sara_bear

I follow this girl on Instagram Marbear_vsg She started at 299 and has lost 140

Looking for my sleeve twin. This Thursday!!

I'm in Dallas (Kaufman actually)! But, going to Mexico.
My mom had surgery a year ago- here in Dallas and was self pay.

My VSG is scheduled for May 17th! Excited, but nervous. Glad to see that I’ll have some surgery buddies.

Just got my date for may 17!!

Just found out that my surgery was approved!! So excited. I will find out a date on Wednesday. Hopefully will be late May.

What is something that you wish someone would have told you? Or something you wish they hadn’t?

I’m in the middle of my insurance requirements for surgery and things are going well. However, I am extremely worried about being able to stay hydrated in my work environment when I go back after a couple weeks. I work in a lab, so everywhere is considered “dirty” and any kind of food/snacks/water etc is strictly forbidden.

How often do you need to take a sip of Water to stay adequately hydrated? I can go to the break room, but I’m just worried about getting in trouble for leaving so often.

Anyone have any advice?

Thanks in advance!

I just don't see where it even says if you do gain weight during your 4 months nutritional appointments that they deny you I know that Blue Cross Blue Shield will but I don't see anywhere where Cigna says that they do that it's not that I plan on gaining weight that's the last thing I want to do it just does make me nervous because like you said Water weight stress I just get so worried about stuff like that does anybody know if Cigna does actually deny you for weight gain?

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I’m in Texas also with the same insurance. I just started my nutrition visits a couple weeks ago, have already had my psych evaluation (no clue if I “passed”), and x rays and an ultrasound. I see the surgeon on February 5th so hopefully he knows.

I’m nervous about being denied as well, but the above comments are comforting! Thank you for the advice. My coordinator told me that Cigna usually responds in less than 2 business days once they submit.

I’m glad that you say Cigna goes off your starting weight. I’m always worried that my scale at home is different than the office, or clothes or Water retention etc will make it seem like I gained! Currently in the process of finding some Protein Drinks I can stand in preparation for the pre-op diet in a few months.

My nutritionist recommended the Premier Protein and muscle milk, both of which have sucralose that gives me a terrible reaction. I’m trying out Vega One right now, the stevia is sitting with me a lot better. I’m planning to ask my NUT next visit if this is okay. It’s not whey Protein but I haven’t found anything with that I can handle.

Hi everyone,

I had my first nutritionist visit on Sunday, and part of my “homework” for next month was to get used to drinking Protein Drinks a few times a week and find flavours/kinda I like, so that when the pre-op diet comes along I might be able to handle it a bit easier.

So yesterday I had my first drink. It was a powder one I mixed up. It contains sucralose (splenda) and within an hour of drinking it I had a massive headache, nausea for the rest of the night, and was extremely irritable. I know from the past that aspartame gives me awful headache’s, so I’m beginning to think that I just cannot tolerate artificial sweeteners.

Am I the only one? Does anyone know of any brands that are artificial sweetener free? Do you think Monk Fruit or stevia would sit better? I’m really worried that this is going to be a huge hurdle, since basically their entire lists of allowed things are “sugar free ____”.

I had my “psych evaluation” today, if you could call it that. Originally the person who scheduled me said to plan for a couple hours. I filled out some questions before I went in, asking about how I feel and eating habits etc. I spent maybe 10 minutes with the psychologist and she just browsed through some answers and asked me a few things. The rest of the time we “chatted” about stuff like health care etc. Then she was telling me good luck and to have a good weekend. I was expecting a LOT more than that. I know they will go over my answers to the questions and write some kind of report, so I’m hoping they will give it the go ahead.. just feeling like I have no clue what just happened lol!!

You’re welcome hon. I had my psych evaluation early on too, I think within the first two weeks of my journey. There will be numerous appointments, but it’s all worth it IMO. Be blessed!

I have cigna and did 6 month program because that was what my surgeons group does. So I had basically double what cigna needed me to do. I did upper GI , 6 nutrition classes, psych eval and my surgeon required me to lose 5% of body weight during my 6 month but they submit starting weight when submitting to insurance.
Cigna denied me 2 times and went to peer to peer. My surgeons coordinator could not get a straight answer from them and they finally gave a bogus reason... I needed a 3 month exercise log. So I went on computer and made one up for the dates they asked for. Then I was approved. It was a stressful month of back and forth with cigna.
Im so glad to be on the otherside. I went to my first info seminar in Jan 2017 and got my surgery Dec 4th 2017. Last year was a long tough year. This year is going to be amazing.

I have Cigna.. The 3 months was not bad I just had to go to the gym and meet with a dietician..

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We finally have insurance that will cover surgery. We had Cigna, Aetna (both said no) and now finally BCBS will cover!! So frustrating

I have Cigna open access as well. It was pretty easy actually. The insurance will go by the first initial weight that the doctor reports. So even if you do gain (which I hope you don’t) you’ll still be able to get your surgery as long as the other prerequisites have been met. I started at 266 and by surgery I was 259, not much loss but it was okay. I lost those few pounds during my pre-op diet. My advise to you is to call cigna and stay on top of what needs to be done, etc. stay on top of your team and ask when they’ll be submitting paperwork, etc. in turn when they do, call cigna again and ask if they’ve received them, etc. I did all of that, my paperwork (after all was said and done) was submitted on a Thursday morning and I was approved the following morning. May not work for everyone but it sure does help to know what’s going on.
Blessings to you on your journey hon!

Hello all!

I am just starting my journey and have decided to have the gastric sleeve surgery. I have been overweight all my life, BMI is currently about 47. I have Cigna Open Access Plus through my employer. My first visit with the surgeon is on Monday morning, so I am hoping they will have more details there and that they have worked with these insurance requirements before.

Does anyone have any tips for me with getting approved with Cigna? How much weight did you lose on the 3 month supervised diet? I know that gaining is a no-no, but I am worried that if I happen to lose "too much" in their eyes, they will think I don't need the surgery. Was anyone approved on the first try? I see a lot of people being denied in the beginning. Any other advice would be much appreciated! I am so ready to get my health back on track and take this step to be able to enjoy the rest of my life.