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heidikat72

Pre Op
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Everything posted by heidikat72

  1. heidikat72

    6 month pre op diet

    You should check with your nutritionist and/or insurance company. It does seem to vary a lot from what I've seen on this site. Some want a specific amount of weight loss in the supervised pre-surgery period and others just don't want you to gain.
  2. sounds like she was just telling you all the things she tells herself to justify her not getting the surgery. classic projection. pay her no mind or as was previously said on this thread - just smile and say "bless your heart"
  3. heidikat72

    Soft foods diet and travel...

    I took protein powder sample packs and blender cup with me in carryon luggage recently when I went to Texas for a few days. I'm still a few months away from surgery but did it as a convenient breakfast and chance to sample some powders. No issues getting through the security line with it. Once was even a sealed bottled with protein powder in it - the kind where you add water to the line on the bottle and shake. I thought that one might get questioned on the xray scan but it didn't.
  4. My surgeon's office in general recommends 4 weeks off for the sleeve but said with a desk job, as long as I was able to get my fluids in and get up and walk for a couple minutes every hour or so I could probably go back after 2 weeks. They really didn't recommend trying to go back sooner than that.
  5. Had a similar experience last night with a counselor. I knew that part of this journey was going to have to be dealing with my emotional eating and that unless I did that, the surgery wouldn't help in the long run. So I set up an appointment with a counselor - recommended by my insurance company. Last night was the first session. As soon as I said the words weight loss surgery she cut me off and said "you know the surgery doesn't really work, right? you'll gain all the weight back. you should just join weight watchers and a gym. WW has a much better success rate than surgery"...I was floored. then I told her that actually many people are successful with surgery but that the surgery isn't a simple fix, that I need to address my emotional eating in order to make the necessary lifestyle changes along with the surgery"...her big advice for how to deal with emotional eating? "Just don't eat" I left feeling very defeated. I'm trying to deal with the underlying causes for my over eating but how do you find a counselor who will actually take it seriously?
  6. Had first meeting with a counselor to deal with my emotional eating/food addiction. First words out of her mouth were "you know weight loss surgery doesn't really work, right? You'll gain all the weight back. You should join Weight Watchers and a gym instead. Weight Watchers has a much higher success rate"...yeah, i don't think she's the counselor for me. Her advice for how to manage stress/emotional times without turning to food - simply don't eat. How to find a counselor who takes emotional eating seriously?

    1. heidikat72

      heidikat72

      my nutritionist at the surgeon's office is fantastic. It's finding a counselor/therapist who recognizes food addiction/emotional eating as real issues and can help you deal with them that is proving dang near impossible. The psych's that are part of the surgeon's office (the ones who do the final psych eval for surgery clearance) don't accept insurance so I've been trying to find one that does...but I may just decide to use one of them and self pay at least for a while since they will at least have experience with bariatric patients.

    2. Valentina

      Valentina

      I'm thinking the same thing.

      Question: It is the same with my bariatrics' office--their psych only accepts self pay. What's that all about?? How about enlisting personnel who will work with the same insurances as the surgeon and make the package well rounded and complete for their own patients??

    3. heidikat72

      heidikat72

      yeah I don't know what's up with that, it's annoying though. Would be so much easier for the surgeon's team to all be on the insurance and have "one stop shopping" so to speak

    4. Show next comments  69 more
  7. Following because my surgeon also wants me to get the IVC filter since my very high BMI puts me at a higher risk for DVT. The information I've found on them however, doesn't have me convinced that they are a real benefit. The other option though is giving myself daily lovanox injections which doesn't thrill me either. I would definitely like to hear from some people who have had the IVC filter. My surgeon said it would be inserted about a week or so before surgery and stay in until 4-6 weeks after surgery (assuming they are able to retrieve it when they go to remove it, sometimes it can't be removed).
  8. heidikat72

    The Me vs Her Perspective

    I would just like to say that in addition to your physical transformation being wonderful, it is really your emotional transformation that I find so inspiring! I can especially relate to the "I didn't hate myself because I was obese, I was obese because I hated myself" idea. Learning to love ourselves takes work and in many ways is the scariest/hardest part of this journey for me.
  9. If it's vacation time, why do you have to tell them what you are doing on vacation? if you were really taking a vacation would you have to provide them with your trip itinerary? and by the way - completely jealous of unlimited vacation time!
  10. heidikat72

    Onederland!

    Congratulations!
  11. heidikat72

    6 month Weight management

    That completely depends on your insurance company and specific coverage plan. Call them or even the insurance coordinator at your surgeon's office should be able to help you get that answer. Some want to see a weight loss and even require a certain percentage, other's don't. For instance I have a Blue Cross Highmark plan and while they don't require a weight loss in the 6 month pre-op, I absolutely cannot gain even a pound during that time or it will be denied.
  12. heidikat72

    Denied for lack of effort?

    do you currently log your food - do it for a couple days and really look at it. like others have said - you'd be amazed how much you can drop in the first month after cutting out sugar and cutting way back on carbs. I dropped 14 lbs in the first month of my pre-op just by cutting out the soda and my starbucks caramel macchiato habit and skipping the mac&cheese and potatoes. Not even adding exercise. It is a shame you doctor didn't mention this sooner but perhaps he did it now to be the push you need. It ain't over til it's over - work for it this next month!
  13. heidikat72

    Favorite Greek Yogurt

    I liked the flavor and texture of the chobani simply 100's until I realized my body doesn't respond well to stevia. But if you don't have issues with stevia, give them a try.
  14. heidikat72

    Protein shakes after sleeve

    your nutritionist should be able to give you suggestions - ones that fit their plan (for instance my bariatric group prefers the shakes be whey isolate not any other form of protein). I say this - because the premier shakes that everyone seems to like aren't on my nutritionist's "acceptable" list. She also sat down with me and said which flavors of the ones on her list people seem to prefer and most importantly ones people really didn't like.
  15. heidikat72

    Progress Pictures ☺

    wow! so impressive! congrats on all the hard work you've put in.
  16. heidikat72

    Non-scale victories

    oh I so look forward to this one! I used to have to travel A LOT for work and hated it. To the point where I actually bought my own seat belt extender to avoid the embarrassment of asking for one or there not being enough in case I wasn't the only obese person on the flight. Although I will say that the vast majority of flight attendants were very courteous and respectful about this (especially the ones on Delta) and I've never been asked to purchase a second seat or gotten booted off a flight (thank goodness since they were all work trips). But it has always been a fear.
  17. heidikat72

    Irregular ecg

    Don't stress about it - my ecg was normal and the cardiologist still wanted a stress test just to make sure. Get the stress test and meet with the cardiologist. The doctor will be able to explain what was seen and what it means.
  18. Go ahead and binge, just do it on something healthy! I was actually told this today by a friend that I was venting to about having a rough time today and really wanting to turn to my old habits for comfort. really? go ahead and binge? ugh...at least it angered me to point i didn't want to eat anymore

    1. Djmohr

      Djmohr

      Clueless people.

    2. heidikat72

      heidikat72

      and I had just told her the reason for my bad day - I was having NO luck finding a counselor in my area that deals with food addiction...smh, tried to explain to her that what she said would be like telling an alcoholic to go ahead and have a drink, just have a light beer instead of whiskey. she still didn't get it. Guess I won't be turning to this person for any support again.

    3. Valentina

      Valentina

      Time to put the kettle on and have some hot tea and honest talk. Don't give up on a true friend before having a heart to heart with her about you "new you".

    4. Show next comments  69 more
  19. heidikat72

    Reporting from my hospital bed

    glad to read it all went well! welcome to the rest of your life. Keep on belching! haha
  20. heidikat72

    Will insurance deny me for this?

    what bufflehead said - it's is dependent on your insurance company's policy but your surgeon's office should be able to answer that. I know my surgeon's office said that with my insurance policy I am not REQUIRED to lose weight (some insurance wants you to lose some during the pre-op to demonstrate you are committed to the lifestyle change) but that I absolutely cannot gain (my insurance company apparently denied another of his patients recently because of a 3lb gain in 6 months). So while I'm not required to lose, I figured the best way for me not to gain is to try to lose some. But again, check with the insurance coordinator at your surgeon's office - they'll know the ins and outs of your insurance plan.
  21. heidikat72

    In need of a Surgery buddy.May/June

    that's the time frame I'm on too! Got my cardiac testing done yesterday - I'll get the results Monday when I see the cardiologist again so hopefully he'll sign off and that will be one hurdle down.
  22. heidikat72

    Family Hurts

    What I'm struggling with in your situation is the idea that your sister feels not mentioning the surgery to others if they ask her how you are losing weight weight is lying. She seems to be trying to take some sort of moral high ground claim of not wanting to lie FOR you and yet she had no issue apparently with lying TO you when she promised to keep your secret. I don't understand why she can't just direct those people to ask you for the details of how you are losing weight? But yes, my guess is that she already blabbed to a bunch of people before she texted you and is trying to justify breaking her promise.
  23. heidikat72

    Rude relatives

    I think they are trying to justify their reasons for not doing anything about their weight. Don't let it get to you. You are doing what is best for YOU.
  24. heidikat72

    Friday NSV roll call!

    I'm still pre-surgery but just the fact that I've been trying to exercise a little bit meant that Sunday I was able to dig my car out of waist deep snow - by myself! without having a heart attack or stroke! Took me several hours with lots of breaks, but I did it! I honestly can't imagine even trying to do that a couple months ago.
  25. heidikat72

    Fruit flavored Protein powder?

    The Syntrax ones are tasty. and you get can a bag of sample packs so you can try several flavors before committing to a big container of a particular flavor. Syntrax Nectars come in several fruit flavors. This is just one place you can get them: http://www.mybariatricpantry.com/Syntrax_Nectar_Protein_s/4.htm

PatchAid Vitamin Patches

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