ChellNC

What's in that picture is my favorite. I don't like it with fruit but love it with cucumbers, tomatoes, garlic and everything but the bagel seasonings. Sometimes I add Ranch mix instead. Once I tried Good Culture brand I was ruined for all other cottage cheese brands.

A low fat mayo that you can tolerate. It may take trying a few before you find what you like. Another option is to use yogurt to replace all or some of the mayo. Good luck on your recovery.

Love following this thread. Can't wait until I have something to add.

Coworkers keep joking that I'll be such a cheap date now.

Tonight's dinner was a slice of ham filled with cheese with some salsa. I'm using small plates. Just realized it looks like a huge portion but wasn't.
Made the hubby a grilled ham and cheese. First time I've cooked for him since before the pre-op diet. I'm very thankful how supportive he has been. He hasn't been eating in front of me. It's nice to eat together again.

Coworkers keep joking that I'll be such a cheap date now.

Last night I tried to do a before and after but forgot the after. Here's the before. I was able to eat it all but it was a very small portion of the ricotta bake.

Many times when you call the reps don't really know answers to those types of questions. They know their piece and not much more. There are so many moving parts to health insurance now that it's easy to only know a little.

For my BCBS policy, the doctors had to document the 6 month weight loss efforts. Good luck & hope you get approved quickly!

Thanks Matt. I didn't use the term since most people who don't working in healthcare or insurance don't know the term. Heck, some people who do work in these don't know what it means. UHC is making some changes to their policy effective 11/1 but their website isn't yet showing what those changes are. The link in the provider newsletter didn't work either. I'm hoping that for 2019 policies they remove the exclusion clauses so more UHC patients are covered for bariatric surgery.

Try the A2 milk. It is supposed to be easier on your stomach. I've not tried any of the commercial ones but we get some local and haven't had issues with it.

Try the A2 milk. It is supposed to be easier on your stomach. I've not tried any of the commercial ones but we get some local and haven't had issues with it.

Well I scheduled today for November 13. That will give me the rest of that week and thanksgiving week to recover. I’m planning on working from home some during that time since I’m a desk jockey.

Let me tell you what happened yesterday. A little background...I work for a hospital. I’m also a very new employee here and recently read my summary of benefits and already had an idea of what my expected payment would be. One of the features of my insurance is that if I have surgery (or anything) at my facility with a staff doctor then there is no deductible and my copay is 15% for surgery and $35 for specialist office visit. I made my first surgeon consult appt for Thursday. I get a call yesterday from their insurance specialist about my benefits/expected payment. She said my insurance has a special $2000 deductible for bariatric surgery that applies to the surgery and all office visits related to the surgery. My consult will be $226 and I will have to pay full amount for everything until the deductible is met then my 15% copay of the surgery. I was shocked. I went home and pulled up my summary of benefits and reread it.

This morning I spent an hour on the phone w Cigna. They initially told me the exact same info the insurance specialist had been told. I explained what I found in my summary of benefits. She was able to see my summary of benefits herself and said my actual policy did not match it. She ended up calling the person at Cigna who is the main rep for my hospital system. Turns out, someone had chosen the wrong selection when putting the package together in their system. My information was correct. No deductible required. They will correct it issue in a few days.

I work for a very large hospital system. I asked the Cigna rep what about people who already had their surgery this year and paid the deductible? She said she didn’t know what would happen. I then called the insurance specialist at my surgeon’s office and told her the story. She said they see a lot of people from the hospital. She also doubts the hospital will refund any money to them.

So, know your benefits. Do your own research. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. It may save you a lot of money. It could also be the difference between having the procedure or not.

I got my pain checked out and I had a pulled muscle. It went away in week 3 and now I’m feeling just fine. Thank you for your replies!

Hotel Buffet Breakfast
Ham, bacon, white rice with soy sauce, potato casserole, watermelon, pineapple

I'll take an order to go please lol

Loving Life

Thank you I do feel better. It was a rough couple of days.

I also had My surgery on Sept 24. My surgeon that day also had 5 other patients. They all went home the next day Tuesday. Not me I was in pain from being so bloated It hurt to move, or even breath. Everyone is different nobody's experience is the same because no two people have the exact body. I happened to have a lot of scar tissue from an old injury. My Dr said it could of played a role. I know I have a high tolerance for pain my body just needed that extra day. At one week out I feel like a whole new person. I'm sure you do also.

I was very sore for the first few days, but having lived with chronic pain I made myself get moving. Within a few days most of the pain was gone, but it took a week or so to really become minimal. I also have not ever had good luck with pain killers, so I only took them when it got really bad, and after Day 3 or 4 I no longer needed any.
Pain is very much an individual experience, which is why they recommend YOU decide how long it will take you to get back to full activity but they won't let you just lay there either.
Heal at your pace - you have to be strong and humble; strong enough to push your limits, humble enough to know when to ease up on yourself.

well another atypical, many of my. surheons bypass patients are on Stage 3, I'm on Stage 2 and not always doing well. Would you.like to trade your post surgery pain for a pouch that upchucks every time you brush your hair or decides I'll let you eat that pureed item today but I reserve the option to upchuck 2 teaspoons tomorrow. My plan folder says don't watch tV or engage in conversation when eating. I have sat at my kitchen table facing the wall, I have sat quietly by,myself, with my Baby bowl and small spoon, I have taken 30 minutes with my fairly tasteless gruel, lonely enough I could cry, I am a social being, after all. Done all these things as told. Sat quietly, and OmG , grab the Barf Bag, they sent me home with a stack,of these blue critters, now I would have preferred a stack of 1 ounce medicine cups, I think they jinxed me! And no sympathy from anyone who actually knows, they are in two camps First camp You asked for this , you deserve what you got! Yeah but I elected meal size restriction, not to fertilize the front lawn with emesis! And the second camp You are a BIG GIRL , you can stand to,lose some weight! Yeah, I guess so but I am making,up for the Post surgery immediate pain with a very sore upper chest walk pain, burp and yep was never my scene! How do bulemics stand it? Maybe they don't notice the pain.
So we all have our non-superhuman moments. I hope my problem resolves, don't really yearn for another EGD and balloon dilatation, just fearful as days go by it looms in my future. You've heard the Flintstone commercial 2 million strong and growing? You'll locate me under the title 3 weeks along and urping!
Yours very gingerly--- Frustr8

I had surgery on Monday, it took 4 hours, I spent two nights in the hospital. I was “up and walking” on Monday night but it HURT to do it!! I’m home now and sore.

I guess I thought this would be the norm, but there are so many people on here that were so much less affected by surgery- out of the hospital hours later and almost no pain reported.

I had no complications but this was HARD. how many other non-super humans are out there?!??

Got the call today that I was approved for gastric bypass. It’s taken eight months to get to this point, insurance took 13 calendar days to approve and it must be done by 12/31 or I go back through the approval process. Kind of freakin out that right now. They want to schedule for mid November so I have a short window. Was starting to think of doing it after the holidays so there was as little disruption as possible during that time but now pressure is on. One thing is for sure BMI of 47 does not work for me. How hard is the first couple of months and first year? How long were you out for work?

Was approved today

Sent from my SM-T550 using BariatricPal mobile app

I am one of those people whom have gone from cooking almost all my meals pre-op to eating almost all my meals out post-op.
i have no desire nor time to cook anymore because I am literally loving my best life with traveling and doing more things outside and being active.
I tend to make the best choice when eating out and most of the time my husband and I share an entree or I end up getting soup or an appetizer. If it’s fast food, I generally order chicken or salads. For me it’s just easier. Am I tempted by things like dessert, bread and drinks, sure but I am so use to not getting those things now.
You just have to learn a different style of eating. It’s hard to plug things into MyFitnessPal but I sometimes carry my scale with me when I am out eating and sometimes eyeball things.