heidikat72

Thanks for the comments and support. yes, logically I KNOW it is just about improving myself. The whole reason I'm in the class is because of how unfit I am and yes, at my weight exercise at first is going to be a struggle. Like I said, logically I know all this...emotionally was a different story yesterday. But today when I leave work, I'll be putting my sneakers on and walking...and walking and walking. And next Thursday at 7am I'll be right there in Philly sweating and huffing and puffing. And honestly, I'm kinda surprised I was able to hold a plank for even a second and was able to get up off the floor without needed something for support to pull myself up. So there is that.

My insurance allows for either with your PCP or with the nutritionist/surgeon's office. I opted for the monthly meetings with the nutritionist/surgeon - that way I could see the surgeon each month and ask him any questions I had and I figured the nutritionist could look over my food diary for the month and give me advice better than my PCP could. and they did warn us that if we go through our PCP to make sure the PCP wrote up individual reports each month and not just one assessment at the end. Apparently some PCP's have done just one report at the end and the insurance didn't count it as 6 individual visits. To be on the safe side, I would suggest contacting your insurance to see if they have a preference of one over the other.

there's a fee for my nutrition class. because the NUTs can't bill insurance companies (or at least most insurance companies won't pay for NUT appointments, even though they require medically supervised weight loss periods) so the fee they charge for this class actually covers all my appointments with the NUT and the class

sadly most people are selfish and come to work when sick without any regard to impacting their coworkers (not to mention not realizing they are probably staying sick longer themselves by doing that). you can't force them to stay home. you just have to do everything you can to boost your own immune system. Lysol your area like you said, take likes of vitamin C - and even the airborne supplement. I think it works great as a preventative, doesn't help much once you've already gotten sick. I keep a supply of it at my desk and when a typhoid mary type comes into work, I start taking it!

I would ask your surgeon or insurance company for details on what the class is. My surgeon's group has us take a nutrition class (in addition to the insurance required monthly appointments with a NUT). But that class isn't scheduled until AFTER everything gets submitted to insurance for approval. One thing I have noticed on the forum is that the requirements vary greatly from between both insurance policies and surgical groups.

woohoo! a shopping trip is definitely in order! congrats on needing new pants

Definitely take the time to focus on yourself and your health. I commend you on realizing this. So often when dealing with tragedy of any sort, we do just the opposite and spiral out of control (I know I did). I would suggest seeking some counseling. Not only to deal with the grief but also all the changes you'll be going through after surgery including working on the "head hunger" that will still be telling you that you want to eat that whole T-bone steak. And definitely come to this site whenever you need additional support (and to update us on your journey). There are a lot of truly wonderful people on this site who inspire with their stories as well as give compassionate real advice - even when sometimes it can be hard advice to hear. also, letting your wife read some of the posts on here may help alleviate some of her worry.

In the grand scheme - $28 for the unjury sample kit isn't bad. I got it and am glad I did - I will be definitely be ordering the bigger bottles of a few of the flavors. Even not considering the blender bottle and the thermometer you get with it, $28 for 10 packets works out to $2.80 each...which means $2.80 per meal. Bet you are paying more than $2.80 for a meal right now.

they really just want to establish a history of where you have attempted nonsurgical weight loss but haven't been able to maintain the weight loss. At my first appointment I told the nutritionist about my two most recent attempts. the first being 6 months on nutrisystem where I lost 40lbs but instead of being able to reduce my blood pressure and cholesterol meds, I actually ended up having to increase my dosages on both. Since the reason I was trying to lose weight was to reduce those meds, I got frustrated and stopped the program and immediately gained all the weight back. Then more recently, I did a completely vegan diet for about 10 months - lost 70lbs but had severe hair loss, didn't feel all that great (was constantly getting colds etc) and struggled with getting in enough protein on a strictly vegan diet. Overall, I just couldn't maintain living completely vegan and then underwent several traumatic events in my life where I returned to bad eating habits and gained all the weight back plus more. That was all she needed to hear. My advice would be to be honest with them.

I took a notebook with a list of questions I already had so that I wouldn't forget any. And that way I could write down the answers and any other notes. They'll ask you to describe your previous attempts at weight loss so you may want to jot a few notes down on that before hand - when, what did you try, how much did you lose, how long before you started to regain etc. They'll go through all the surgery options and discuss with you your specific conditions etc and help decide what will be the best option for your particular case. So it does take a while but it is not overwhelming. In my case, while I do see my primary doc regularly (2x a year to monitor my high blood pressure) he is only in the background for this process. I'm using the surgeon and his nutritionist for my insurance-required 6 month medically supervised pre-op period. I am having my primary copied on all tests etc and his office is part of the same larger medical group that the surgeon is in so he has total access to the records at my surgeon's office. But the point is, you probably won't HAVE to use your primary doc for this process other than to get the letter of recommendation.

I'm in the area as well and work with Penn Medicine. My surgeon is Dr. Kristoffel Dumon and surgery will be at UPenn Hospital (although there are other options of hospitals within the same practice). I'm about half way through my 6 month pre-op period. So far I love the team with Penn Medicine (my primary doctor is with Penn medicine as well). I'm able to do my monthly appointments at the Valley Forge office (which is only 15 minutes from my work) and the cardiologist is right there on the same floor so all my cardiac testing was done the same day as one of my monthly appointments with the NUT/surgeon. The sleep study consult is also right there in the same building. I'll have to go to the office in Philly for my 5th appointment but only because the psych evaluations are done at that office and I can have it done right after my normal appointment. There are monthly support group meetings at several locations (each has a slightly different format/style). I really like the ones held at the Perelman Center in Philly - the first hour they bring in a speaker to talk about a particular topic and then the second hour is more open forum. And those meetings get a good mix of pre-ops and post-ops at various stages, even some post ops that are more than 5 years out. https://www.pennmedicine.org/for-patients-and-visitors/find-a-program-or-service/bariatric-surgery

no doubt a frustrating process. I have BCBS (a different plan than yours) and have a 6 month medically supervised period. The day I had the ECG (which was normal) the cardiologist said he wanted me to have a stress test and echo. It was scheduled for the following week. A two month lead time seems utterly ridiculous! Plus it makes absolutely no sense to have to do the echo on a different day. Here's how my stress test/echo appt went (note I did the pharmacological stress test not a treadmill test) Appt was for 10:00am, I arrived early and was called back at about 10:05am. I answered a few history questions, they took my blood pressure and weight and explained in detail how the test would be done. Then I got an IV line put in and they injected the dye used for contrast for the stress test. You have to wait 45 minutes for the dye to work it's way through before they take the baseline pictures. So DURING that 45 minute wait, I got the echo done. Then the baseline pictures. Then they injected the more contrast dye and the drug to 'stress" my system. They monitored my blood pressure and heart rate for 5 minutes while the stress drug worked it's magic. Then I got to have some juice and a snack. about 20 minutes after injection, they took the final pictures. I was completely done within 2.5hrs. I met with the cardiologist again 3 days later to go over the results (I could have opted to just receive the report and not meet with the cardiologist). Note that the cardiologist recommending the stress test and echo does not necessarily mean there is anything of concern. Mine for instance, simply does it for ALL bariatric surgery patients to have a complete picture to make the risk assessment. He even told me there would have had to have been something majorly wrong for him to not recommend the surgery. He just wants to make sure the real risk level is known so that all parties (him, the surgeon and YOU) can make an informed decision. All that being said, in the long run - yes this is frustrating, but the end game is worth all the pre-op frustration. Hang in there and keep jumping through all the hoops. You'll get there.

"the world according to eggface" has several protein ice cream recipes that follow the same method MxKitty just described. and "the bariatric foodie" has a couple of protein popsicle ideas

I wasn't really any one thing for me but a gradual build. Probably the first big one was when my boyfriend of 3 years (we'd been friends for 2 years prior to dating) passed away in 2013 and I realized I didn't have a single picture of the two of us...not one. Because I hated having my picture taken. Flash forward to last summer and the weight finally taking a real toll on my mobility. I couldn't work in the volunteer garden at work (we donate the produce we grow to local foodbanks) as much as I wanted to because just the short walk from the building to the garden had me out of breath and in pain. And it kept getting worse, to the point where some days I skipped lunch because I was in too much pain to walk down to the cafeteria and back. and then the final one was shortly after I attended an info session but hadn't scheduled my first appointment yet. I went down to Va to see my family for thanksgiving. That Saturday my nephew and his wife asked me to attend the Christmas fair at the local amusement park (Busch Gardens in Williamsburg) with them and their two little girls. I so desperately wanted to join them but knew that I wouldn't even be able to handle the walk from the parking area to the entrance let alone all around the park. So I made up an excuse and decline, hurting their feelings in the process. As soon as I got home, I called and scheduled my first appointment with the surgical team. I don't want to miss out on any more memories with my grandnieces!

"Not knowing your company, but maybe you could serve as an advocate to your company and see if they can change their policy on weight loss surgery." I was just about to suggest what innersurfergirl already did above! You are such an inspiration on this site. I always appreciate your comments and posts and the way you keep it real.

I have heard of people pouring them in popsicle molds and freezing them

Super fantastic! I'm doing a happy dance for you!

The weights are coming from 3 different scales. Scales that aren't being calibrated on a regular basis nor are they getting daily accuracy checks (sorry, I'm a quality control chemist!) so it is very likely that the majority of the difference is just the difference between the scales. for your personal monitoring purposes - track using the same scale, weighing at the same time of day etc...

Welcome to the journey! Sounds like a very similar pre-op plan as mine - although my insurance requires 6 months of it. You will start to lose some weight and feel so much better even during this time. Yes, there are days where it is tough because my head tells me that I really want pasta. But then I think about how much my knees and back hurt just a couple months ago and I remember I want my health way more than I want a bowl of pasta. Use this time to start establishing good habits. Several of the protein powder brands offer sample packs - try ordering some of those so you can figure out what you like (or more importantly what you don't like!) before ordering a big tub. I know Unjury offers a starter kit on their website and Syntrax Nectar brand offers bags of mixed samples.

Oh and my only "follow-up" appointment with him was just to have him go over the actual results of the test - he didn't conduct the test, a technician did. I even asked if I needed to see him after surgery or have the testing again later to monitoring the thickening they found. He said only if I wanted to in maybe a year or so. Since the thickening was so slight that losing the weight would probably reverse it but that if I had any problems or wanted to check on it later to let him know. He left it up to me. Didn't try to push for regular follow up appointments.

My ECG was fine, no heart issues but my cardiologist still did an echo and stress test. Said he does it before signing off on any bariatric surgery patients. Not so much because he might not sign off on surgery but to make sure the full risk level is understood. I got the echo and stress test done in the same appt., about 2 hours total. Wasn't a big deal. Turns out I have a slight thickening of the left ventricular artery which hasn't given me any problems and he cleared me surgery. Just like every surgeon's office has slightly different plans/requirements pre and post op, some cardiologists do more testing than others. I wouldn't read any more into it than he/she likes to have a full set of data.

I've had 3 appointments of my 6 months period, 3 to go. At first, I was annoyed I had to do 6 months instead of 3. Once I made my mind up, I wanted the surgery then dang it! But now honestly, I'm somewhat glad I have the 6 months. Gives me a chance to get mentally ready for the completely different lifestyle. I'm gradually changing my eating habits with the help of the nutritionist, starting very slowly and gradually to increase physical activity and working on my issues around my emotional eating/food addiction (although still struggling to find an appropriate therapist). I figure in the long run a year or two from now, that extra 3 months waiting before surgery won't have mattered except that maybe it gave me the chance to better set myself up for success long term. Hang in there! The time will go by faster than you think.

check out the blog "The world according to eggface" - she's about 10 years post surgery and does a lot of posts where she shares a day's worth of meals. she has a lot of great "bento box" lunch ideas that would be easy to carry to work in an insulated bag.