JT2002TJ

That is weird. I thought the sleeve was always an inpatient thing, as they need to test for leaks. This is new to me.

I wish the same success we have had on the OP. Everyone should have a good experience, especially since this is a BIG money maker for the surgical groups. I am happy, and am potentially about 6 weeks away from surgery (as long as everything goes smooth). Can't wait to do this after 6 months of prerequisites. Sorry you and your family had such a bad experience, teeth and dentist office. I agree the surgeon probably has no idea. My surgical group is part of Winthrop Hospital (a major NY hospital), so the point you brought up of writing a letter to a corporate office may actually make sense if the OP's group is also part of (or affiliated with) a corporate group or hospital. I would say letters to local offices are probably filtered through staff, but they may be forced to respond by law to patient complaints at hospitals (New York State Department Of Health NYSDOH requires hospitals to respond).

I was going to suggest the above, but in my experience we don't get to see the surgeon without a paid visit. Even with a paid visit, you have to have a good reason as their schedules are booked up. For me, I saw my surgeon during the initial group seminar and the next time was during the initial office visit (where my insurance requirements, the surgical group requirements were provided, and a conversation to decide which WLS was best for me). I have my final structured (sixth) diet weigh in tomorrow (8/25/2017) and I will not see the surgeon until right before the surgery after my final insurance approval (this will be the second one-on-one meeting with my surgeon). I have had a stellar experience with my group, including email responses from my nurse coordinator within 24 hours (often within an hour). If you have a patient portal, sometimes you can reach the surgeon this way, but even this way it is often routed through the office/clinical staff and may not actually reach the surgeon.

Yeah, doesn't make sense. And even if you talk to the surgeon about the office staff (basically go around the staff), it will just create tension. I would suggest calling and speaking with the office manager, after you found a new surgical group, and explain why you left the group. Hopefully this will help someone else in the future.

The first time the Surgeon's office said they wouldn't make a call to my insurance company, would be the last time they got a cent of my money. It is normal for Surgeons to have additional requirements to make sure the surgery goes smooth, but weight history is typically not one of them. Most surgeons I know are against the hoops to do with weight the insurance companies require (3 months, 6 months, years...). They would like to make the decision about patient's weights themselves (they as in the medical team, hospital, surgeon, anesthesiologist,...). Remember, they are a business, this is an elective process, where their business is by patients choosing to visit them. They are about to make $25k+ from you (copayments + insurance payments). I suggest going somewhere else. I'm not sure where you live, but if it is near a big city, bariatric surgery groups are everywhere.

Awesome news!!! Good luck!

I assume mine will be worse then these great healing experiences. I get keloid scars that typically start out raised, but over the years end up flush, but you can still see different pigmentation/constancy. OP, do you have any other scars? How did they heal? I'm sure it will be similar to other cuts you have had (if you had any).

Yeah... The hoops they make us go through. My Dr's office tried to reschedule me because my NP was out sick. Because of how important the consecutive months were I couldn't wait, they made the morning NP stay all day to accommodate me (since I had a scheduled appointment). It was my 4th month, so they would have risked me having to start all over. If the requirement is consecutive, it really means consecutive...

Good, at least that is some good news. Sorry you had to go though all of this.

I'm so sorry. Good luck, I can't imagine having to have 2 surgeries so close together. Will this revision be covered under NHS, without a major wait?

Man. So sorry. Did they not do an upper endoscopy first? What is the fix for the too narrow sleeve? Conversion to a bypass? Will it allow for food after it fully heals and swelling goes down?

x2. My last structured diet monthly visit is next week (8/25/17). I started (3/31/2017) as month 1. They try to keep as close to 30 days in between as possible, so every appointment has been the last Friday of the given month.

Sorry for the issues you had to get through. Do you mind sharing what your complications were?

Have you tried different style masks? Do you have a CPAP hose holder? (This was a big help for me, as the hose was not tugging at my head, and I can turn without rolling over the hose)

Do they have to do a chain of custody form since this is for elective surgery, and not for employment/criminal?

I read that to, and my first reaction was "that ain't gonna sit well." I hear you. Have a great day!

Yeah, I'm just assuming she was coming from the side of being backed into a corner and as a result was unintentionally lashing, but I may be wrong. I just want people to get along and help each other out. Thanks!

I am not defending the use of drugs, I am defending a person who is being attacked. I am not religious, but I think there are good aspects (teachings), for example: Just an fyi, medicinal marijuana does not have to be "smoked". It can be inhaled as a vapor, ingested as a pill or food. These ways do not include the harmful effects of the traditional "smoking" way. I'm still not sure how the traditional way of smoking marijuana is "far worse on the lungs than cigarettes." I would be happy to read any literature you have to support this. There are plenty of articles on pubmed.gov with double blind placebo controlled studies (from overseas) citing the medical benefits of medicinal marijuana.

I honestly do not think the OP was meaning to be insulting, and I can see how it can be taken so. The OP was getting backed into a corner by some pre-judging members here. Rather than being supportive and having a discussion it turned into holier-than-thou bashing. I know you were trying to be helpful (and I'm NOT including you in that group that was attacking the OP). To others in this thread, the way medical marijuana laws are changing throughout the country are a sign of the medical benefits, with minimal to no side effects. I am not one who uses it, but working in the medical industry I can see where it is FAR better of a solution than many other prescribed medications with side effects which harm organs, and are physically addictive. This forum is about sharing of information, helping others through their journey and being a wealth of knowledge. If we turn people away, it is more than just mean, it may contribute to the issues that got us all here in the first place. Do you want to be responsible for someone quitting? How do we all feel about people judging us about our weight? Those of you being insulting, have done the same thing to the OP except used weed in place of food... OP - you have gotten some good advice here, be honest with your surgeon. I hope you do not have an issue.

I haven't had this surgery yet, but I have had surgery before under general anesthesia. The time depends on each surgeon, and your anatomy. But, assume it is like sleeping, you will "fall asleep" and "wake up". How long it takes you to "wake up" may be different lengths of in and out of grogginess.

How far away are you from being vested? I personally am not a fan of removing money out of a retirement fund. I'm ok with taking a loan against it (I did that when I bought my first home), but you want to do everything you can to leave the money there. It is one of the few avenues where you will average 8% or more interest. For me, I know if I removed the money, I wouldn't replace it on top of continuing to add money. This can set you back years.

Ah. You are not fully vested, right? Once you are vested, the money is yours, before that, your employer has the right to remove if you do not meet the vesting requirements. There isn't much you can do, because technically, that money is not yours yet. You can take out loans, I've seen people talking about medical WLS financing here.

Did your company set the restriction? Because you should be able to remove as much as you want, it is just if you will be heavily fined by doing so. Do you have the option to take a loan against your 401K?

They do have a great, very friendly program that seems like a family. I am glad I went with them, and am really looking forward to getting through this!

I hope your insurance will cover as much as mine, if not at least some to help you with the costs. I learned about it in this forum, so I owe it to everyone else here to yell it from all the rooftops...