Bufflehead

I have my first consult with the surgeon today! Also very excited I've actually already been to two weight loss classes at his office. I figured I might as well get started as soon as possible. 22 lbs down so far! Assuming I get approved for surgery and everything I really want to try to get my BMI down below 50 before I have the surgery.

well, drat. There goes my big plan.

you can use the pill to skip periods just by taking the regular pills all the way through, and not the 7 day "dummy pills" that allow you to have something like a period every month (it is not an actual period). A lot of women do this for travel, their wedding, etc. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/womens-health/WO00069

I am thinking of asking my pcp to put me on the pill for a couple of months before and after surgery so that I don't have to deal with my period, esp. at the hospital. Is there any reason this wouldn't work? I am assuming I'll be able to choke down a small pill within a day or so of surgery to stay on track.

kadive, here is a link to Cigna's current policy. It was revised in May of this year. http://www.cigna.com/assets/docs/health-care-professionals/coverage_positions/mm_0051_coveragepositioncriteria_bariatric_surgery.pdf Check the bottom of page 1 and top of page 2. It clearly says 3 months supervised weight loss. This is a change from their previous policy which was 6 months. I suggest printing this out for the insurance coordinator in your office and taking it to her/him or emailing a link if they are the type of office that reads their emails religiously and responds to them appropriately (in my experience, most medical offices are not, dealing in paper is better). Good luck!

Good luck to you! I also have Cigna (Open Access) but have not submitted yet. I'd love to hear how your process goes -- I'm nervous about getting everything right when I submit my paperwork.

Derm match is great! I also recommend Nanogen, Xfusion, or Toppik, something like that. I have naturally thinning hair and using them (mostly Nanogen) has made me feel like I can go out in public again without people noticing and staring at my scalp. I am very scared of what's going to happen after surgery, assuming I get approved. I'm already researching bonded toppers and things like that.

aww, I am so sorry to hear this happened. Of course it makes sense to start over but it has to be incredibly frustrating just the same. With respect to the anemia -- make sure your doc gets you on prescription iron supplements, folic acid, and B12 (they help with iron absorption and suchlike). If you can afford the calories, take the iron with about a half cup of orange juice. I have been there and done that with anemia and one thing I will say is that for me, after just 48 hours of iron supplements I felt TONS more energetic. Good luck!

I haven't done plastics with Cigna, but I have looked at their coverage policies, just thinking about what may be down the road. They are pretty strict. You need to have cellulitis, dermatitis, etc. and have tried 3 - 6 months of treatment including systemic antibiotics, antifungals, etc. They don't care about things like back pain (won't consider that evidence of medical necessity) because they don't believe there is evidence that extra skin is associated with back pain. Here are their general policies: http://www.cigna.com/assets/docs/health-care-professionals/coverage_positions/mm_0027_coveragepositioncriteria_abdominoplasty_and_panniculectomy.pdf http://www.cigna.com/assets/docs/health-care-professionals/coverage_positions/mm_0470_coveragepositioncriteria_redundant_skin_surgery.pdf

The one I have is on Amazon as "EatSmart Precision Bathroom Scale w/ Extra Large Backlit 3.5" Display and Step-On Technology" -- hope that helps!

Hi bound4bway. I like the EatSmart Precision Digital Scale. It has a capacity up to 400 lbs and you can step right on and weigh, none of this tapping on the scale stuff. It looks nice too. You can get it on Amazon for under $30 and it has really high customer ratings there - I am not alone in liking it!

I'm still trying to decide about surgery and am really scared about the hair loss. I know it sounds ridiculous. My health is more important than my hair, I know that rationally. But it really doesn't help that I already have hair loss from undetermined causes and I hate it. I have to work really hard to cover it up. Losing much more will not be something I can cover up or keep unnoticeable.

I can't imagine what kind of blow that would have been. Noone would be expecting to get that news, let alone someone of your age. I am sure you are in great hands for your further surgery and treatment, and the fact that they caught it so early must be helpful. (((hugs)))

I think it sounds like she's coming from a place of caring for you, but not really understanding what you've been through and how much work goes into the whole process. I don't think either one of you are being jerks. Keep talking with her about your feelings and my guess is that she'll understand better (and I would probably say the same thing to her if she asked me). And even if she doesn't understand the process exactly or your feelings, I'll bet she'll be there for you and by your side wherever you have the surgery and after you go through it, and that's a really good thing too

Wow, you are doing great with your pre-surgery weight loss. I'm just taking baby steps along this journey and what you're talking about is very inspiring. Looking forward to hearing more from you as you keep going

thanks for the replies everyone! I think if a sleep study is suggested I will do everything I can to refuse it without jeopardizing my chances of approval. And, sadly for me, I am definitely big enough that I don't need any co-morbidities to fit in the standard approval criteria. In fact, it was my insurance company that suggested to me, completely unsolicited, that based on my BMI I should consider bariatric surgery. Hopefully that's a good sign for approval

Are sleep studies generally required? If so, by the insurance company or a doctor? I am starting the process of hopefully getting approved for a sleeve, and I really have no interest in a sleep study. I don't have any sleeping problems and don't get fatigued during the day or wake up tired. I don't even use an alarm clock because I always wake up on my own between 5 and 6 AM and feel perfectly happy and refreshed. I do snore though, so I am concerned that some doctor will be convinced this means I have sleep apnea that needs to be fixed. I am very leery of sleep studies and their results, mostly because my sister worked in a sleep lab part-time while she was in medical school (a very respected sleep lab) and she had extremely unflattering things to say about the legitimacy of their diagnoses. She thinks they basically diagnose every single person with sleep apnea and then prescribe CPAP machines that make them sleep even worse than they did before. Like I said, I don't have any problems with sleep and don't want to shell out several hundred dollars for a sleep study and a CPAP machine that will make my nights miserable. I know this is a bizarre thing to be worried about in the pre-op journey but I need to save my money for other things . . .