braziliangirl

Thank You Carolina

Heck, i got to be positive, right? Hahaha i have no other choice! Lol

Just feed my girls some french toast and i was able not to try a bite (or eat left over) as always! I'm feeling proud of myself already hahahaha

They typically take 21 days but mine took 12. I looked at my approval letter and it was dated for 02/02/13 and my doc submitted it 01/21/13.

They told me that they have 14days to give an answer. Omg 21 days would make everything hard.. I only have 10 days now ???–???­???­

Hey guys..

Starting my new journey today. Surgery is scheduled to march 21 (if insurance doesnt decline, which please help me pray they dont lol)

My diet consists in:

FREE ZONE:

sugar free beverages

broth only Soups

Sugar free Popsicles and sugar free Jello

Items in moderation, as they contain larger amounts of sugar.

2 cups or less of juice/gatorade/powerade

3 or less regular jello/popsicle/no sugar added fudgicles

3 or less 1% or skim or lactaid milk/ 6oz light yogurt, 1cup low fat ricotta or cottage cheese

1-3 Protein Shakes

Supplement Guidelines:

At least 15g of Protein per 8oz serving

Less than 20g carbs per 8oz serving

Less than 5g fat per 8oz serving

-------------------------------------------------

I intend to take 1000cal a day. I'm not sure if is too much, but its probably what i can do right now.

And i MAY take some powdered Soup that i found in a brazilian store, it has 60calories which 1.3g fat, 12carbs, 2g Fiber, 3g protein, maybe 2 a day (in case i get bored of the broth)

Who's with me?!?

Hi girls....I was reading your posts' date=' I have BMC /masshealth. ... I hope the insurance help me... nice to see people from MA here![/quote']

Hey! Yeah, so nice to find MA people here

I had BMC(commonwealth care) until last month, but my surgeon said that they require a 6months supervised diet, and i really didnt want that lol, they told me to get NHP as they have worked with them before - and no need for the diet.

I'm hoping this is true, as i wait for their response

Day one of preop diet today - GOD helps me!

@sassy My surgeon is Dr Adam Glasgow in East Walpole, and the surgery happens in norwood hospital.

How many days exactly took for them to approve you? Xx

I have NHP through my employer and from what I was told by my doctor's office' date=' it was WORK getting NHP to approve my surgery but the process took them less than 3 weeks to put all of my test results and progress from my nutritionist. My last appointment was on January 18th my paperwork was submitted to NHP the following week and I was approved by the first week of February and banded 02/19/13. IJust was surprised at how fast the approval came back. just stay on top of your doctors office and make sure they get all of the necessary documents to NHP and good luck![/quote']

I'm so glad to read this!

Tomorrow i start my pre op diet, and knowing this is going to help me a lot with the anxiety..

My surgeon's office sent the paperwork (LOTS of information there) a week ago (march 4), and still waiting to hear back.

I hope they r going to approve and not get back to me asking for a 3months supervised diet.

Would u mind me asking about ur bmi or co-morbities at the time? I'm scared they wont approve because idont have any, but my bmi is 41.8.

Thanks again

I got mine on the unjury website, and took 2 days to arrive!

Super Fast!

Hahaha thank you!

My nutritionist said the same thing, that some people will hate their favorite food after surgery.

Uh, i guess just time will say lol

Oh reading this makes me worry lol

If approved by insurance, my surgery is march 21.

I LOVE salads and fruits (specially watermelon) i wonder how will i feel after banding..

Ugh, lol

Well, they both said that sometimes the port site gave some discomfort, not pain!

One of they had unfilled at 28weeks, and gained about 15lb (only after the unfill) the other one had no need to unfill and gained minimal weight too (i dont remember how much)..

I was around 210-215lb when started my fertility treatments and i'm now 250???³???”..i'm 5'6"

I would fell comfortable of trying again when i reach 180lb hopefully 170lb... Lol

Hi!

I havent had surgery yet, but if my insurance doesnt decline lol i'll be getting banded march 21!!

I tried for 16months to get pregnant last years with no luck, until they found out i had pcos, did fertility treatments and finally got pregnant, but miscarried at 7week. So, i got the the point that i realized that i gained 30lb with all the treatments (plus i was super heavy before) so, i somehow decided for the surgery, my obgyn agreed that it was the best choice i could've had done.

My surgeon mentioned having to wait about 12 months after surgery to try again, but said that 6-8months after woulnt be big deal.. As we usually loose most of the weight in those 6 first month.

I have 2 friends that got pregnant 6months after being banded, had health pregnancies, and super healthy babies!

So, my advise is, go for it!

Good luck..

This is what she wrote:

"Dear Colleague,

This patient was seen in our office on Tuesday feb 26/2013 for a complete physical and found to be in good health and fit for surgery.

She suffers from morbid obesity and polycystic ovarian disease causing her infertility and depression. Her obesity also puts her at risk or the development of diabetes and heart disease. She has tried numerous methods of weight loss including liposuction and intragastric ballon treatment. It is my professional opinion that she would benefit from bariatric surgery to help control her weight."

Then there's my vital signs of today and somehow they measured me 1 inch higher lol which made my bmi be 39.93 (I already called and she is going to fix that tomorrow).

Do you guys think is enough? She havent mentioned about my priors attempts as ww, nutritionist. Ugh...

Hi guys,

Today i have my pcp apt for a physical and to get my medical clearance letter. My surgeon required that. (I saw the surgeon before i talked to my pcp)

But, i'm worried that she wont know how to write me the letter as she is a np.

Can any of you tell me what was written in your letter so i can have an idea to tell her? Thanks

My pre op diet starts march 11, for 10 days tha k GOD lol

If everything works out the way we are expecting, i will have surgery march too. March 21! Yay!!

Just got off the phone with my drs assistant, and they booked my surgery for march 21.

They are hoping to get the insurance approval!

Ohh, i cant wait!!!

Call your insurance company and ask. My doctor's office' date=' BI in Boston, had all the answers for me. I had to change from MassHealth to Network Health and that happened with one call and approved right away. I only had to have a few dietitian visits and have a lot of pre surgery required tests. sleep, upper GI, gall bladder (if you have one-I don't), blood tests and a psyc test. I think that was it. Any more questions I will try to help.[/quote']

I did already, not much of a help as i described above.

My insurance is towards commonwealth care, type 3 plan.

Hopefully i will not need anymore dietitians visits. I just got off the phone with weightwatchers and they just sent me all my summary, which shows that i did follow their program for over a year.

Sounds like you may have to do a supervised diet. Just call your insurance company and ask.

For my insurance my previous ww attempts and a monitored 6 month attempt to lose weight with prescription diet pills did not suffice. I am currently having to do the six month supervised diet with my PCP.

I called them, but they said that every case is different, it all will depends of what my surgeon sent to them, and the insurance doctors will review my case.

Hello.. I just had my nutritionist apt today and yesterday the visit with the surgeon. Should see the psych in the next couple of days. But, i'm having some insurance fears, as we found this:

NHP covers bariatric surgery for:

Medical necessity for bariatric surgery is established when all of the following criteria are met:

Individuals who are at least 95% of predicted adult stature who are:

1. BMI greater than or equal to 40 (mine is 43)

3. Documented failure of attempts to sustain weight through less intensive, physician supervised methods, such as diet, exercise, behavior modification programs and pharmaceutical interventions ; (in which we are confused if this means that they r going to require a 6 months with supervised program. or if just my medical records, ww attempts, prior weight loss surgery done in 2007 (called Intragastric Ballon - BIB) which didn't worked.) Would those be enough? They already told to expect my surgery to happen by end of march if they approve me...so im very excited and afraid to not get approved?!!! Anyone???

i just found this link for you. It talks about the requirements for MassHealth and Bariatric Surgery. If you meet the requirements, they should cover it. Take a look. That way you will know going in if its doable or not. I hope it is!

www.mass.gov/eohhs/docs/masshealth/guidelines/mg-bariatricsurgery.rtf ·

Im gonna check it out later on my computer, here in the app it doesnt give the link to click!!

Finally, some sistas from Massachusetts!!!!!!!!

Hi braziliangirl! Hi shanna!

I was banded 12/17 @ Brockton Hospital by doctors thst satellite from Tufts in Boston. Best thing I ever did. I'm from Easton. My son's best friend lives in Franklin!Easton is southeast of Framingham.

I wish you both a wonderful journey. If I can ever help or answer questions just look me up. Welcome!!!!!!

Banjo257

Ohh yay! One more here

@Banjo how long took all ur process? Idk if you read all my posts lol but im about to change my mind and instead of going to Italy and do the surgery there, im thinking of trying here!!! Just dont want to waste more time!

I will call them at first thing in the morning!

I'm not sure if it really is going to cover the surgery as my health insurance now is towards masshealth (i just canceled my private insurance that i was using for the infertility treatments, ughh - i thought it was just waste of money paying $500 a month if i was approved for mass health. The only thing mass health woulndt cover was infertility, now im sooo mad, why did i have to rush and cancel?!???­)..

Anyways, if my plan wouldn't cover, i will try to buy a new private policy again, if the dr guarantees me that the process could go faster here in US!

I will message u as soon as i have an answer lol

I have Harvard Pilgrim and they don't even require a supervised program or anything. I just had to show that I have tried and been successful at losing weight in the last couple of years. That is terrible that it took so long for your friend! My surgeon says if you don't have any of those requirements for supervised dieting' date=' then it should take 6-8 weeks from consult to surgery. And it will be just that for me. I do have a smart phone. I will look for the app. I would call your insurance and see what their requirements are for covering the surgery and see what surgeons they suggest. If they cover Adam Glasgow, I would go with him. He is amazing and the practice and their program is awesome.[/quote']

I called BMC and the lady wasn't much of a help lol but she did say that your Dr accept my insurance, she even gave the number and im going to call them tomorrow!

I have done one weight loss surgery 6years ago (called BIB, where they place a saline infuse ballon inside my stomach for 6 months) and it only didnt work but made me gain so much more weight after removing, so, i guess that will be a "proof" of unsuccessful weight loss, but lots of months of weight watchers?!!!

My bmi just reached 40

Did you really had to go to the seminar before everything or i could just call him straight and book an apt?

Ohhhh i would love to have everything done here! Would same lots $$$$$ and time, plus the stress of finding another doctor here in US to do the follow ups..

I live in Franklin and work in Westborough. So not far at all from Framingham. Do you have health insurance in MA? I am so sorry to hear about your pregnancy difficulties. I really hope that the band and losing weight will fix the problem for you. I had my daughter without diffilculty and I have no idea if I could or couldn't get pregnant again' date=' (we haven't tried yet). But, I don't want to do that to myself and a baby at my weight now. I want to get healthy first and then have another healthy pregnancy and child.

Good luck with having your surgery in Italy! It will be fabulous to travel over there. Yes, my insurance shouldn't be an issue. The surgeon told me I should have no problem, and they must mean it because I have everything booked through the staple removal two weeks after surgery! It's a little overwhelming that it was all booked at the same time and all so fast![/quote']

Oh how nice, we r very close!

Yes, i have BMC, i never tried to go see a Dr here, my friend had WLS in worcester and it took almost 2 years all the process, plus she "had" to gain a lot of weight to be able to do it.

Yes, i had a hard time with all those fertility problems, but i realized that if havent happened yet is because it was not the right time!

I think im gonna make some calls here lol who knows? Maybe i dont have to wait all this time, plus save some money!

Do you have a smart phone? There's an app that we can chat. Its called KIK?!

I live in Framingham how about u?

I want to have a life too! I dont have kids yet, but this is the main reason i want to be healthy! I have pcos, and after months of fertility treatment i finally got pregnant but miscarried at 6weeks! Then after this episode i decided for the surgery.

I'm going to do in Italy (my parents live there) because i heard that here in the area it could take years to be approved, i cant believe how fast ur journey have been! Im envious now lol