jessr0se

I just got approved yesterday! My surgery date is set for July 16th, but I'm also on the waiting list for July 10th. My surgeon only does 3 surgeries a day and only on Wednesday and Thursdays. Either way, its exciting and REAL and this is happening. I'm soo ready for it.

I'm from North Dakota, and the big event of the summer is WeFest, which is a 3 day country music festival. It is the second weekend in August. We camp there, drink alcohol and eat crappy foods basically. When I initially looked into the surgery in November of 2013, I thought for sure I'd have it done by this summer. Well, it's June and with all the unexpected requirements from my insurence, including months of meeting with a nutritionist, I have now only completed all the paperwork and had it sent in. My insurence also could take 4-6 weeks to approve (or deny) the surgery. That being said, it could be July before I actually have the surgery. Would it be risky to go to the music festival a month after surgery? Of course I would not drink alcohol and I would pack healthy options for myself. But I'm worried it will be a struggle with my recovering body and the 90-100 degree heat, plus remembering to get all my protein in and stay hydrated. Any opinions?!

Hello all! When I was told I would have to have a sleep study, I researched information about it, and found other people's experiences. I would like to share mine in case anyone was wondering what a sleep study is like. First off, I'm 250 pounds, BMI of 40, and trying to get approved for the gastric sleeve. It's tough to get my insurance to approve of the surgery, so I thought proving I had sleep apnea would improve my chances. The day of my sleep study, I woke up pretty early so I would be tired at night. I was a little worried I wouldn't fall asleep, or sleep well, which is odd because I can fall asleep on the hard ground with no blanket. I used to fall asleep on the noisy school bus ride home as a kid as well, so I wasn't too concerned. I was asked to check in around 9pm. A nice lady walked me up to the sleep center and I was greeted by the technician. She brought me into a very nice, hotel style room. It was on the smaller side, but it had a large queen bed and my own personal bathroom. I immediately was relieved and my worries melted away. She told me to get ready for bed and buzz her in when I was ready. I was already wearing sweat pants and a night shirt, so I just took my contacts out and washed my face. The technician and another man had me sit down and they started attaching the wires. I lost count of the wires, but I know I had 2 or three throughout my scalp that they attached with some kind of glue, 3 on my chin, one on each collar bone, and two that ran from my temples all the way down to right below my knees. I also had a wire taped right on my upper lip under my nose, and I have no idea what it was used for. All of the wires were then attached to a convenient battery pack looking device that lied beside me on the bed. If I needed to get up, I just hung the strap around my neck. Once I got past the fact I had wires on my face, I was ok. At around 9:30 they brought in a 4 page sleep survey and they left the room and let me get comfortable. I flipped through the channels on the tv finally resorted to the book I brought. At around 10:00 the tech brought in a cpap machine so I could see what It felt like in case they needed to put it on me during the night. It was a small rubber piece that fit right under my nose that blew air pretty forcefully. It was attached to an elastic band that went around my head (think of goggles). I wore it for about 15 minutes but it was actually quite uncomfortable. Then around 10:30 she came in to take it off, and I said I was pretty tired. She turned all the lights off and left. Then she called through the intercom and had me move various parts of my body. She also had me breathe through my nose only, then my mouth only, and then cough, and fake snore. Then she said goodnight! Luckily I got to have a fan in my room because I can't sleep without one. It was pitch black and I fell asleep quickly. I only woke up once in the middle of the night to use the restroom and I fell asleep right away after that. They came to wake me up close to 7am and removed a few wires on my face. About 15 minutes later, two nice nurses came to remove the rest. It was a little bit of a process, since the glue was holding pretty tight. I filled out another 1page survey (how was your experience). They then told me I could get dressed and leave. When I scheduled the sleep study, I scheduled a follow up appointment a week out, so I'll have to wait until then to get the results. All in all, it was an ok experience. I'm glad I can fall asleep pretty much anywhere. I've heard lots of stories of people having awful experiences, but I can't complain about mine.

Hello! I am not from NJ, but I am on medicaid. I know different states have different requirements for Weight loss surgery if you're on medicaid, but I'll let you know what I have found out about north Dakota's medicaid requirements. I believe, but dont quote me on it, that the requirements are the same for all Weight loss surgeries. You must be over 18, have a BMI of 40 or over OR have a BMI of over 35 with at least one co-morbidity, complete a 90 day documented diet (some require 4-6months), have weigh-in meetings 4 times over that 90 days with a nutritionist, and complete a series of other appointments. Those appointments included: Information session with bariatric coordinator, meeting with the nutritionist about pre-op and post-op diet, meet the surgeon, have a consult with bariatric coordinator and finally have a psych evaluation. ND likes to schedule most of them all on the same day. After going through all that, the bariatric coordinator still has some doubts I'll get approved because ND's medicaid makes it tough to get approved. I have high blood pressure and high cholestoral, but ND requires the co-morbidities to be "out of control", as in medication is not helping. I'm having a sleep study done in order to determine if I have sleep apnea, because that might help my chances. She said they most likely will deny the first time she submits everything, and then we can appeal. With the appeal, you can get a letter from your primary care provider stating why it is medically necessary to have this surgery, and you can also include a letter you wrote yourself stating why you believe it's necessary. It's tough but Im hoping and wishing and crossing my fingers that I'll get approved. I started this journey in January and would have liked to have the surgery by june. I'm hoping to hear from medicaid by the end of May. It seems like a long process but it has gone by fast and it's given me lots of time to research the gastric sleeve.

hey everyone! I just posted a new topic asking what steps to take for approval. In two days I will have completed my required 90 day documented diet and my weight loss coordinator said "we'll go from there". I am a planner and I need to know what comes next. I know I have to have a psych eval and a letter from my pcp...but what else? And how long after the approval date was your surgery date?

Hello Everyone. I need some help. First, I'll explain my story. I first became interested in the gastric sleeve in September of 2013 after my aunt successfully had the surgery and lost an amazing amount of weight. I'm mid-twenties, 250+ pounds, have high cholestorol and pretty high blood pressure and have a sleep study coming up to check for sleep apenea. I've stuggled with my weight for pretty much my whole life, and have been yo-yo dieting for over 10 years. I thought about it for a few months, and in January I made the first step. I called my local weight loss coordinator and said I wanted more information and where should I start. Since my insurance recommends 90 days of documented diet and 4 meetings with a nutritionist, she said start there. After the first meeting wtih my nutrionist, the weight loss coordinator called and said yes, I do have high cholestoral and high blood pressure, but they can be treated with medication. My insurance does not count those are co-morbidities since they can be treated. I said, lets just go for it. I'll go through all the steps, meet with the nutritionist, get a letter from my pcp, have the psych eval, and submit everything to my insurance anyways. Well, in two days I will have completed my 90 day documented diet and my WLC still hasn't been clear on what steps I will be taking next. She said "finish your 90 days and we'll talk about what to do next". So my question is, what all needs to be completed before insurance decides to approve or deny you? I was hoping for a late May-early June surgery date, but it's not looking too good at this point.

Hello all! I am only in the beginning documented months of a diet plan before insurance approval so I have some time yet before the surgery. But I was wondering what the recovery time was for most people. I know everyone is different and every body heals differently. I have a 4yr old son that my mom and sister will help out with during recovery but I just want to know when people returned to work or were able to get up and move around comfortably.

That's great! I'm happy for you! I won't give up, im fighting for this. Thanks for the words of encouragement

I'm a single mom on Medicaid. I live in North Dakota. I heard Medicaid will cover the gastric sleeve if you have a BMI of 40 or higher and at least one other comorbidity. I have a BMI of 41 have high cholesterol and sleep apnea. I am also completing the 4 months of documented diet, including meeting with a dietician once a month for 4 months. However, the bariatric clinical coordinator does not think Medicaid will approve since I'm only 24 and my cholesterol can be lowered with medication. I have been struggling with my weight for close to ten years and even my primary care provider agrees this is a great choice for me. What do I do? Finish the 4 months of the diet and submit it to Medicaid anyways?