WitchySar

They will send my records, no problem, but that's not what the surgeon requires. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using the BariatricPal App

Still no news. I'm going to call the surgeon's counselor next week and see if anything has changed. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using the BariatricPal App

I don't have to have one. I was worried my surgeon would require it but aside from being day I don't have any other warning signs of apnea, so he said no sleep study. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using the BariatricPal App

As much as listening to your surgeon makes sense the fact remains that stomachs don't vary based on who cuts most of it out. Just because one surgeon prefers one thing and another prefers something different doesn't actually change whether or not it adversely affects the new stomach.

One of the reasons I was interested in the sleeve was because my research showed me that I could still take NSAIDs after the surgery. For several reasons I will continue to need them for the rest of the my life. When I was discussing my options with the surgeon the use of NSAIDs never came up but I did tell him about my issues and I'm sure he knows that NSAIDs are needed. But now I'm seeing people getting medic alert bracelets that say "No blind NG - No NSAIDS" and that has me wondering. Are NSAIDs allowed or not after having the sleeve? Or is this another one of those debates like straws?

I wonder if it depends on the surgeon then. I would think any surgery would have risk of blood clots so if I could have one surgery without then that would seem like it's not consistent, you know? So many variables when it comes to surgery and surgeons. OP, I really hope they are able to figure out how to get you the surgery.

Is there a reason this particular surgery requires blood thinners? When I had my gallbladder removed they didn't give me any blood thinners.

I'm concerned about the same thing. I'm on 3 BP meds and my blood pressure still is high. I had surgery last year for my gallbladder just fine, so I'm hoping they will let me have this one too. The surgeon didn't mention anything when I met with him. But I definitely understand your frustration.

I was leaning toward the sleeve and after talking to the surgeon he agreed. There are some meds I'll have to be on, pretty much forever, that would be adversely affected by malabsoprtion, so the sleeve was the only choice.

I should have clarified, I have to eat less than 20 NET carbs if I want to lose weight. Net carbs = total carbs - Fiber and sugar alcohols. All the carbs typically come from veggies, nuts, and fruit. Green Beans, broccoli, cauliflower, peanuts, almonds, strawberries, raspberries... to name a few. And on the low carb plan I followed you don't count calories, you count fat, Protein, and carbs. Since it isn't a low fat diet I didn't have to stick with only lean meats. I can tell you I definitely wasn't getting in less than a 1000 calories a day on low carb. When I followed it strictly I lost almost 150 pounds in about a year. Unfortunately I got pregnant so I had to stop the low carb. Gained back about 75 in a year. The rest have come on slowly over the last 7 years. Got back up to where I was when I started low carb the first time. Unfortunately not I'm older, my metabolism is shot even more than before, and so even when I follow strict low carb I don't lose as fast at all. It's still the only way I lose though. As for maintaining a weight high enough for WLS, well I definitely didn't get this high by following a low carb diet. When not dieting I would make horrid food choices and basically eat junk all the time. If I followed low carb strict for the rest of my life I COULD lose the weight on my own. But now it's coming off too slowly and my health has declined too much for me to have time to lose it on my own.

I went through the same thing after having my gallbladder removed. I was in terrible pain, so much so that I couldn't even stand up straight. Everyone refused to give me more than three days of pain meds. I was I tears all the time because it hurt so bad. But hey, gallbladder removal is a easy surgery, right? According to the surgeon and my pcp people are feeling much better after only a couple days. Well I could barely stand up for almost two weeks before it got bearable. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using the BariatricPal App

Weight gain is a common side effect for a lot of BCP. Certain formulations have a higher chance of it than others, so talk to your gyn.

The only way I've ever been able to successfully lose weight is by adhering to a strict low carb diet. If I eat anything more than 20 carbs I actually gain weight. I'm hoping that after surgery I won't need to be so strict on the carbs, but I'm not holding my breath.

Thanks for all the answers. I figured it was like other insurances with different plan options but hey, figured I'd ask anyway. The company my husband works for (and is hoping to get a permanent position with) is awesome and treats their employees great. Better than any company I've seen before. So hopefully that will translate into a good health insurance policy too that covers WLS.

There's a chance we'll be getting Cigna insurance in the next couple months. Does anyone know much about them? Are they like BCBS where there are a million and one different plans, or are they pretty uniform all around? We can't get more info about the insurance until my husband is hired on permanently so now I'm worried it won't cover WLS, or will have some ridiculous rule like a 2 year supervised diet, or something.

Sorry, I just saw this response. Therapists aren't allowed to fill out any forms at all. I had to have a form filled out for medicaid transport some months ago and someone else there had to fill it out. So they fill out SOME forms, but apparently not these.

Hmm, perhaps. I'll ask her about that at my next appointment on the 15th.

My surgeon just wants me to try and lose 10 pounds before surgery but said it's not required. So not all surgeons are the same. Good luck at your appointment!

My therapist said she would fill out the form and that she feels I'm prepared. She isn't allowed to fill out anything without permission from her supervisor though (I already know this is a fact from another form I needed filled out months ago for a different issue). The supervisor said that they just don't fill out any forms like that at all anymore. It has nothing to do with my stability. There's a spot on the form they could check that says they don't feel I'm mentally stable enough, so if that was the problem they could have done that. So no, that's not the problem.

Dang it. I just checked with a lawyer and they can refuse to fill out any forms they don't feel comfortable with.

Do you know how I find out who licenses them? I assume they are licensed by the state mental health department since they accept medicaid, but I don't know for sure and their website is less than helpful. I don't know what their reasoning is for not filling it out. She just insisted that they "don't fill out these forms anymore." And no, they definitely did not make me aware of this before I became a patient.

The surgeon I go to has a counselor on site that I've already seen. She has already cleared me. The surgeon is still requiring the forms from my own therapist and psychiatrist too. He needs to see a history of my bipolar being stable, so even paying another psych footer am evaluation won't work. He needs the history. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using the BariatricPal App

Heard back from my therapist's supervisor. They absolutely will not fill out these papers. Period. So now I don't know what to do. I'll call my surgeon's office layer and talk to the counselor there and see what she thinks. I am so livid right now! Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using the BariatricPal App

When I had my gallbladder out I woke up in recovery screaming. I had a lot of pain and I was so disoriented. I couldn't remember where I was or why I hurt so bad. It took a few minutes of the nurse trying to calm me down before it came back to me. The dilaudid they shot into my IV helped. Once the pain was manageable I could think more clearly and remembered I just had surgery. I think I had an oxygen tube around my face, and of course I had an IV. I'm really hoping this next time goes a lot better.

I have bipolar as well. My surgeon warned me very strongly that after I have the surgery I will likely experience heightened symptoms for a while because of all the hormones being released by the weight loss. Has anyone else here had to go through extra mental health clearance because of your bipolar? I've already been cleared by the surgeon's counselor but he won't do the surgery unless I can also get my therapist and psychiatrist to fill out forms as well.