laceemouse

It depends on your insurance. I was right at BMI 40 when I went to my doctor early August. They sent me to a psych eval and after they get that report they are going to submit to insurance. I am sure I have fluctuated up and down since then but it doesn't matter. Once I am approved they aren't going to cancel my surgery if I lose a couple of pounds. I am not trying to lose not but I know I will on the pre-op diet. My surgeon only does 3 days of liquid diet pre-op but I know I will lose a couple of pounds doing that. Some insurance companies require several months of being a high enough BMI, some require you to lose before surgery, they are all so different. And then of course lots of people pay out-of-pocket for surgery. I considered that when I wasn't quite BMI 40.

I don't see a lot of tummy pictures on here but I see tons of them on Youtube. Search weight loss, weight loss surgery, before and after, and "skin flicks". You will see lots of different tummies (and arms and legs and backs and butts) both before and after weight loss. Hope this helps.

Interesting! I never heard of it before these boards, but I am new to this WLS thing. I had to have my gallbladder out years ago after losing only 40 pounds on Weight Watchers. I wonder why they don't give people this drug when they are planning to lose by means other than WLS? I am also surprised that so many people considering WLS say they have lost and regained like 100 pounds many times and yet they still haven't had gallbladder issues. They are lucky!!!

I wish I lived in Pensacola. I went to high school in the area, it is gorgeous there. You are lucky!!! Seriously, good luck with your surgery!

Mindi, go to Youtube and search weight loss and skin. People call them "skin flicks" and they will post before and after photos and also show themselves currently in underwear with all their skin. Working out with weights helps a lot for arms and legs because the muscle will get bigger and fill in some of the saggy skin. Skin on the stomach seems to be a bigger issue for most people. It really depends on where you carry your extra weight. But most people who love 100 pounds or more will have excess skin no matter what they do. It happens even if you lose slowly and even if you lose without surgery.

I have heard of people wearing ankle weights under their clothes or in pockets if they are just short of the bmi cut off for insurance purposes at the initial weigh in. At the very first seminar I went to at my clinic, the surgeons said if you had a bmi of 39 + but not quite 40 they would weigh us holding our hand bags. This ended up happening to me Sent from my iPod touch using the BariatricPal App Ha! Bring your biggest purse and load it up! I was barely BMI 40 when I went to see my surgeon, I have lost a little since then according to my home scale. I hope they don't weigh me again, I don't think they will because they said they are submitting my claim to insurance as soon as they get my psych eval report. I know I will lose on the pre-op diet, but at that point it won't matter.

@@Smashley23 I am still waiting for a surgery date. I had my psych eval a couple of weeks ago and last week the lady in my surgeon's office who submits to insurance said they were waiting for the report to come. Then they will send it to BCBSTX. I want to ask how long does this report usually take to come? After they submit (they think it will be approved no problem) how long until they get the approval? Then how long until surgery is scheduled? Tomorrow I may call and ask those things but I don't want to be an annoying jerk. I am a people pleaser, I don't want to aggravate the office staff. Anyway, keeping my fingers crossed to have this done before long

Yep, they will weigh you.

You have done great! I am old, so I know my skin won't bounce back as well no matter what I do. Also, I have had 4 huge babies so even if I wasn't overweight I doubt my stomach would be perfect. However, I do feel like I am fat all over. I have big arms and legs and hips and breasts. I agree, I think having it all over may mean my stomach skin won't be so bad after surgery. Or, I may just look wrinkly all over. Either way, it beats being obese!

When you have abdominal surgery they blow your entire abdominal cavity up with some kind of gas. They do this to lift the skin up and make it easier to get to and see what they need to operate on. One of the incisions is the spot where they insert the tube for the gas. I haven't had my sleeve yet but I had my gallbladder out years ago. The gas pain was terrible, it hurt really bad up in my right shoulder, like someone was stabbing me. This gas isn't in your intestinal tract, it is out in your body cavity. The best thing you can do to relieve it is get up and walk, for some reason this causes the gas to dissipate. Not everyone has this kind of gas pain but it is very common. I am bracing myself for having it after the sleeve because like I said I had it after gallbladder surgery. Anyway, it sounds like you are doing well. I hope you feel better and better every day

@@kimberb I have been told I was different heights my entire life. In stocking feet I have been told I was 5'6" and 5'7" at various doctors offices. My only guess is that I am really 5"6 1/2"???? Anyway, for WLS purposes I told the doctor I am 5'6" and so far they haven't measured me to make sure that's true. My doctor is waiting for my psych eval report and then they are going to submit to insurance. I agree, the waiting is terrible.

When I first started researching WLS a couple of years ago I was not quite heavy enough BMI wise for my insurance to pay. I do have mild high blood pressure but it is well controlled with meds. Anyway, first I went to an informational seminar with one of the well known bariatric surgeons in my area (Dallas) During the seminar the doctor said they work very hard to get insurance to pay. As others have said, they look for other issues like sleep apnea. Lots of people have hernias and don't even know it. IF you have a hernia your insurance will pay for surgery for that, anesthesia, etc and you just pay a little bit more for the WLS aspect of the surgery. They also said you have to have a PCP sign off that the surgery is necessary. My PCP is totally against it, she just keeps telling me to go to WW, despite the fact that every year my weight goes up a little. BUT, they did say if your PCP is not on board they have a doctor they will send you to, that person will be your "new" PCP and will write the letter. I came home and my husband and I discussed it. We even talked about doing self pay if it came to that. I stewed over it a couple of weeks and then called for an appointment. When I got there I saw a nurse. She weighed me and went over my medical record. She said no way would my insurance pay because I was not BMI 40 and my blood pressure issue was mild and well controlled. She also said "you DO realize this sleeve surgery is very drastic DON'T you??" It ticked me off, like she was saying I didn't need it and they weren't going to help me after the doctor had made it sound so great. She basically showed me to the door and that was that. I keep reading and researching for another 18 months or so. Meanwhile since I was not trying to lose weight I of course gained weight. Then I looked more closely at our insurance, BCBSTX, and they list recommended bariatric doctors. I called and got an appointment with one of them early August. Low and behold, I was right at BMI 40 at that appointment. They gave me the check list of what I need for BCBSTX to approve my surgery: 1-over 18 years old 2-BMI over 40 or 30-39 with 1 co-morbidity (nothing about if it is controlled or not like I was told before) 3-one meeting with a bariatric nurse 4-psych evaluation That's it!! Can you believe. I met with the bariatric nurse in the office that day. I had my psych eval the next week. I told the doctor my PCP is not on board with surgery and he said she doesn't have to be. Moral of the story....every insurance is different. It is worth a talk. And in my case even though I didn't TRY to gain weight I did and it helped. I do have to ask, if you avoid doctors why do you want surgery??? hehehehe

I think a lot of it depends on where we carry our excess weight. Working with weights can help, especially with arms and legs, because the muscle gets bigger and fills in some of the space where the skin is sagging. Go to Youtube and watch vidoes about weight loss and excess skin. People will show their before and after pix and strip down and show it all. They are BRAVE! They call them "skin flicks". Ha. I am not worried about it at all. I am almost 54. I figure my bikini days are way past me. Tummy trouble is easy to hide with shape wear. My legs have never looked good, even before I gained the weight I have always had big legs, I am not expecting them to magically be awesome! Sleeveless tops may always be out of the question for me, but I have heard a lot of people are cold all the time after WLS so that might not be comfortable anyway. Good plan to start working on it now though, I need to do that too

Also, as @@sc101071 says, it could be dangerous. By the time I got mine out I had a stone stuck in some duct which caused jaundice. I was yellow for like a week. You can't just let that go and hope it will heal on its own.

I am currently waiting for my approval for VSG, however, I had my gallbladder our 15 years ago (I am 53 years old) I was never morbidly obese before a couple of months ago. 15 years ago I was overweight, maybe low end "obese". My gallbladder started hurting after losing a whopping 40 pounds on Weight Watchers. At the time my goal was like 60 pounds or so, total, so I was more than halfway there. I did not lose quickly, just the recommended 1 to 2 pounds per week. I was eating well and exercising. So, the stones don't have anything to do with losing too quickly. Nor do they have anything to do with the method of weight lose (I have seen a lot of people on these boards blame it on the surgery, I have heard that WW, Jenny Craig, etc have been sued by people who lost weight and ended up with stones because they were not warned before hand, method of weight lose doesn't matter) My surgeon said I had probably had the stones for years, even during my last couple of pregnancies. I am glad I had it out, it was an easy surgery. Way easier than VSG. And then it's done. Don't blame yourself for not taking that medicine to prevent this. I have never even heard there WAS such a medicine before I started coming to these boards. And I KNOW for a fact that MOST doctors don't even give that medicine to their WLS patients. Some people get stones, some don't, some people who aren't fat get them, some doctors take the gallbladder out when they do WLS, so many variables. I am not sure if you can "heal" your gallbladder. The stones won't go away. I do know people who just live with it like your mom. I was in too much pain to even consider that an option but only you know how you feel.

I would be very aggravated. Are you stuck with this doctor?

Does she need to go for insurance approval or something? Either way, it's her problem not your's. I went to one last week sponsored by the hospital where I plan to have surgery. I was disappointed that it was so small, only 3 other patients and the nurse. However, I liked meeting the people and hearing their stories. One lady was 2 years out RNY. One lady was 6 weeks out sleeve, and another man was scheduled to have his sleeve in a few days. Both of the post-op people were doing great, the pre-op guy was very nervous. The nurse was great answering all of his questions (and mine!) and putting his mind at ease. I liked it but I understand people usually don't have time for such things. I will probably go again but I wish more people would go. Oh well.

I am actually shocked at how many people who have WLS still have their gallbladder. I am awaiting approval for my sleeve, I am barely BMI 40, and I had my gallbladder out 15 years ago. Gallstones are common with being overweight, and I was not even that big back then. Gallbladder issues tend to pop up after overweight people lose weight. It doesn't have any thing to do with the surgery, I had lost 40 pounds on Weight Watchers when mine started giving me issues, the same thing happens with Jenny Craig, etc. Symptoms vary but I had nausea, some vomiting, and slight fever and chills. It tended to come about every time I tried to eat. BUT, the worst symptom for me was pain in my right side/back. It felt like someone was stabbing me. The surgery is done laproscopic just like WLS. They make 4 tiny incisions, blow you abdominal cavity up with gas, and take that sucker out. My gallbladder was removed through an incision in my belly button. It was a quick and easy surgery with only small bandages on 4 spots on your belly. I did have some dizziness from the anesthesia and bad gas pains. If you can handle WLS gallbladder removal should be easy for you.

Do you have insurance that might pay?

I am just not going to tell anyone until maybe after I have surgery, but then I don't know anyone who has had WLS anyway. I would think she would be more supportive. But I agree, your best response would probably be "I have discussed this with my doctors and they feel this is right for me". My surgeon is not a fan of the band, and I don't want something like that in my body, but I understand it works for some people. That size 10 comment makes no sense at all. Why does she care what size you wear or will end up wearing? Maybe just tell her your goal is to be more healthy??

Where are you in Texas? Who is doing your surgery? I am almost 54, BMI 40, and I don't have willpower either. I know it's hard. I don't have my surgery date yet and my pre-op diet will only be 3 days but I am going to be nervous about sticking to it as well.

Maybe call your doctor?

@@TXhottie I just noticed this is an old thread, did you have the surgery??

There are a lot of doctors in the Dallas area who do WLS outpatient. Get 'em in, get 'em out.

Are you self pay or is your insurance covering this? I live in Plano. I researched Dr. Kim, Dr. Barker, and went to an info meeting as well as an office visit with the Nicholson Clinic. I personally was not thrilled about the outpatient surgery thing. I had my gallbladder out years ago and stayed a couple of nights in the hospital afterwards due to extreme dizziness after the anesthesia. This is NOT the norm, I know lots of people who do gallbladder removal and go home the same day. But I do worry I will need more time. However, we do live like 10 minutes from Plano Presby so I could be back at the ER really quickly if necessary. Now I am using a surgeon recommended by my insurance BCBSTX. He does surgery at Plano Presby and a 1 night stay is the norm. I asked if you are self pay because I considered that just to get things done faster. The problem with self pay is that IF you need to go to the ER and possibly be admitted after the surgery your insurance most likely will not cover that. Just be aware. Personally I feel better having the surgery at a hospital and staying at least one night. Most of the same day surgeons do have good reputations though, so you will probably be fine. Both Nicholson and my own surgeon have told me the only leaks they ever see are people who don't follow the rules. I went to a support group at Presby last week. A nurse who works with 5 different bariatric surgeons there said they have had ONE leak in the THREE years she has worked there, and it was a guy who went home and ate solids before he was supposed to. Who would do that??? Scary! Anyway, I think Kim has a good reputation.