Ipeek90

My understanding is that we should be chewing suffecintly regardless, but I think it becomes less of an issue once you're further out. As far as drinking after, I believe that's meant to be a life long thing, it fills you up and could flush the food before it's ready, or so I'm told, but like most things, follow your doctor's orders and everyone is different. Sent from my Nexus 6 using BariatricPal mobile app

Congrats on getting a date! I'm pretty sure they're not allowed to ask you why you're taking the time, as long as you say it's a medical issue, I'd think you would be fine, they may ask for proof, in which case you have your Doctor give you something and that should be more than enough. You could also tell your direct supervisor or HR rep and make sure they handle it with discretion, or else. Good Luck! Sent from my Nexus 6 using BariatricPal mobile app

Finally got my approval on Monday and spoke with the scheduler today before my stress test, everything came back good on that so I should be locking in my date of the 19th of this month, tomorrow!!!! How is everyone doing? Sent from my Nexus 6 using BariatricPal mobile app

To answer what I feel is your real underlying question and not related to the type of surgery you're getting, yes, I have a slightly elevated A1C and cholesterol, but both of those are managble on my own, other than that I'm "healthy​" but 250lbs over weight. Let me tell you I have been thinking on this for a few years and I'm not going to go into my 30s at this size. I'm 27 and tired of being ~470lbs so I'm fixing this, I'm fixing me, I should be having RNY on the 19th of this month and I won't look back on my decision. Sent from my Nexus 6 using BariatricPal mobile app

It may have been a little more than needed, but it certainly worked! I got my approval on 5/1 and am waiting for the surgery scheduler to call me with the date! Sent from my Nexus 6 using BariatricPal mobile app

Man this cracked me up! Sent from my Nexus 6 using BariatricPal mobile app

Hey, I'm 27 and have just gotten my approval for surgery today. I'm freaking stoked about it. I've been overweight since I was like 8. I've been trying for the past few years to combat this and it's difficult. I currently weigh 455-460 depending on the scale used, and my highest recorded weight was 471. I wish I had done this last year when I first thought of it, after reading your post I wish I had done it at 21 when I was in the 380s. You've got a journey ahead of you if you're serious and while I've not had mine yet I will help in anyway I can and post op I'm more than willing to talk about my experience with you, seeing as how were close in weight and age. Good luck! Sent from my Nexus 6 using BariatricPal mobile app

I got my approval today! Just waiting on the scheduler to follow up and set a date!!! I'm pretty excited about this, it's so close! Sent from my Nexus 6 using BariatricPal mobile app

I've finished all my appointments, they submitted my case over last Friday, and told me I needed to see a cardiologist for some abnormalities they saw in my EKG, I got back for a stress test next Wednesday. The cardiologist said what he saw were minor abnormalities and that it's probably nothing. Hopefully I hear back from Aetna before then and will have date shortly after! Sent from my Nexus 6 using BariatricPal mobile app

Hi Louies'Mom - I hope this helps as I just completed my 90 day play with Aetna and have been told today that my case was submitted to them. For the exercise portion this is what happened. When I had my initial visit with my Surgeon and his team they had a dietitian onsite and have a really good understanding of what all needs to be done, they refer people to a Physical Therapist office (In this case Sovereign Rehabilitation). I had them schedule my appointments the same day as my dietitian appointments so there would be no confusion of when I went. My first appt with the therapist was pretty simple, she just talked to me about my exercise history and showed me some exercises I could do at home that we're not to hard to do. She then gave me some paper work that was info about her wanting me to workout 5-7 days a week for at least 30min a day and to get my heart rate up to a certain level depending on what I was doing (cardio or weights). The appointments following she would have me on the treadmill for 30min increasing the grade every 3 min up to a grade of 5 and then back down to until 1, again every 3 min. Then she would have me do some lunges and squats with a resistance band around my ankles, she would throw in some other similar types of things. Usually after 45min or so we were done and I was out of there. Good Luck!

Maybe I'm wrong, but I believe an Upper GI is very much different from an Endoscopy. I just had my Upper GI done last Monday and it was just a Barium Swallow scan. You stand on the machine, drink a little fizzy drink (think alkaseltzer) then you get a cup full of thick chalky liquid and are told to drink it quickly while they move the scanner/xray thing around your stomach and chest. They lay the table back have you roll around and then you drink a thinner version of the previous drink and scan some more and that was it.

I have my last set of appointments 4/17/17. After that everything can be submitted, hopefully Aetna is quick about it and I get the approval, if all goes well I could be having mine in May. That was the tentative month they gave me when I first started this process. Good luck on yours!!!

Wow $600 that is crazy! My initial visit with the surgeon was $220 and that included the dietitian. I did the seminar online though, so maybe the hospital is charging an up charge for some reason. You're going to require 4 visits with a Nutritionist/Dietitian, 4 visits with a physical therapist/exercise therapist within 7 days of your nut/dietitian appointments. Those should be roughly 2hrs total, 1 per appt. This is the 3mo plan and everything I've read and been told, you can not gain weight from your initial visit. So they take your weight each visit, but only submit appointments 1 and 4. So as long as 4 is not higher you should be good to go. You will need a psych eval, mine was about 1.5-2 hours, spoke with the psychiatrist for 30-45min and spent the rest of the time answering true false questions, roughly 500 of them, it cost me $360 out of pocket (thank you HSA account). And then you're going to need the normal blood work, possibly an upper GI/endoscopy (depends on Dr I think) and EKG. Outside of that I don't know much else. That's what I've been told. I've gone to my first dietitian and physical appointments so far and had my psych eval yesterday. Had a physical on Monday for blood work and EKG. Hope this helps. Sent from my Nexus 6 using the BariatricPal App

I too am going through Atlanta Bariatrics! Selected Dr Hart and had my initial visit about 2 weeks ago. Just had a physical for the blood work yesterday and had my psych earlier this afternoon. Feel free to add me to that MyFitnessPal group! Ipeek90 should be the username. Sent from my Nexus 6 using the BariatricPal App

So I'm doing the 3mo route with behavioural modification plan as opposed to the 6mo physician maintained diet and weight loss option. With the 3mo plan, it's actually 4 months. You have to have 4 nut/dietitian appointments and with in 7 days time you have to have an appointment with say a physical therapist. I'm pretty sure you have to have a psych eval, I do, and I assume it's an insurance requirement and not one from my surgical team. As far as what the behavior modification plan actually is, I think there is a grey area there. I remember either reading on hearing that term used when researching my surgeon. They use that program and I believe it's just everything you're already doing. As I get closer to surgery date I will be having some pre-op classes and I think that's part of it as well. Other things you may need, blood work, upper GI and others depending on your overall health. To your question about the exercise therapist, when I went to my surgeons office, they have a dietitian on site and referred me to a physical therapist who work with obese patients getting ready for surgery. So just ask your doc or your surgeon if they can refer you. But MAKE SURE YOU SEE THE EXERCISE THERAPIST WITHIN 7 DAYS OF NUT/DIETITIAN VISITS. They told me they had a patient schedule on like say 8 or 9 and was denied because of it. And with the 3mo Aetna does not require you to loose a specific amount of weight, you simply can not weight as much as your initial visit. Your surgeon may require some weight loss and it's always good to lose some before the surgery to lower complication chances. Hope this helped. Sent from my Nexus 6 using the BariatricPal App

I have not scheduled my psych eval yet but I was told its going to be 4-5hrs, and my dietitian are going to be 45-60min. I had my first dietitian and physical appointments and they were about that amount. Sent from my Nexus 6 using the BariatricPal App

Also no endoscopic on mine either. Forgot to mention that. Sent from my Nexus 6 using the BariatricPal App

This will not be helpful, but I do have my first appointment on Thursday and I've got Aetna POS II so I'll see what they say and try and let you know. I do know that it's either or for the 3/6months plans and the bariatric clinic I will be using does the 90 day program. So I don't know that it's a choice, more so that the office decides the route they take or prefer you take. Sent from my Nexus 6 using the BariatricPal App Just had my appointment today, it's a choice. I chose the 90day which will really be 4mo I guess because of the way the appointments have to be staggered. Sent from my Nexus 6 using the BariatricPal App

So here is how it went. My appointment to speak with the surgeon was at 10 quickly followed by an appointment with their dietitian. I knew I had to pay for the dietitian but I was not told about anything else, so today ended up costing me $220. My guess is the DRs time and like new patient fees or whatever, unfortunately I neglected to ask. Thank you HSA account!!! When I got there and signed in I was asked for my driver's license and insurance card, the lady gave me about 5 or 6 new patient forms to fill out. They were the normal information and previous health forms, one asked which surgery I wanted and some other minor questions, the others were the normal HIPPA related paperwork that goes with the office needing to request your previous medical records and such, and then the last one explained that my co-pay/deductible/maximum out of pocket that the insurance didn't cover would be due prior to surgery. (Eg My insurance only covers 80% after I've met my deductible). I sat in the main waiting room for perhaps 15 mins before a nurse came to get me. The nurse took me to a little triage room where she weighed me and got my height. Now when you're in here make sure they out all your info in correctly, this nurse typo'd my weight and it showed I had a BMI of 47.2, which is wrong, she had my weight at 371 as opposed to 471. She also gets your temperature and blood pressure. After speaking with her on was taken to a patient room where I waited until the DR came in. I waited for about another 10-15min when the DR who would be performing my surgery knocked and came it, introducing himself. He first asked me if I had any questions about the online seminar I took, which I did not, and then proceeded to go over my medical history. He asked which surgery I was interested in and then had me lay back on the table and pull my shirt up so he could listen to my breathing or something. After that he asked if I had any other questions, which I could not think of on the spot. After seeing the DR I was then taken to see the dietitian, I sat with her for probably 30 or so minutes as she explained portion size and a very general idea of the post op type of diet and things I would need to work on(more chewing, no drinking during the meal and x amount of time before/after etc..) then she got some goals from me and asked if I had questions. This is when I asked about a pre-op diet for surgery, if I needed to loose a certain amount of weight and what the liver shrinking diet would look like, that's also when I realized they had my weight wrong because she said "with a BMI of 47 the DR does not require a liquid diet before the surgery" to which I asked more about what they listed as my weight and she corrected it. I do not have to loose any certain amount of weight before surgery, I just can not gain any before my last weigh in. But I will have a 2week pre-op diet that consists of mainly liquids, but not all liquids. Lastly I spoke with the patient and insurance coordinator who gave me my options of a 6mo/4mo pre-op plan that the insurance required. I opted for the 4mo and she explained what was needed(blood word, upper GI(per doc), psych eval, letter of medical support from another Dr/nurse practitioner, setup physical therapy appts and maybe a few other things). I had her triple check my initial weight and she explained the items she needed in order to submit it over to the insurance company. All in it was a good visit, aside from the typo of my weight but that was resolved. Hope that helps! Sent from my Nexus 6 using the BariatricPal App

Commenting so I can come back to this, but I'm at my 1st appointment sitting in the room waiting on the surgeon now. Sent from my Nexus 6 using the BariatricPal App

So from just reading that, it sounds like they will do a post op leak test if asked or perhaps if you show signs of a leak. But it also sounds like you may end up paying extra for it. I would call the surgeon and verify that info. Sent from my Nexus 6 using the BariatricPal App

This will not be helpful, but I do have my first appointment on Thursday and I've got Aetna POS II so I'll see what they say and try and let you know. I do know that it's either or for the 3/6months plans and the bariatric clinic I will be using does the 90 day program. So I don't know that it's a choice, more so that the office decides the route they take or prefer you take. Sent from my Nexus 6 using the BariatricPal App

Where was this at? That sounds pretty outrageous! Even when I was looking at Mexico all of the stories I read included a leak test of some sort. I would 100% avoid the surgeon that does not do one. Sent from my Nexus 6 using the BariatricPal App

I know dumping is no laughing matter but I certainly chuckled when I read "and some shitty itilian desert" it's like I could feel the anger and disappointment you had from that specific item. Sent from my Nexus 6 using the BariatricPal App