it. I did this for me and no one else, so I could care less what anyone thinks about it.

I'm less interested in the pictures and more so in what your workout routine has been over the last two years. I get cleared to start again in a couple of weeks and wouldn't mind seeing hat you have been doing.

Bypass can fail in glorious ways. The sleeve will not without extreme effort.

I've been bald for years. You should all give it a try. The savings on shampoo and conditioner are no joke.

I think you need to eat more protein instead of apples or carrots. That will stick in your sleeve much longer.

I'm 3.5 weeks out and only this week have I started to feel hunger. It's only about every 4-5 hours right around mealtime and not very strong.