neeni

I was told the same as DeAna. I was nervous because my BMI is 40 and they told me I should lose at least 11 lbs preop which would bring me under 40. They told me it didn't matter because they go by my first weigh in.

Thanks! Now that I see all of the appointments you all had to go to I feel a little better. Mara005 that's how I feel! Good luck on your prop diet! It'll be hard but I'm sure we'll both do great!

I just had my first visit with the nurse practioner, dietician and insurance specialist. I have to see a gastroenterologist for an endoscopy, their psychiatrist, the surgeon that will be doing surgery, my primary care, have to get a chest xray, the dietician again and a cardiologist for medical clearance. I was surprised I have to see a cardiologist. I don't have any type of cardiac issues. Is this typical? I have everything already scheduled except the cardiologist for during July. I don't have a cardiologist so I'm afraid I won't get an appointment for July since I'll be a new patient and I would really like to get the surgery done in August because I have a lot going on in September. My insurance doesn't require a supervised diet so once I have gone for all these appointments everything will be submitted to insurance for approval. I was told it usually takes about a week for my insurance company to approve. Just curious if others had to see a cardiologist for clearance also. I thought usually the primary care does this. Also, I have already been given a diet to start by the dietician...one protein shake in place of a meal and two other meals consisting of 3oz of protein. If I really need a snack I can have a fruit or nonfat plain yogurt. After a couple of weeks I have to go to 2 shakes and 1 meal. If I have to wait until September for surgery I may starve!!! Just kidding. lol but today was a tough day! Thanks for your input.

My appointment is on July 5th too and I'm excited and nervous also. I have BCBS too and am hoping I have an easy time getting approved. I am also hoping to get banded in August. I'm in New York. It's hard waiting so long for the appointment. I've done a lot of research and want to get the process moving already!! Good luck to you.

Congratulations...that's great news!!

Well I had my consult and was super excited to get started. They even scheduled me for appointments for tomorrow and then I get a call from the office telling me that they take my insurance but aren't in network so I wouldn't be covered. UGH! I wish they had realized before I wasted my time. They told me when I scheduled that they accepted my insurance. I will be double checking from now on...lesson learned. I was really dissappointed but I had already made an appointed for a seminar for Thursday with another surgeon in case I didn't like this one and luckily his practice really does take my insurance!!

Thanks, I have all my questions ready and am excited for tomorrow! I have BCBS too! Good luck with your appointment on Wednesday! Janine

I hope the approval process doesn't take too long. After the consult I was told it only takes about a week to schedule the other appointments which are done in one long day and then it is submitted for approval, but I guess a lot depends on my insurance companies policies. Rainenroses did you ask a lot of questions at the consult? Do you know if the insurance company goes by your weight at the first appointment? I'm curious because my BMI is 40 and if I lose anything I'll go under 40 and I want insurance to cover this!

Thank you for the welcome. I'm so glad I found this group! I'm excited and nervous at the same time about my upcoming consult on Tuesday. I've told my close family and a couple of friends about it and have gotten a mixed reaction. A friend said but you've lost some many times you can do it again and I told them that was kind of the point. I can't keep it off!!! My husband is very supportive though.

I've enjoyed reading the posts in this forum and have gotten such good information out of it. I have my first appointment on Tuesday and am excited to begin my new weight loss journey. I've been on so many diets since I was a teenager and have gone up and down so many times I've lost count. I really need to stop the madness and get healthy once and for all. I would love to be able to wake up in the morning for once without thinking about how heavy I've gotten!