khaled

Hematologist says I am normal nothing is wrong, and he says I am cleared to have the surgery.
Now I am waiting for surgery staff to call me and reschedule.

Congratulations !!

Finally approved yesterday! 4 surgeon visits, 1 nutrition eval 1 psych eval, other tests and labs required by surgeon

Hematologist says I am normal nothing is wrong, and he says I am cleared to have the surgery.
Now I am waiting for surgery staff to call me and reschedule.

Trust me, the office staff will do their best to get you approved.
let's be honest, they get paid by insurance money

If you haven't net gained in the three month deal, they will approve you.
I got approved in one day, but usually it takes from two weeks to one month.

Good luck!

My surgery is in a few hours. I am so nervous.

My surgery is in a few hours. I am so nervous.

Five years ago today, July 13, 2010, I had my vertical sleeve gastrectomy at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan.
At the time of my surgery, I was just hitting 300 lbs on this scale and this morning I weighed in at 198 lbs. That is up about 25 pounds or so from my all time low of about 173 lbs, but that was probably a little too thin for me. I would like to get back to my original goal weight of 180 lbs and I am working on it.
Am I glad I had this surgery? Absolutely, without question. Have there been challenges? Absolutely. Even after five years, I still miss being able to sit down and enjoy a nice, juicy cheeseburger and fries or a club sandwich, but, as I always say, not being able to control myself with foods like that is what got me into trouble in the first place. However, despite all of those challenges, I know that I would never have been able to lose over 100 lbs without the help of this tool.
My health has improved. I no longer take blood pressure medication and my lower back and knee pain has all but disappeared. I have developed anemia which my doctor feels may be a side effect of my surgery, but that is being treated with Iron supplements and I see it as a relatively small price to pay.
My personal life has improved too. After being widowed with three young children in 2007, I met a wonderful woman a few months after my surgery in 2010 and we were married in 2013.
Truth be told, my eating habits are not the best, and that is something I am taking a cold, hard look at these days. I will be 50 years old next June and I intend to be back to my goal weight of 180 by then. It is time to stop kidding myself about my sugar addiction and other bad behaviors and get my act together.
If anyone reading this post is on the fence about having the surgery, my advise is to do it. I don't have any regrets at all.
Brian

@@Joymarie333 thanks I will

I got approved yesterday
Took them less than 24 hrs to approve me.

Congratulations on your weight loss !! Your face surely looks different.
but how come you end up with scar tissue built up? Did you have surgery before the sleeve ?

I got approved yesterday
Took them less than 24 hrs to approve me.

None of my friends or my family support me. So I gave the idea that I wouldn't do it.
My surgery is next Thursday and no one knows about it expect this guy who will pick me up from the hospital.
All those people I mentioned have never struggled with weight ever !!
Go ahead and don't let other people discourage you.

None of my friends or my family support me. So I gave the idea that I wouldn't do it.
My surgery is next Thursday and no one knows about it expect this guy who will pick me up from the hospital.
All those people I mentioned have never struggled with weight ever !!
Go ahead and don't let other people discourage you.

None of my friends or my family support me. So I gave the idea that I wouldn't do it.
My surgery is next Thursday and no one knows about it expect this guy who will pick me up from the hospital.
All those people I mentioned have never struggled with weight ever !!
Go ahead and don't let other people discourage you.

I got approved yesterday
Took them less than 24 hrs to approve me.

Congratulations!!!

I was approved in less than 24 hours !!

Before:
Current:

I didn't have a two year weight history either. I got Aetna last August and attained a new doctor in September. I started seeing her for weight management back in February and once every month there after. My bariatric surgeon's patient coordinator sent all my paper work to Aetna and I received approval within 4 days.

Adding the link for Aetna requirements. You don't need 2 years of weight history I was just sleeved in May and did not have that and was approved with no problems. http://www.aetna.com/cpb/medical/data/100_199/0157.html

Yeah, make yourself a graph or chart, fill in what you have and best guess the rest, turn it in and see what they say. I think you'll be fine. Good luck!

Agree with leaving at least 3-4 weeks recovery before returning to school. Brain fog is real - the combination of fatigue, pain and pain meds, and uber-concentration on hydration is taxing.