Hiraeth

Wow, glad you're ok now. Did you get pancreatitis?
I noticed something wasn't right with me when my stool turned clay-colored with a slightly yellow tint; and sometimes, even yellowish mucus (TMI). Then, I would feel bloated all the time, especially after eating. Then, I would have indigestion. Eventually, I started having a strong cramping sensation in my sides when I would sit down and bend over to pick something up (kinda like a Charlie horse). By then, I knew I had to get something checked out. So, I scheduled a HIDA scan. When they gave me the cholecystokinin injection, I felt horribly nauseous (which is one of the indicators of a failing gallbladder). It took a while for my gallbladder to empty the injection. My results were that my gallbladder was functioning at only 12% (anything lower than 35% motility is diagnosed as gallbladder dysfunction). I had my gallbladder removed, and the cramping pain and indigestion went away.
Though, now that my gallbladder is gone, it can be difficult to eat fatty foods. You can go from being constipated, to having diarrhea.
I'm 5 months post-op, and I only have a bowel movement 1-2 times each week. It's awful. So now, I try to remind myself to drink Benefiber.

Is it kinda clay-colored? Does it have a yellow tint to it? If so, this could be a sign of a gallbladder problem. When the diet changes drastically, it can make the gallbladder fail. Are you having any cramping in your stomach, sides, or upper back?

This could also just be from eating a low carb diet.

I didn't read all the replies, so I apologize if you have to repeat yourself. Did you complete the requirements that were given in 2016? If so, then this is ridiculous. They should not deny you for a procedure if you already met the requirements in 2016. If this is the case, then it seems to me as if they're deliberately trying to sabotage your chances of having this surgery. My surgeon said that people, who are severely overweight, truly don't need the once-a-month check-ups and other requirements (excluding the cardiac clearance). He said that insurance companies require people to go through all these requirements, in hopes that they will give up and not go through with the surgery; because they don't want to pay for it.

I could be completely wrong about all of this; it's just an opinion.

If I were you, I would appeal this ASAP.

I also have BCBS Fed. At first, the requirements were: 4 months of a doctor-monitored diet (having check-ups once a month), a cardiac clearance, a nutrition class, a sleep disorder test, a psych eval, and a clearance letter written by my doctor. I told my surgeon that I have Pseudotumor cerebri. This worried him, so he had a conference with BCBS. They approved me in 8 days (I did not have to complete all the requirements they previously gave me.) All I needed to do was send in paperwork proving 3 years of having a BMI over 40, take a nutrition class, and get the cardiac clearance. I had my surgery a month later, and I am now 5 months post-op.

I completely agree. I also think I know the three people you're talking about. If I'm right, two of my friends have already mentioned them, as well. So, you're not the only one who notices them. They have made their reputation. My guess is, they have some major insecurity issues.

EDIT: Ok so, I just read all the replies and I now realize this thread was motivated by my thread, LOL! I'm glad some people actually see that I was getting responses that were uncalled for. It's funny, because one person who got on there and called me a liar, actually made a rant thread about me being mean. Lol, really? You come to my thread and provoke me, and you expect me not to reply in the manner you deserve?

Also, to the people mentioning tacos... My coworker is making something that smells like Mexican food, and I am now craving it. >_<;

. Pretty sure she is talking about the thread on being treated terribly by a restaurant...that one surprised me too with the way it went...

Thanks for all of you who chimed in with advise and instructions. Even though I read many posts about tacos, surprisingly I'm not craving any now. LOL I'll learn to ignore and just get out of a thread. I do my best to not post/ask anything that seems it would start something up, because there are a lot of mean people and they like to hide behind a computer. Bet they wouldn't be so forth coming in our faces! I was just upset by someone who wanted to vent and shared her experience only to get attacked about it. It was her experience--nothing that none of us should have said anything BUT encouragements towards or constructive criticism in the nicest way.
"Holding on to anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die" mean folks are only hurting themselves.

Or you're not overly sensitive and looking to be offended when you ask for justification to eat tacos 45 minutes post op.

I didn't read all the replies, so I apologize if you have to repeat yourself. Did you complete the requirements that were given in 2016? If so, then this is ridiculous. They should not deny you for a procedure if you already met the requirements in 2016. If this is the case, then it seems to me as if they're deliberately trying to sabotage your chances of having this surgery. My surgeon said that people, who are severely overweight, truly don't need the once-a-month check-ups and other requirements (excluding the cardiac clearance). He said that insurance companies require people to go through all these requirements, in hopes that they will give up and not go through with the surgery; because they don't want to pay for it.

I could be completely wrong about all of this; it's just an opinion.

If I were you, I would appeal this ASAP.

I also have BCBS Fed. At first, the requirements were: 4 months of a doctor-monitored diet (having check-ups once a month), a cardiac clearance, a nutrition class, a sleep disorder test, a psych eval, and a clearance letter written by my doctor. I told my surgeon that I have Pseudotumor cerebri. This worried him, so he had a conference with BCBS. They approved me in 8 days (I did not have to complete all the requirements they previously gave me.) All I needed to do was send in paperwork proving 3 years of having a BMI over 40, take a nutrition class, and get the cardiac clearance. I had my surgery a month later, and I am now 5 months post-op.

I'm having my surgery in Birmingham too! Dr Pennington at Grandview Medical Center. Sorry, I haven't seen anyone else on here near me.....I got excited !
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Wow! I'm very ignorant about WLS approvals (though very familiar with dealing with health insurance for long-term disabilities) so forgive me for speculating but it seems strange they would hold an application submitted in 2016 to standards that were not in effect until 2017. Maybe they held onto it so they could deny it for that reason... or maybe I am just skeptical of insco's! I hope you get a good result from the P2P with your doctor.

I hesitated to join this discussion because I have such conflicting feelings about weight now.
On the one hand, I have a lot of compassion for people who are hugely overweight. Science is finding that it's not a willpower issue, and as I've personally learned it's not anywhere near as easy to control weight as some people think (and I used to think). Even when I was heavy, I used to think it was just because I was failing and lacked the willpower to do the right things. Now I know how badly the deck is stacked against us.
I'm also a huge supporter of body positivity. Regardless of size or ability, people deserve to be treated with respect and dignity. There's no reason for anyone to receive substandard medical care because they're heavy, or be ridiculed by people in the street. Hating your body/self is counter productive to being healthy, and health should be the goal, not some ridiculous idea of what looks good that's pushed by media and photoshop. Being overweight does not automatically mean someone is unhealthy, just as being thin doesn't automatically mean someone is healthy.
That being said, there is a point where the weight interferes with movement and being able to care for oneself. As a nurse, I cannot consider that level of overweight to be anywhere near healthy, and this is one of the drawbacks I see to the body positivity movement. When I see someone who cannot move properly and maintain good hygiene because of the weight, I cannot help but wonder why they don't see that SOMETHING has to be done. Of course, drastic measures require access to medical care and many people in this country don't have it, so there's that. But I want so badly to channel Whoopie Goldberg's character from Ghost and grab them and say "you in danger, girl!!".
As for dating and relationships with people who are quite heavy... I am SO VERY GLAD to not be in the dating scene anymore. But if I were, I would not want to date someone who would jeopardize my health by constantly exposing me to unhealthy eating habits and sedentary pursuits. I'm doing all of this so I can get more active and be healthier, and would only be interested in spending time with someone who is also interested in healthy eating and activity. I don't think badly of people who aren't, but this has to become a big part of my life and factor into my serious relationships. It's more like if I were a recovering alcoholic, it would be a poor choice to get in a relationship with someone who drinks regularly. As it is, I'm lucky that my hubby wants to be more active, I'm actually the one who's dragging us down right now with my weight and chronic health issues. He'll go along with whatever I want to do.
I think ultimately we should seek out people with similar goals and priorities to ourselves, especially for romantic relationships. If one of our primary goals and highest priorities is our health, we should seek out people who feel the same and express that in their lives. Otherwise, our goals and priorities tend to change to meet those of the people we spend the most time with, and that can be detrimental to our health.

OMG!! Thank Goodness I thought it was just me freezing my butt off all the time!!! Everyone at work thinks I am nuts that I have a space heater on all year round yeah even in the summer, but I guess we just have to readjust to a normal weight.

Girl, me too! I am always cold now (unless, of course, I'm sitting in front of a heater). My hands and feet suffer the most; I always have to wear socks now. I hate wearing socks to bed, because they move around and drive me crazy, lol! But now, I don't have a choice because my feet are always so cold.

Have you lost a good bit of weight? I've lost over 60 pounds, so I bet that's why I'm so cold. I basically shed 60 pounds of warm blubber, and my much smaller body doesn't know how to cope properly.

I'm about to hit my 60 mark, but I'm not weighing myself as often and I used too. It gives me anxiety still even knowing I will see a change lol congrats on your loss!!
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Yea my insurance policy has the 4 documented visits along with a letter of recommendation from your primary doctor. Seems like everything should be ok. Thanks for the response!
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I am 11 months out, 140 pounds down. I freeze all of the time. We have an infrared heater that I drag with me around the house to whatever room I am in and I keep it facing me if I sit on the couch. It's a complete 180 because before surgery, I loved a cool house - now I can't stand it. I burn my husband and son up, but I am just so cold!

Almost a universal complaint. We're losing our insulating layers!
I work from home 2 days a week, and used to have my workspace set up in my living room in front of a window. This last weekend I had to clear out the spare bedroom and move my workspace there so that I could better heat it up with a space heater because I'll get too cold to work, and even get a Migraine from being so cold.
For me, it's mostly a good thing, because I was always the one who got hot and sweaty all the time, and was miserable. So given the option I'd rather be cold because I can use heated throws, heated mattress pads, socks, etc. to get warmer but there's only so far you can take off clothes in public and not get arrested. LOL.
And, of course, I'm in Texas. We only have about 1, maybe 2 months of real cold here (just got through a vicious cold snap) but on the order of 6 or 7 months of insane heat. So I'd rather be more comfortable in the heat and have to layer up for 1 or 2 months.

I complete agree. Not only that, but they wonder why anyone would answer a certain way, when they're the one who provoked them and basically called them a liar.
I am very forgiving, and I am always willing to settle a disagreement like an adult. But I always frown upon passive-aggressive drama, especially from someone many years older than me. I respect my elders, but it's hard to have a certain amount of respect for someone who refuses to settle anything in a mature manner.

@@Middus Stop it! You're making entirely too much sense here!

Aye, but ignoring butthurt is also technically burying your head in the sand. I have done some adult teaching in my life and have to come to the realisation that for those who choose to bury their heads, it's their heads, and it's their sand. If we really cared about those we're are advising, we won't let discussions deteriorate. Some of the 'Advisors' just come of as being self righteous *insert whatever term*. Some of those being advised come of as whiny little *whatevers*. Surely there has to be a middle ground if what we really care about is progress for everyone? If some people want to fail, advise, move on.. The problem is that when we move on, we carry sentiments from the last 'destined to fail' person onto the next person asking a similarly dumb looking (but very innocent) question.
We answer with a terse or dismissive answer and wonder why the person asking is pissed off?

For me I have found that when seeing obese people I have a great deal of compassion because I was 300+ pounds for the majority of my adult life and I was never a normal weight until just recently at 38 years old. I notice things that many people wouldn't pick up on for example there are certain things that people do like a way someone shifts in their chair at church or pulls on their clothes that I see and know that they are uncomfortable and unhappy because I did the same things for so long.
As for dating, I have always been attracted to the somewhat husky guys. That being said though I would want someone that can keep up with my activity level though and be able to work out and go on long bike rides etc. I would not be able to date someone who doesn't care at all about what they eat and are not active , no matter what their size is, because it would be way too easy for me to fall back into old habits. I fight against being a couch potato and fast food junkie and never want to go back to that lifestyle.

I wanted to name our middle daughter Daisy. Mrs. LittleBill wouldn't hear of it. I think attitudes on both sides were a result of picking her middle name first, which is May (we gave all our girls middle names from great grandmothers). I do like daisies. We seem to get two varieties here, and I always leave as many as possible when tending the yard.
And a very nice one it is!

Mine are daisies; a daisy is my favorite flower. But since flowers tend to be common, should I post an avatar that you will remember? *evil smirk*

I appreciate your input. I am getting my story out to help others avoid this kind of behavior from people, and also to help them see that they deserve to have a voice against bullying from companies. I am not stressed over this. I am just showing what happened.
You have a great night too!

I'm pretty sure this post is directed at me, considering it was posted about 2 hours after I responded to your comment on my post. You came onto my post, basically calling me a liar, and you thought I wouldn't respond in a very deserving manner?

Also, I have posted several helpful and kind comments on this forum, but you're choosing to talk about the one you provoked me on. Then you come here to "secretly" bash me, thinking I wouldn't see it. (But I'm almost certain you were hoping I would.) I don't appreciate it. An adult would have messaged me and discussed this with me. But instead, you chose to act passive-aggressive and childish.

Now, if this isn't directed at me, I apologize. But I'd be very surprised if it wasn't, considering the timing.