JT2002TJ

Did you see if your insurance will cover the cost? If you haven't already try out www.insurenutrition.com. I get 4 Chocolate Premier Protein boxes (18 shakes in each box) per month at $0 to me through my insurance. I also get vitamins and other things my dr prescribed. Insureneutrition sends a list of stuff, your doctor will write prescriptions for whatever they feel you should get. EDIT: I am in my second month Pre-Op getting deliveries, so my insurance covers it even before surgery.

Oh, for example, I was able to hear about www.insurenutrition.com here. They were able to arrange mail delivery of monthly vitamins and 4 boxes (18 shakes per box) of Premier Protein shakes. My insurance covers this at no cost, so every month I get 5 boxes in the mail, and I never have to pay for my shakes. I'm not sure I would have heard about this at the group meeting (or if I did, it was information overload, and I missed it).

Nice. I like Dr. Hall, seems like a nice and very smart guy. You will have a little hike getting home from the surgery (I guess depending on where you live in Suffolk, and if it is rush hour). I live 10 minutes from Winthrop hospital. I have attended one group meeting at the Garden City location and one in Suffolk. I will start attending more closer to my surgery date (whenever I get that date). There seems to be the same information here, where I can weed through and learn from the comfort of my computer/phone. I knew most of the information discussed prior to going, but it was really nice to see the samples and have physical handouts with best options for protein/fluids/clears. For me, I think the best benefit to those support group meetings will be post-op. This is where I can be in a room with people who are going through the same healing process.

I am using them, and am 2 weeks away from my 6th weigh in. Dr Hall is my surgeon. So far I am very happy with the group. I live in Nassau county, and work in Suffolk county, so I picked them because they have offices in Garden City (close to my house) and in Patchogue (close to my office). I also have everything completed except the last weigh in. The waiting game...

Yeah, I keep reading about issues with constipation, so any way to minimize the volume seems like a good idea to me. I just would make sure you are getting the 80 g of protein (or whatever number you were told by your group) on this liquid diet. Better yet, I would discuss with them your plan to do liquid diet because of the potential constipation issues and ask them for a plan.

If you are asking me. I have my 6th (out of 6) structured diet weigh in Aug 25th. I have been doing this with my surgeon group (not my dietitian/nutritionist). They will submit my packet to my insurance and expect < 2 weeks for the pre-approval. They usually schedule the surgery within a month of approval. So the short answer is, I do not have an exact date yet, but I expect it to be the ending of September - middle of October.

Awesome! The only thing I can suggest to others is from what I have seen on the web (no personal experience), but the discussion of illicit drug use (or even medicinal marijuana) may set up a red flag that may interfere with one's ability to get the psych clearance. Not suggesting one should try to beat the system. Just, pointing out what I have read. A word of warning, it seems that in pre-admission testing, the hospital may test for nicotine\drug usage.

It is up to the surgeon. The reason behind the pre-op liquid/low calorie diet is to shrink the liver, and minimize the solids in your bowels during the surgery (and immediate days after). A liquid/low calorie diet allows the liver to do less "work", which actually shrinks it. The longer on this diet, the more it will shrink. If you look at an anatomy diagram of the digestive system, you will see that the liver is the large organ that covers the stomach (above and around). During the surgery the surgeon has to move the liver out of the way to work on the stomach (staple and cut for sleeve, cut and seal for bypass). Surgeons are paid (progress in their careers) based off of several factors, a big part is their complication rate. So, to minimize complications surgeons, what the liver as small as possible. Some surgeons are more or less worried about the size of the liver, this is why there is a variation between pre-op diet.

Well, you came to the right place. This forum is a wealth of knowledge. You are further along than me (I have completed all pre-op consults, but have my last of 6 weigh ins in 16 days). I will probably be freaking out as I get to your point. Basically, all I can say is, this surgery has minimal adverse outcomes, it is very routine. You have been through the surgery of a lapband, so you know what you are in for, and the fact that you will recover over time, and be able to live a health lifestyle.

I would seriously listen to your surgeon and consider switching to the bypass. Your surgeon sees tons of patients that he/she operates on, and continues to see these same patients for a lifetime (10+ years). So they have seen it all before, if they say you are likely to have issues from their experience, it is wise to listen to them.

I can not respond as an experienced person. Only from what I have learned from friends and other forum members. A few things: 1) Say goodbye to beer (carbonation) 2) You can drink after you heal, but expect to sip spirits watered down (non carbonated drinks, water/crystal light). 3) You should sip on this one drink as you will not be able to drink like you used to. You will get drunk MUCH quicker than before.

Yeah, I agree. It will almost be impossible to get coverage. As mentioned earlier in this thread, have you considered Mexico? They seem to do a good job, and most importantly have less hoops to jump through. You could probably have them do the gallbladder and WLS all for less than your $9k quote.

Why did your insurance say they aren't paying? It seems from this forum that there are a percentage of people who are denied and still get insurance to pay via the appeals process. I'm assuming that it isn't an exclusion, and you were denied after they sent the paperwork.

Sorry to hear this. In the end, it is better to be safe. I'm sure it is frustrating though.

What is your deductible, and how long does your insurance WLS pre-approval last for? If it lasts for 2 years (mine once approved will be valid for 2 years), you can wait a full year (ending of 2018) as see where you stand. Yes it will cost you more (because you probably hit your deductible with all your prerequisites), but you will have piece of mind. Maybe you will hit your deductible before the end of next year (but either way, you would be spending the full amount for your deductible).

They will let you know once they have the results of the biopsy (if they did one). I'm not sure what from the results would exclude you from WLS. I would think all that would be there is, either they need to repair a hernia (if they find one) while doing the WLS, you have to take antibiotics for H Pylori prior to WLS, or if you have bad signs of reflux they may limit your WLS to a bypass. But, I am not clinical, so I would double check what I am saying with your surgical coordinator.

Do you have a prescription for it? If so, I'm not sure it will matter as it is medically necessary. If you do not, and your (not sure where you are) state/province allows for medical usage, I would suggest doing so, as epilepsy usually qualifies. If not an option in your area, I would assume they all test, then be surprised if they didn't. The reason I say this is, if you stop, and they don't test you will not lose your surgery date, but if they do test and you do not stop you will. If you risk seizures without it, I would try your best to get an exemption, to minimize this risk.

Nose piercing, or ear piercing?

If your sleep study was an overnight at facility, 40-50 AHI score usually results in the testing staff stopping the study, and putting you on the machine. Happened to a few of my friends as the staff doesn't want you to die at their facility. That's a pretty high score... I use the machine (and LOVE IT) and my AHI score was 5.9 during my take home sleep study (may be less accurate than at an overnight facility). My last 2 utilization scores have been 100% (on average 4+ hours of use nightly) and over the full 3 years of use it is 96%. Have I said I love my machine? I sleep through the night, never wake up tired, and never fall asleep watching TV.

Maybe they will let you wear the retainer if it has a large enough pad on to outside (big circle) with nothing to retain it in place on the inside of your nose. You might be better not asking, and putting it in for a few hours each day (just make sure it can't push through (large pad). But if it can easily push into your nose, I wouldn't, it could become dangerous. I haven't had the surgery yet, but I'm guessing you will be too preoccupied to worry about your nose piercing after the surgery.

I may be wrong, so don't my word as gospel. But, logically, I don't see them letting you wear the retainer. You can always re-pierce after if it closes. Is it that new that it would fully close up in 2-3 days? I would assume it may start to close, but nothing you couldn't re-open with one good painful push.

I doubt they will let you put it back in, or even let you wear a retainer while you are an inpatient. It could be dangerous if they need immediate access to your airway.

You either have no sleep apnea, mild sleep apnea or "full blown" apnea. If you had a sleep study before the surgery, this should tell you where you fall. You only need a machine if you have mild (usually your choice) or greater apnea. It is based off of AHI socre: If you are diagnosed with sleep apnea, you will need to bring your machine with you to the hospital during your surgery admission. You will also need to continue to use it after the surgery until you have a sleep study indicating you have a low enough AHI score (usually <5) to no longer have a sleep apnea diagnosis. EDIT: technically there is normal, mild, moderate, and severe:

I've had mine for 3 years, and had a different insurance when I got it. I had a high deductible plan ($4k for family). I had to pay for mine in full as I wasn't at my annual deductible yet ($1,200). Because I had to pay for it, there was no 6-months rental to own. The only test for utilization was for supplies after I hit my deductible. With my current insurance, and the same machine, all my supplies are covered at $0 deductible. The machine would have had the 6-months to own, but would have had $0 deductible.

One day I was people watching and came to the realization that (from my anecdotal evidence), that there isn't really a high percentage of older people who are morbidly obese. I personally believe the reason you rarely see this, is they die earlier. So, I believe the better question is, would you rather be thin and wrinkled, or obese and dead... Sorry, don't mean to be so dramatic. This is what I believe, and why I am well on my way to doing the sleeve.