lovealways

Thank you! I started making my appts for the sleep study, endoscopy, nutritionist, etc....is this a good time or should I wait till it's closer to the Completion of the 6th month diet? If that makes sense lol

Hi guys. I am in the beginning process of getting the bypass. I met with my surgeon and am just now making tons of appointments for the various doctors they need me to see. I have united healthcare community plan, which is an HMO of medicaid in NY. They cover gastric bypass, but I have called a good ten times askung for the requirements, and have gotten 3 or 4 different answers. My surgeon's office doesn't know what they require, since the patient advocate is out on vacation till the 20th. So far, I need a pre-authorization from the doctor, then my insurance will let him know of the requirements. So far I've heard yes, I need the 6 month diet, then I've heard I need a year of failed diet attempts and nutrition counseling, then I've heard there's no requirements but the BMI over 40, and so on. I can't imagine needing a year of supervised diet...never heard of that. I am, however, going to do the 6 month diet because I am sure they most likely require something like that. So, I'm lost. Any advice? Has this confusion ever happened to anyone? Should I wait till my patient advocate comes back from vacation to contact her and see? It would be a pain to do all this work just to submit to insurance to find out I was missing something

I'm just starting, too We're all in the same boat, which is great for support! Did you set your initial consult with your surgeon?

Good for you!! When did you have the surgery? I'm focusing on substance abuse/mental health. I love the mental health field as well. What school did you get your MSW from?

Thanks I had my psych do an eval today and all went well. Nice to meet another social worker. I'll be getting my MSW in May

Thanks for the wonderful advice! It's great to hear from positive people who have done their research extensively

Wonderful advice! Thank you

Don't allow "following in your mom's footsteps" in terms of weight gain be an option. It's only an option if you allow it to become one. Understand that weight gain IS possible, even with these major surgerys, but it can be prevented by adopting a healthy lifestyle and staying focused. Good luck!

Can we see a psychiatrist for a psych eval or it has to be a psychologist? I'm not even sure it matters lol.

Where in NY are you? I'm from Long Island. I'm pretty sure most medicaid HMO's in NY cover gastric bypass. The only way to find out what they require, is to call their member services number usually listed on the back of your ID card.

I'll be honest with you...I seem to hear nothing but horror stories from the band. Just my personal opinion, but I think they're eventually going to do away with the band. It seems people are unhappy over not losing enough, having complications, etc. etc. More and more people are getting their band revised to the sleeve or bypass. I think as technology and weight management studies advance in the future, the band will no longer be an option. Just my opinion! Bypass has been around the longest. Good luck.

Thanks so much to everyone who replied. It's going to be a tough ride trying to convince my family that the gastric bypass surgery is safe in the long run. Initially, I was going to have the sleeve surgery, but it turns out my insurance only covers the gastric bypass. My younger sister is actually having the sleeve surgery done July 25th this month, and it was a long journey for her, so she and my mother had plenty of time to research the sleeve and my mom is not familiar with the bypass. My uncle had the bypass, and has lost well over 100 pounds, and his diabetes is gone, and he works out 5x a week, but he ended up in the hospital a few times due to Vitamin deficiency and not wanting to eat (no appetite). He is also 67 though. Not saying that's a bad thing, but I feel since I am in my late 20's, hopefully the surgery will be a little easier on my body. I hope. I keep trying to tell my mother there's complications even with the sleeve surgery, but she seems to think the sleeve is a safer route. She literally keeps telling me, "don't do it, you don't want to be going to the hospital for Iron infusions for the rest of your life". LOL. Ok, so she's a little dramatic, right? At least I hope? I'm ready for weight loss surgery. I'd take the sleeve or the bypass, but def not the lapband. My only concern with the bypass is vitamin deficiency, especially if I plan on having a baby in the next 5-6 years. Is vitamin deficiency something everyone experiences? Regardless of what anyone says, I'm going to do what I feel is right for ME

Good luck!

What type of work do you do?

My surgeon is only requiring a sleep study, endoscopy, bloodwork, etc., not my insurance....so I made a lot of initial consults in the next few weeks and next month. I made them early because usually they end up being a consult, then 1 or 2 additional appointments....I hope I can get it done in late dec or early jan

Thank you! The testing that I need like the bloodwork, endoscopy, sleep study, etc. is only required by my surgeon, not by my insurance...so will that matter? I scheduled most of my appts now and hope to be operated on in dec/jan

I've been a smoker for 12 years, and I'm on day 5 of no smoking! It's been rough, but getting easier. I am taking Chantix, and it does wonders. If it's an option for you, look into it!

A question for either pre-op pr post-op. Once approved by insurance, can we pretty much pick any surgery month/date we like? For example, if I'm done with requirements and approved in October, can I choose to wait till December or January to have my surgery? My biggest thing is NEEDING to have the surgery done between semesters of grad school, so winter break would be perfect. Thanks guys

I'm hoping I can go back to work at about two weeks time at the most. I'm a social worker, and realllly want to be able to give my clients the attention they need without focusing on myself and how tired I am, etc. Is two weeks off reasonable? I'm afraid I wouldn't be allowed to take off any more time than that.

Oh wow. I'm hoping I could go back to work/school after a week or two, otherwise, any longer would not be good lol.

How long did it take to go back to work? How long did it take to be able to drive again? I have a desk job, so not much moving, but I was hoping it would take a week to two weeks at most to return to "normal" daily living.