Macy6

Yay! I have an e mail out to my patient navigator right now. They are just waiting on my PCP last paper.....

I had to write a paragraph to my surgeon explaining my reasoning for surgery, my paragraph was a full page letter. I did this surgery because I want to live to see my great grandchildren, I want to set a better example for my teenage son and in turn that will set a better example for those grand kids and great grand kids to come.... a long long long time from now. I also did this surgery so I can ride roller coasters with my son, so I can sit an airplane seat without being embarrassed or having to ask for a seat belt extender, so I can run a mile (because even as a kid I never have) so I can play roller derby again, so I can volunteer for the search and rescue, so I can be an inspiration to someone else, so that I can save someones life as a nurse. I also did it so I can feel beautiful, so I can improve my self esteem, wear smaller jeans, wear a bathing suit without being embarrassed. I would be lying if I don't look at clothes in my dream sizes, or that I don't dream of the day that I can buy in the regular sizes.

Yikes! Good Luck, I agree if you sign the paper work they shouldn't withhold your medical information.

I am sure that is frustrating but luckily it shouldn't last forever..... A few years ago I decided quite quickly that I was going to become a vegetarian, mid summer aka BBQ season. It was absolute torture every time my neighbor would BBQ I would sit and longingly stare out the window at his dogs as they ate the left over rib bones (exaggeration, but you get my point) It was very important to me not to eat meat so I didn't cheat, not once. The first couple months were rough, but then something amazing happened..... It didn't matter anymore, the smell didn't bother me, I didn't start drooling, and what was even more amazing, was around 6 months later I had a cheeseburger for the first time and something I used to love.... tasted like cardboard, wet, greasy, cardboard.

Yeah my first appt was Jan 31 (which counted as #1) and my following 5 were 3-4 weeks apart. The furthest was 4w2d. My last one was this past Monday. I thought I wouldn't be done until July but my coordinator said nope.

I'm in CO, our hospital has a self pay that runs $13,000 for outpatient lap band. It doesn't list a price for the sleeve but with a hospital stay and difference in surgery I would guess high teens into $20,000 range.

I'm with the diaper rash. God for something with Zinc Oxide in it. My grandma is 90 and used to get horrible blistering in the summer and that stops it completely.

I'm being really good about a low carb diet to loose weight pre op but I allow myself one cheat meal a week and I make it worth it. I don't go out and consume 3000 calories by any means, but I shared my favorite pasta dish and Tiramisu with my sister in law last night. What's funny is during my "fork soft" (which runs week 2-10) I joked that my nut said "the fork has to go to the plate" and it easily did that with the tiramisu.

Amen on this! I weigh now, nearly as much as my 14 year old son weighs, more than when I got pregnant with him. A person! What is really sad is my kid is a big kid.... tall for his age, a dancer so he is muscular and is always in the 85-95th percentiles for height and weight....

I opened this post and went..... Oh I feel you! First off.... take a breath! I promise, you aren't going to forget! Do you have a patient navigator to work with? My patient navigator has been a God send and has kept me on track. If not it is OK! You know what you have to do, so first things first.... Make a list... a spread sheet.... a chalk board.... whatever you need to do to keep things contained. I had the full six months to get stuff done, so the first month I got 85% of the stuff done, and this past month (my last month) I hurried and got everything else done. You might want to at least call and make as many appointments as possible, I have heard of people being held up by one appointment that took 4 weeks or so to get into, I have never had that issue, however I had to do a sleep study, it took a couple weeks to get into and I had to do a follow up sleep study and both times they had to be read and that took a good 6 weeks start to finish. Everything else has been very quick. I have struggled with the weight loss, I had a 5lb loss requirement and a no gain (per my surgeon) I did gain a tiny amount (2#) which they weren't concerned with, they were watching for a big gain. So as I was coming up to my last appt (which was yesterday) I kind of freaked, I had 7 days to get down 5lbs and I was so worried I wouldn't do it, and then I would have to wait longer. I sucked it up, I knew I had to do it, I went low carb (cut all carbs but fruits and veggies) and lost 7.9# in one week. I am not stopping though, I had one cheat meal last night and started strong again this morning. I want to be down by my surgery day, I figure the less I weigh the less I need to loose and the better prepared I am for my surgery. You will be fine! Overwhelmed!!! yes!!! but you will be fine.

oh my goodness..... I pray for something.... anything....

Good husband! Sooooo sorry it happened! I had my gallbladder out and have had a form of dumping from that, but never to that extreme. Hopefully it never EVER happens again! On the other hand you paint a very vivid and somewhat comical picture.

I just emailed my patient navigator "hi, don't want to but you.... Did you recieve my physicians note from yesterday and out of curiosity how do you send my information along" Luckily she is a patient of my surgeon and has been through the process and is very patient with my questions. She replied right back said she had not received it yet but she would let me know and they send it via fax. That was just a curiosity question.

Three(ish) weeks seems so insignificant, and I am going to try my hardest not to dwell on the time but I am very excited because I had my 6th appointment for my 6 month physician supervised weight loss program. It has been a long six months, and yet and it has flown by! It takes around a week for them to get my paper work submitted, and about a two week turn around. I met my surgeons goals, I have read every book, and watched every documentary that has been thrown at me. I have been actively involved in different forums, and support groups within my community. I don't feel there is anything more I could have done. I hope the insurance company sees my diligence and feels the same way!

I had a group of teenage boys pull up next to me at a light a few years ago and I was quite a bit thinner and they started mooing at me. It really hurt my feelings, and when I told my brother he was prepared to go track them down and beat them..... My friend was just telling me earlier that a 16yo boy that goes to the same dance studio as our kids was having a conversation with someone and then made an offhand comment like "you know fat people.... like ______" and it was her name and she was standing a couple feet away. She said she turned and said "OMG I am fat?!? Why didn't anyone tell me" using humor to act like it didn't hurt, when it really did.

I am pre-op but I read a book that talks about this very thing with bariatric surgery. It's by Jen Larsen and it is called "Stranger Here: How weight loss surgery transformed my body and messed with my head" http://jenlarsen.net/stranger-here/ Here is her website. I am happy to hear that you are contacting someone, and I do believe it is quite normal. I hope you find clarity in this journey!

Mine is the same as Catherine707. Apparently I don't get anything.... No ice, no swabs, I am apparently not even allowed to have chapstick and no one who comes into my room is allowed to have anything, not even a bottle of water. I was told the reasoning was, they don't want anything triggering gastric juices, they just want the stomach to rest for 24 hours. The practice has never had a leak so I will follow their rules.

I am crossing fingers for Aug 12th. My paper work gets submitted this next week, and approx a 2 week turn around.

Possibly, is the urine dark? It can also be medication, or something in the protein shakes you are drinking. I have an allergy medication that makes my urine smell, Anything with Guaifenesin makes my urine smell. Asparagus makes my urine smell, I am very sensitive to urine smell apparently he he. Shoot for your 64oz the best you can, watch your urine color and plug your nose for now :-)

I know someone who claims to have naturally lost their weight utilizing a weight loss supplement, and in turn has created this large following of people who purchase supplements from them (its a husband and wife team I only know for a fact that the husband has had bypass but I really think she probably has too) Anyway they have made money off of people buying these supplements to get the same results and even won a car and trips through the company. I know he has had the surgery because first it was posted briefly on his FB but he deleted it shortly after it was posted. He uses the same surgeon as me, and has attended the same weight loss support group as me (when the monthly e mail goes out him and his wife are always in the list of people it is sent too. When confronted he claims he just had a liver biopsy and that was it. It frustrates me and because of him I decided early on that once I have the surgery and get past the first few months that I will be completely honest. I want to get thru the application and approval process and actual surgery before I tell those other than the ones I am close too.

My surgeon and nutritionist said the magic words to me that made me decide that no matter what I will be very strict to their rules "We are very aggressive with our post op instructions, including post surgery stay in the hospital, post op diet, plus more..... the reason is we have never had a leak or major complication and we don't plan on starting now" I figure why take the chance. I am changing my eating habits now, 8 weeks(ish) pre op, I don't want to look back in 6 months and regret that I didn't make the changes and hit the goals I desire so badly. I graduate this next year and I want to feel awesome walking across that stage..... I was inducted into the International Nursing Honor Society a few months ago and looked at the pictures after, and I was very embarrassed.

Well..... Rather than being rude I will tell you.... Good for you in your work towards this! Secondly I am in Colorado but I do know that some others in my support group who have gone through Colorado Medicaid have heard something in just about 14 days. How long is "forever"? Are you sure you know the right submission date? Just wondering if it took your surgeons office longer to submit the paperwork than what you are aware of? Have you asked them the general turn around time from your particular insurance? Good Luck! Looking forward to your acceptance post!

Some of mine were: How many surgeries, complication rate, Laparoscopic to open rate (How many times he has started laparoscopically and had to turn it into a full surgery), mortality rate, recommended vitamins, the weight loss he would expect from me, any recommended readings, websites, educational information etc...

http://www.wikihow.com/Remove-a-Stuck-Ring The "Dental Floss Method" Is what they did in the ER.

They have tricks to getting them off. I saw a guy get bit on his hand by a dog, he hadn't taken his ring off in 15 plus years, and the laceration was on the same finger as his ring. His finger was very swollen and they got it off without cutting it off.