kins117

I'm scheduled for surgery on April 12th and I'm nervous, but excited. My biggest fear is honestly the breathing tube. I've heard of people waking up post-surgery with it still in and that terrifies me. Was your breathing tube out by the time you woke up from anesthesia?

It's protein shakes multiple Times a day and chicken/broccoli low calorie dinner. Not fusion specifically, I've never tried those and will probably use the premier protein.

Well, I am officially scheduled for April 12th!! I'll have to do half my pre-op diet while in Europe for work so that will be interesting, but I'm so excited and so nervous!

I did my psych eval through an online company. 15 minute phone call and I was done and approved. Paid for by insurance and accepted by insurance for approval. Easy

I'm going on a work trip to Europe the week before my surgery and will be on the pre-op diet. My options will be extremely limited and I'm still trying to figure it out, but I'll make it work.

Chicago suburbs here! I'm an April Sleever at Good Sam Hospital in Downers Grove.

I have bcbs of Illinois. They received paperwork on 2/20 and approved on 2/24, however they said it took up to 2 weeks for the letter to "generate" and have something to fax my doctor. Today, 3/10, still nothing. Very frustrated.

Chicago!

I'm not telling anyone but my husband and my close friends. My family doesn't know.

I will reach my out of pocket max of $4100. I spent about half on pre-surgery testing and will pay the rest post-surgery.

I got to choose my date

I had endoscopy (EGD) this morning. Super easy, zero pain. Under 20 minutes.

Just be aware if you have a yearly maximum benefit on your prescription insurance. They charge an insane amount to the insurance carrier for the shakes. My friend did this and hit her maximum then could not get her actual prescription medication for the rest of the year due to high cost.

Bcbs of Illinois PPO

I'm not traveling for mine, but all my testing was done at facilities not associated with the doctor/hospital and all the results were just faxed over easily. EKG for me was self pay $90. Did you mean EGD that costs thousands?

Apparently, it takes up to 2 weeks from approval for them to "generate" the letter to be mailed. And until the medical review board generates the letter they won't fax or put anything in writing. It's so annoying.

I did. No issues with doc or insurance. Quick and easy.

Bcbsil is driving me nuts. They approved my surgery on 2/24 but still haven't mailed the approval letter and my doc's office won't schedule until they receive it. Ughh

I'm 29 and nervous and excited too! I have my EGD tomorrow and will be scheduled for early to mid-April.

Good news: I called BCBS of IL today and found out my sleeve surgery was APPROVED!!!! Bad news: They said my EGD was declined due to being "experimental" and not needed. They won't give my doctor a letter for denial for up to 15 days and my appointment is supposed to be this upcoming Tuesday. I'm frustrated because I do think I have a hernia or a legitimate problem that the EGD will find before surgery. Has this happened to anyone else?

I feel the same way. I'm so anxious, but I am excited too and ready to start the rest of my life!

It is very likely that I will end up in my 2 week pre-op diet while in Europe for a week on a business trip. Am I crazy to think I could check a suitcase full of protein drinks and make this work? I really don't want to delay my surgery since I need to be able to travel again in May without cutting it too close. I know I can't carry on any shakes since they are over 3oz, but I'm hoping a suitcase of protein drinks would make it ok and not be an issue in customs. I would also have to skip the "lean dinner" on my plan that is chicken and vegetables every night and truly just be on protein shakes those 5 days. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

My deductible is $1000 and my out of pocket max is $4100. I never asked prices because I knew I'd definitely hit that out of pocket maximum. At least I am hitting it early in the year so any follow up care or other medical issues would be 100% covered. My pre-op testing along cost me $2,000 so at this point I'm just praying everything is approved for surgery so that money isn't wasted. My employer offers 2 plans (one has a much lower deductible and much lower out of pocket maximum) but I didn't know I'd be having this surgery when the time came to pick plans Major regret now.

I want to be able to run a 5k. Even at my lowest weight in my best condition, I could never run a mile before.

How did you determine what your goal weight will be after surgery? Was it given to you by your doctor? Did you base it on healthy BMI range? I'm trying to figure out a good goal weight for myself and not sure if I'm on the right track.