elizabeth105

That's awesome that you were approved so fast! Thank you for the well wishes

How annoying! I am so sorry you had to deal with that. I'll call again in the morning. Online they told me my surgeon would NOT be covered because it wasn't a center of excellence. I called this week and they had me on hold to research for 45 minutes!! they came back and told me she would be a covered surgeon. So, I know the call is recorded, if they give me trouble in the future I will have proof that they told me they would cover it.

Yes! This is what I need to do. Caffeine withdraw headaches are the worst, might as well get them out of the way now

No, I've only told my husband and my parents. Somehow my sister found out.. she gave me a lecture last night on how I just need to eat low carb and plenty of people on FB have done it without surgery. I sat there, but ignored her. She's 5'8" like me, but has been 130 lbs her entire life. She just doesn't understand the struggle. My feeling is, it's none of their business! We want to live life, be happy, look and feel amazing! They should be excited for us and encourage us, not beat us down So, maybe I'll tell people after surgery, but not now, I don't want the lectures LOL

I completely agree with you; it's so important to be ready for the lifestyle change. I had the psych eval, and even though I don't require additional psychology appts, I just started seeing one to help me with the adjustment. I'm also making healthier food choices and doing 2 Protein shakes a day. I know the surgery will just be an additional tool, so I'm really trying to wrap my mind around all of the changes I need to make.

That's great! We can be buddies

Thank you so much! And great job on your weight loss! 60 lbs since Oct is amazing

Hi Tamika, welcome! I'm a newbie like yourself. You bring up a great point about expediting due to a high bmi. My bmi is currently just a hair under 51. I'm going to double check the medical policy and talk to my surgeon, but so far I have been told I still need to follow the same requirements for both. I initially started my journey in March 2015. Surgery will finally most likely be April. But I had newly discovered endocrine issues that had to be addressed in the summer before I could proceed. Excited for you that you don't need to wait! Good luck on your journey

Thank you so much for your responses! I didn't mean to be rude, I couldn't find this thread to get back to you! So, according to BCBSIL, it will go through them for approval. Just the billing will be handled by my local insurance. But you go by the benefit of the actual insurance you carry, so I only have to follow the requirements for BCBSIL's medical policy. Which I am so excited for, because the requirements aren't as strict as Excellus BCBS (in Western NY)

LF1971 wrote exactly what I was going to say! And honestly, I've decided my path, it isn't worth fighting an uninformed person about it. I ignore and remove myself from the conversation. I know it will be hard to do that with friends/co-workers. Somehow my sister found out and decided I needed to hear that a low carb lifestyle is better and there are people out there losing hundreds of pounds without surgery.. I let her ramble for a few minutes and told her I've already made my decision, and it's a personal one. You deserve to make our own decision and feel good about yourself. Good luck on your journey!

Unfortunately, all of my siblings are very fit, active, and at a healthy weight. They're not supportive of surgery and have made rude comments about how it's really not difficult to do on your own (ugh!) So I am definitely not telling them. However, my mother-in-law had her sleeve done March 2015, and my husband is meeting the surgeon for the first time in 3 weeks, so we will all support each other. I agree, co-workers don't need to know, it's a personal decision.

My surgeon highly recommended the full gastric bypass for me. I have a very high BMI, I've lost 25 lbs prepping for surgery and my BMI is still over 50. I also have terrible acid reflux and a complication from it, Barrett's Esophagus. She explained that the reflux would not go away with the other procedures. My mother-in-law had the gastric sleeve last year and that's been perfect for her, but I'm a whole lot heavier.