Kennedy310

I saw a few articles about the house & the guy who bought it. Pretty cool move. Nice to see the negativity that Westboro puts into the world be balanced out with some positivity.

Yeah, I guess with 4 little guys there is no "off" to be had. But great that you are giving yourself the 4 nights away for a little recoup time. I'm going to take a week off from work after surgery. From others' experiences, it seems that everyone's recovery time is different. The thing I am concerned about is just getting tired easily. So, fingers crossed that isn't too much of an issue.

Congrats! Me too. March 29th in NJ. Overall, I'm excited... with the occasional nervousness. How much time do you plan on taking off for recovery?

Glad you're okay. And good to hear you resolved the issue with your doctor. Thanks for sharing. I'm on blood pressure medication as well. So, I will definitely monitor it after my surgery.

I will be having surgery on March 29th. Happy to finally have insurance authorization. I'm excited, but I also anticipate some nervousness as the date approaches. Good luck to you both!

Thank you! Yes, I'm scheduled for March 29th. I'm looking forward to the next step in the journey.

Happy to report that I was finally approved for gastric sleeve surgery! It was quite a frustrating journey. They initially denied it because I'm having surgery out of my home state. Then, approved it incorrectly as an outpatient procedure but denied the hospital (which I had confirmed was in network months ago). They eventually got it all correct after a few tries. It's a relief to finally have everything approved and in place.

I will have to check out the Obesity Help forums. I haven't been on there yet? Seems like this LGBT forum is pretty slow unfortunately.

Ugh. I'm sorry to hear it happened to you as well. That is the exact scenario I had. I'm disappointed by the lack of individual attention I've received. Honestly, I don't think they understand how just a little attention goes a long way in making the patient feel at ease. I still have to call multiple times to get the surgical coordinator on the phone. And I don't feel like she's really on top of the details. I'm trying to schedule a new date for surgery now & she really seems disinterested in helping me figure out how to coordinate it with my work schedule in the next few months. Really is a shame because I like Dr. Trivedi very much. Thanks for the post-surgery info. It seems like I will have to go back to work after one week as well (I had planned on 4 weeks off to adjust with the oriel surgery date, but hat doesn't look possible now). I will have to try to be conscious of the tiredness issue. Thanks again.

Thanks, Annie B. It was a depressing setback. But I'm glad to hear you had a good experience with Dr. Trivedi. Interestingly, my father just had a gastric bypass on Wednesday. I've been my dad's advocate in the hospital & Dr. Trivedi and his team have been great. I'm still confident with him as my surgeon. Unfortunately, I'm still having issues getting my surgical coordinator on the phone and getting answers on that side. But I'm gonna persevere.

Thanks. No doubt about it, everyone has a slightly different experience. But, it's helpful to hear everyone's experience as I plan my surgery & recovery.

Thanks for the info. I suspect I'll have to be cautious of feeling tired when I go back t work.

Thank you!

Thank you! I'm looking forward to the positive changes.

That sounds like a pretty good idea to ease back into work with half days. Thanks!

I have a feeling I will miss my afternoon coffee break/caffeine boost as well.

Hi WillowAnn- That is a really interesting concern that your workplace presents. First off, kudos for the self-awareness it takes to realize that you may be internalizing the issue & worrying more than necessary. That very well may be the case, but it is still a legitimate concern even so because so many of us who have dealt with weight/food issues are uniquely sensitive to those issues. I can share a recent personal experience that may be helpful. I have a co-worker who is also overweight. She & I have become friends over the year we've known one another. I decided to share my journey to surgery with her. I followed her cues as to how comfortable she was in discussing it & didn't over-share information with her. I approached our discussion from a "I know you can relate to this frustration" point of view & it went very smoothly. In fact, she revealed that she has thought about WLS & will be interesting in my journey to see if it is right for her as well. I know not everyone reacts or handles things the same, so the people at your work may be different. And being a boss can make it a different dynamic that may not make a lot of persona discussion possible. But so far, I have found that it can be a supportive relationship rather than an adversarial one.

Great to see you here! I grew up in Bergen County, NJ. in fact, I am going to have my surgery out in NJ with Dr. Trivedi at Hackensack Medical Center. What part of NJ are you in? I would love to get the LGBT forum a little more active on here. I've been active on here for about a week & I'm finding all of the forums very helpful in gathering more information and support as i move towards my surgery. Look forward to chatting more!

I'm currently trying to plan out my next few month which will hopefully include my gastric sleeve surgery. As a project-based freelancer, I have the challenge of trying to find an appropriate time for surgery & recovery that will gel with my current & future projects. One thing that I'm trying to figure out is how much time I should truly block off for recovery. My doctor says I should be able to go back to work in 7-10 days since I have an office-based job (little physical activity necessary). In your experiences, what is realistic when it comes to recovery time?

This is a great thread for all of us who struggle with binge eating. Thanks to everyone for their contributions to this discussion. I am still pre-op & hoping to get the gastric sleeve some time in the next few months once insurance requirements are satisfied. My emotional eating & how the sleeve will affect it are things I want to be mindful of as I move forward. I have done a lot of work on figuring out how to get to a healthier place of balance and moderation. A big step for me was giving up the dream that one day I would be completely free of this issue. I finally accepted the fact that my food issues will always be lurking & I just need to continue to be mindful of them and manage them. However, it is wonderful to hear from many of you that this issue can get a lot easier to manage after the sleeve. It's inspiring. And it further confirms I'm making a good decision to have the surgery. Thanks!

Hi all- I'm looking forward to having gastric sleeve surgery some time in the next few months. I currently live in Brooklyn, work in NYC & am often out in NJ. I'd love to connect with other LGBT & gay friendly people in the NYC. Let me know if you're here.

Thanks, Jennie. Yes, it was a rough hurdle for sure. But you're right, it's gonna happen soon enough. That's a great story. It is wonderful when the kindness of folks lifts us up like that. More reason to live our lives open and without shame or regret. Thanks for sharing.

Sorry to hear that. What a crappy thing to have to deal with right before your surgery. I think you handled it well given the timing of it all. No need to second guess yourself. Good to hear she showed you the respect of apologizing. Although that "I have gay friends" is one very tired line. It's all on her in the end anyway, not you.

Thanks for starting this thread, Susan! I'm annoyed & relieved at the same time. Hehe. Annoyed because I too have experienced frustration with the doctor's staff. I was scheduled to have surgery this Wednesday Jan. 9th & I found myself hounding the surgical coordinator for 3 weeks. Then on Thursday with only 6 days till planned surgery she finally tells me that my insurance is requiring 3 months of nutritional evaluations before approval. This is definitely something she should have told me from the beginning. I was pretty shell-shocked because i was already in the head space for surgery. Now that i know, I will be even more unrelenting with her as i continue. So, thanks. I'm also relieved by your post though because I really feel like Dr. Trivedi was the right choice. So, it's comforting to hear your positive take after going through the surgery yourself. How are you doing now? Also, I see that someone asked you about going back to work. how did it feel for you? Do you think it was the proper amount of time for you?