drmeow

I am in the same boat, in fact posted a similar thread this morning. I do have high blood pressure but the doctor's office said that's not always an automatic approval like it is with diabetes. My BMI is currently 39.7 so if I lose any weight it will be even lower, but this is the highest my weight has ever been and I am SO uncomfortable. If I get denied I will still do self-pay but I want to first see if they'd cover it. I think you need to check with your doctor's office b/c I've heard some people say it's the first weight and others say it's the weight right before surgery that determines it. I will say that I was weighed in my clothes, so I might just have to put some rocks in my pockets

It's possible she stays close to you b/c she can always be one-up - more attractive, more active, weigh less, etc. From the things you've said about she acts now, she doesn't seem like she'd improve after surgery and in fact, be much worse. Have you thought about why you are actually friends with her as well? could it be that in your obesity, you felt you couldn't do any better, and you'd better make the best of what's available? Does she act like she's doing you a favor to hang around with you? Please, I'm not trying to hurt you, but that can happen with girl/girl friendships as much as it can between spouses. You are changing the dynamics of the relationship, and if some or all of it is based on her being "better" than you, I'm afraid it's not going to last.

Has anyone been denied for losing weight in the pre-op period? My BMI is currently 39.7. I have high BP (controlled wiht meds), asthma and mild reflux. The doctor's office said these are not always an automatic approval like diabetes would be. I have to do a 3 mo supervised weight loss before even submitting paperwork. If I lose much, my BMI will be even lower - will they deny me b/c of that? Or do they submit your original BMI? I really do want to be losing some of this, not only to make surgery easier but b/c I feel so horrible at this weight (highest I've ever been) and losing even 15 lbs will make a difference.

Yay! I'm so happy for you! I have already decided that if my insurance turns me down (my BMI is just below 40 and I have co-morbids but my doctor's office said they may deny it anyway since I don't have diabetes, which is apparently the automatic shoe-in), I will go ahead and do self-pay. I will probably do it here, though. I'm a carb eater too, which is why low carb works best for me, and my STBexH will never understand that. I'm not even telling him, since we are separated. Two of my kids know, the ones which will be supportive and also not say anything to him; the other one would use that against me to gain points with his dad so he is not being told. I have a lot of adhesions from my previous gallbladder operation which are going to be removed; as far as they know, that's what i'm going in for oh, and my husband is also longtime ex-military. Maybe boot camp does that to you. Or maybe people like that are drawn to the military. My oldest son, though, is a Marine and he's one of my biggest supporters. Wow, March 23rd - not too long now!

Not me, but congratulations on getting to this day and I hope everything goes smoothly for you!

I will probably be having surgery in June, but I am trying to work on any bad habits now that will have to change afterward, like snacking, grazing, eating in the car, eating while on the computer, etc. I'm tracking my Water intake (64 oz is a lot harder than I expected it to be). I already walk every day with my dog but plan to start some weights soon. I have been a big coffee drinker but for the last two weeks have been mixing regular and decaf in the pot, I'm now down to 1/3 regular and 2/3 decaf. No headaches! I greatly decreased my diet coke habits a few years ago but have still had one or two each week so soon I will be cutting those out entirely as well.

You can buy a http://www.amazon.com/Kuhn-Rikon-Julienne-Protector-Stainless/dp/B0000CEWJD/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1422894639&sr=8-11&keywords=julienne+vegetable+peeler Julienne peeler, or they also make something called a Spiral Slicer, to make your "zoodles" (zucchini noodles) I've been using one for a couple years doing Atkins.

Since you have to wait anyway, I would be pushing more to find out why your Protein is low. You may be losing protein through your kidneys or your liver is not processing it well, or your GI tract is not absorbing it well. Unless you've previously been a very low protein diet, just adding more protein to your diet is not likely to improve your levels without knowing why it's low to begin with. Was all the rest of your blood work normal? But they are right to wait - low protein means your incisions won't heal well and you may have leakage. Plus, depending on the underlying reason for it, there may be other complications as well. Good luck!

While it's true that some complications are a result of non-compliance, others such as pulmonary embolism and stroke are not. As a group, obese patients already have underlying issues that can lead to complications. The best surgeons take that into account but cannot eliminate risk entirely.

I am so sorry you've had to go through all this, especially with little family support. I am a single mom too but my kids are older (2 in high school and one in the Marines) which makes things a little easier. I had my gallbladder out about 15 yrs ago, but it took 8 yrs of pain before that to get the diagnosis! I had multiple ultrasounds but no stones, so each time they'd say it wasn't GB. I was scoped for ulcers, ultrasounded for "female" problems etc before a new doctor finally had me do the HIDA scan. I had surgery a week later and luckily did very well with it - had it on Thurs and went back to work on Monday. BUT, I was much thinner than now and had not recently had other GI surgery. I can't imagine having to go through it so soon after the bypass. However, I developed adhesions from my GB removal (mine had ruptured by the time it was removed) that are quite painful, and I just found out today that when I have the bypass they can remove the adhesions as well. So thankful for that. I hope you are able to get the rest and pain relief you need.

Nutrient absorption only occurs in the small intestine, not the stomach, whether you've had surgery or not.

@@darkfeary474, have you been to the Weight Loss center yet? I had my first appt last week; it was just an explanation of which steps my insurance requires and what tests have to be done. I go back this morning (if they are open with this snow) to meet one of the doctors and have my first nutritional consult. My insurance requires 3 mos of supervised diet so it will probably be early summer by the time everything gets done and approved. I'm have the bypass.

Too much soy is not good for anyone, male or female. I used soymilk in place of dairy when my youngest child was nursing, b/c she was dairy allergic. After several months of daily soy milk (just on Cereal in the am), I developed Hashimoto's autoimmune hypothyroidism. It may be coincidence, since sometimes pregnancy triggers this as well, but soy is a well-known goitrogen so now I avoid it almost entirely. The studies on asians and lower rates of some cancers now show that fermented soy (tofu and tempeh) are the key; they don't eat processed soy products like milk and cheese.

You might be craving salt. When I have done strict low carb (Atkins) in the past, I had to liberally salt my food or drink salty broth each day b/c without all those processed foods in a typical diet, you just don't get nearly as much salt. A long time ago in my teens I had a severe intestinal problem which meant I lived on just Jello and rice for several weeks (anything else went right through me, literally within minutes). I worked in a grocery store and one night I was stalking the aisles knowing I wanted something but didn't figure it out until V-8 jumped out at me. It was the salt.

Decaf coffee is still very acidic even without the caffeine. I'm a big coffee drinker now, before surgery, but am weaning myself off slowly and don't plan on re-introducing it afterwards, at least for a long time. I've gone off it entirely several times before and did fine after the initial changes but never had a good enough reason to just stay off it.

I have a whole list I've made for encouragement goals after surgery rather than focusing on the numbers so much. First one is being able to carry laundry upstairs from my basement without getting out of breath! Getting off BP meds having normal blood sugars (i'm prediabetic) less foot and knee pain - I may not ever be able to run again due to lots of arthritis but I will settle for more comfortable walking Being able to hike parts of the Appalachian Trail near us (I've done some but not for a few years as I got fatter) cycling on the C&O canal towpath snow skiing (haven't been in 20 yrs) horseback riding (haven't been in 25 yrs, since I first started gaining)

Well, a good surgeon still has to work around the liver and having a smaller liver is always going to make things easier, quicker and ultimately better results for quick recovery. I've been diagnosed with fatty liver in the past, so whether my surgeon requires it or not, I probably will.

I am so sorry you have so much to deal with on this. My husband would also say I'm doing this the easy way but I do not plan to tell him! LOL. I separated from him over a year ago b/c of longstanding problems in our marriage, one of them being that he was never supportive of my trying to lose weight. He's been thin all his life, ate whatever he wanted, and ran. He thinks that would work for anyone and thought I was lazy for not being able to lose weight. And when I did lose a significant amount, he not only ignored it, he made fun of my diet choices (low carb) and refused to do anything to help like not having sweets in the house. (btw, I am NOT suggesting your husband is like this at all) Anyway, I know you said your insurance has an exclusion, but have you tried appealing that? Can you show them how much money they've spent on your health problems related to obesity, and point out how much more they are likely to spend in the future (even joint replacement surgery at some point) if you don't have this? With your BMI and other problems already it would be an automatic approval for most insurances. If it is through your employer, possibly they have that exclusion to have a lower premium but you might be able to lobby them directly, pointing out how they probably cover things like treatment for smoking-related problems, as well as stop smoking programs, and smoking is definitely a lifestyle choice, not something that happens to a person without their doing it. Unlike obesity. I wish you luck in achieving this!

I have been reading several books on WLS from our library, and one that I read was written by a bariatric surgeon. He said that even if your doctor doesn't require a 2 week liquid diet, he highly recommended it, as it can really shrink your liver down and lessen the difficulty of the surgery and possibly shorten your recovery. I can't see that there would be any negatives to doing it. He even gave the website of his clinic for further info but I can't remember which one it was. It was definitely a COE. though. I have only met with the info/insurance person so far at my clinic and will be meeting with the doctor and nutritionist this week, but I have heard that they don't require 2 weeks of liquids either so I will be looking into it more as well.

<<I was trying to give everyone a full picture of what I'm going through, in my eyes/mind. My struggle is solely that its getting harder and harder for me to support this and be supportive to him, when he is quickly becoming cold and callous towards me. Like I said, this is not solely about his WLS as some started when he moved in and that I will deal with 1:1 with a therapist. I'm simply here to TRY to further understand what I can do, if anything, and how to do it.>> I think everyone here has given you a lot of good advice and you don't seem to want the answers. 1) this is HIS journey and you have no business trying to advise him what to do or what to eat. If he asks your advice on something, you can offer your opinion; otherwise, stay out of it. 2) Your weight loss and his have nothing to do with each other, except that you both possibly eat for emotional reasons and since you are not getting the emotional support from each other that you want, you may use food to blunt those feelings. You both probably need to be seeing a therapist to deal with that, alone. 3) Neither of you seem to be getting your emotional needs met; why would you want to marry and make this permanent? You do seem to want to control things. I'm not criticizing you; I have been through this for the last 24 years of a bad marriage. I ignored all the problems in my rush to get married. Now I'm getting divorced but it took gaining 100 lbs and 2 years of my own therapy to get to this point. I have many things from my childhood that impacted my relationships with others and I did not realize for a long time that I had subconsciously chosen a clone of my cold, distant alcoholic father. yeah, psychobabble but it's true. I tried to control so many things in my life b/c I could not control whether my husband (or my father before that) loved me. Food was my control item and also my anesthesia to numb those feelings. I think couples therapy is great, but only after both of you work on yourselves alone. My husband and I did some therapy together and it was great at first but it was a bandaid. As soon as we delved below the surface, he bailed and wouldn't work on anything serious. Now is the time to love yourself, before loving anyone else. Have him move out and get his own finances in order and his weight loss, work on yourself and then see if there is anything there besides food holding you together.

I just had my first info visit this past week and was told my insurance (BCBS federal)only requires 3 mos of supervised weigh-ins and nutritional counseling. The person said it doesn't matter whether I lose on it or not; they just require the 3 mos. to prepare you for afterward. My BMI is 39.7 so it's not an automatic approval. I have high BP but it's controlled by meds right now so she said that's not automatic either. I go back next week for a doctor appt and my first nutritional meeting, then they will schedule the upper endoscopy and psych eval. By the time those are completed, and the nutritional meetings hopefully I'll be looking at June for surgery, which is perfect for my job as well, since right now someone is out on maternity leave and another person is taking a big trip to Africa right when the mom comes back. (Small company, doesn't qualify for Family Medical Leave, etc and since this is elective at this point i'm trying to be cooperative)

I've had high blood pressure for about 7 yrs, mostly controlled by meds, but my doctor had me buy a home BP monitor and use it daily at first, now just occasionally. When I'm in the office and it's higher than it should be he asks what it's been reading at home. So he can tell whether it's just white coat syndrome or real, before increasing my meds. Also, several years ago I went on Atkins. Within 2 weeks of cutting carbs down to 20 g/day, my BP went down enough to cut my meds in half. So if you want to see some quick improvement, I would count carbs instead of, or along with, calories. Cut out most fruits, grains, legumes and starchy vegetables entirely. Berries in small amounts, and melon such as cantaloupe, are OK. I just had my first info meeting with the weight loss clinic earlier this week, meet the doctor and nutritionist next week.

Also, I think it is important to note that you had spinal meningitis - that is not a complication of WLS; it is an entirely separate disease and can be very serious, even fatal, on its own. Yes, you were already not doing well and that probably did affect your ability to recover from it. My college roommate caught meningitis b/c we worked at the local hospital and she had a sinus infection, which decreases your defenses against it. She was extremely ill for weeks even though she was a healthy 125 lbs and had no other issues beforehand. Then, you were unlucky enough to develop MRSA, from being hospitalized so much. I can totally understand your feelings, that if you'd never had WLS none of the rest of this might have happened, but you still might have had meningitis and then the MRSA. Also, I'm sure it's just a mistake in my interpretation, but you talked about being in the hospital 3 weeks from an infection, going home and a few weeks later being back in the hospital for meningitis, then right after that the MRSA. Then you say you had not seen your child for 2 years? Something doesn't add up there. Again, I am truly sorry about your experience and am not trying to diminish it in any way. Since all this happened 8 yrs ago, how are you doing now?

Same here - I made my appt back in early Dec and it's next week. My BMI is 39.7, barely below the "automatic" 40 that most insurances will approve. But I do have high blood pressure, reflux and asthma, so I think it will get covered. however, I don't want to lose any before my appt just in case! So I've been eating whatever I want and just doing the normal walking the dog I've done in the past. However, it's a good time to work on the underlying reasons for eating. I've been seeing a therapist for 2 yrs about my eating, and for the longest time I ate out of anger and frustration at my (soon-to-be-ex) husband. We're separated now, but it still took me awhile to stop reaching for food when I'd get upset. Now I"m noticing that more of my eating is just grazing out of boredom and convenience. So I'm working on that - trying to break my automatic snacking while I read or use the computer, for example. b/c otherwise, after surgery I may sabotage myself by eating slider foods, etc.

I have Hashimoto's hypothyroidism and take Armour thyroid (works better for me than synthroid did). How well is that absorbed after RnY? Anyone have significant problems finding right dose after surgery?