Jenwill630

Hi Andrea, my name is Jen and I am a planner too!!!!!!!!!
OMG it was just killing me between the seminar and the first visit to the Dr. LOL

Carly,
That is great that you only have 3 months of waiting. That will just fly for you!
Are you having sleeve or RNY?
I'm RNY.

Hi Carly!
I am new too and if you have the 6 month requirement, we will have our surgeries right about the same time.
I live in Western Pennsylvania, went to the seminar on 10-10 and see the surgeon today. Luckily, I had an appt with my PCP on the 3rd and the weigh in there counts as my first.
Hope you have a great day!!!

Thanks Ed!
Aren't we lucky? I keep reading all different requirements by Doctors and I am in awe. I mean, if I had to do it, I would do it. But SO glad that i don't! LOL

I will try very hard to be optimistic. LOL
At any rate, I am going to continue to put the work in and am very happy that the Dr. is happy with what I am doing so far.

I had my first appointment with the surgeon last night and I see light at the end of the tunnel.
Now, normally I am not an optimistic person. If something can go wrong or plans get messed up, it will happen to me. It's just the way things seem to work out for me.
For starters, I am really glad I chose this Dr. I like his personality, he is very straight-forward.
I had started journaling on MFP right after the seminar, so I printed off those days and put them in a binder for Dr. Gagne to take a look at. He told me not to change anything. To keep eating exactly the way I am currently eating that my Protein is perfect, my calories are good, my fat is good, etc. So that was nice to hear especially since the scale has not moved in 3 weeks.
Some other good news that I was told is that the insurance I am switching to at open enrollment (Highmark BCBS DE) no longer has the 6 month supervised diet. Because this sounded too good to be true, I verified this online and with HR this morning. Sure enough, that policy changed as of last month!!!! So it looks like as soon as I have the insurance at the first of the year, the coordinator will be calling to get a date set for me!!!!!
Other good news from talking to the Dr. I asked what the pre-op diet would be. He said well exactly what you are doing now. So I told him no, I had read about people having to do a liver shrinking diet. He said for him, it depends on the patient, but I would only have to do the day before clear liquids! How great it was to hear that.
So all these good things that I found out last night......a banana peel is sure to show up somewhere. LMAO

I will try very hard to be optimistic. LOL
At any rate, I am going to continue to put the work in and am very happy that the Dr. is happy with what I am doing so far.

I had my first appointment with the surgeon last night and I see light at the end of the tunnel.
Now, normally I am not an optimistic person. If something can go wrong or plans get messed up, it will happen to me. It's just the way things seem to work out for me.
For starters, I am really glad I chose this Dr. I like his personality, he is very straight-forward.
I had started journaling on MFP right after the seminar, so I printed off those days and put them in a binder for Dr. Gagne to take a look at. He told me not to change anything. To keep eating exactly the way I am currently eating that my Protein is perfect, my calories are good, my fat is good, etc. So that was nice to hear especially since the scale has not moved in 3 weeks.
Some other good news that I was told is that the insurance I am switching to at open enrollment (Highmark BCBS DE) no longer has the 6 month supervised diet. Because this sounded too good to be true, I verified this online and with HR this morning. Sure enough, that policy changed as of last month!!!! So it looks like as soon as I have the insurance at the first of the year, the coordinator will be calling to get a date set for me!!!!!
Other good news from talking to the Dr. I asked what the pre-op diet would be. He said well exactly what you are doing now. So I told him no, I had read about people having to do a liver shrinking diet. He said for him, it depends on the patient, but I would only have to do the day before clear liquids! How great it was to hear that.
So all these good things that I found out last night......a banana peel is sure to show up somewhere. LMAO

It looks like I am January too! I need for my new insurance to take effect January 1st. The coordinator said they will submit for approval the next business day. LOL
So not sure of a date, but I am RNY.
I am hoping that my husband will still be home and not on the road. He travels for work and is gone 7 months out of the year.

I just got my approval letter last Friday. They are supposed to call me this week to set up my surgery. Sooooo excited!!!!

Saw my surgeon today and got my date.
17th Jan. Lapband removal, possible hiatus hernia repair and revision to RNY

I rode one of my horses yesterday.. My riding skills have declined as I gained weight the last few years. Not to brag, but I used to be able to ride the hair off a horse. I could ride 10-20 miles and be ready for more.

Yesterday, I realized that I’m no longer riding, just trying not to fall off. All I could think about while trying to enjoy spending time with Button was how unstable I feel in the saddle. I’m so ready to get this weight off.

My struggle the past month has been knowing that I can’t lose more than 10lbs in my pre-op supervised diet stage. That’s 3 more months from now that I can’t really try to lose weight or I won’t qualify for surgery anymore. I’ve started taking some small steps to eating better like putting my Protein first, drinking more Water, and cutting out soda. Hopefully these changes will help me feel like I’m helping myself some without losing too much weight. These feelings are so conflicting!

Then again, I’ve tried in the past to lose weight and it didn’t work. I don’t know why I’m scared I’ll lose too much now 😂

(BTW- I realize some surgeons only count your starting weight. Mine does not. My insurance needs weights from each of these appointments.)

Sounds great! I'm only required to do a one day liquid diet as well. Good luck moving forward!

I had my first appointment with the surgeon last night and I see light at the end of the tunnel.
Now, normally I am not an optimistic person. If something can go wrong or plans get messed up, it will happen to me. It's just the way things seem to work out for me.
For starters, I am really glad I chose this Dr. I like his personality, he is very straight-forward.
I had started journaling on MFP right after the seminar, so I printed off those days and put them in a binder for Dr. Gagne to take a look at. He told me not to change anything. To keep eating exactly the way I am currently eating that my Protein is perfect, my calories are good, my fat is good, etc. So that was nice to hear especially since the scale has not moved in 3 weeks.
Some other good news that I was told is that the insurance I am switching to at open enrollment (Highmark BCBS DE) no longer has the 6 month supervised diet. Because this sounded too good to be true, I verified this online and with HR this morning. Sure enough, that policy changed as of last month!!!! So it looks like as soon as I have the insurance at the first of the year, the coordinator will be calling to get a date set for me!!!!!
Other good news from talking to the Dr. I asked what the pre-op diet would be. He said well exactly what you are doing now. So I told him no, I had read about people having to do a liver shrinking diet. He said for him, it depends on the patient, but I would only have to do the day before clear liquids! How great it was to hear that.
So all these good things that I found out last night......a banana peel is sure to show up somewhere. LMAO

Congrats you all, enjoy the ride. When I look back the time is flying by but at some points of the journey it seems like things are moving very slowly. Best thing for me is just living the experience. Good luck to you and again enjoy!!!

It just takes a little, tiny bit of effort to treat each other the way you'd like to be treated. I also wish more people adopted the "golden rule".

I am about to switch to Highmark BCBS DE in order to have my surgery.
Last night, my Dr. told me that Highmark changed their medical policy and there is no longer a 6 month supervised diet period.
So I went onto the Highmark website, scrolled down toward the bottom to Medical Policy, then hit search for Obesity. Sure enough the policy changed on 9-17-18.
What I am saying is double check to see if your policy has changed at all part way through the year.

I had my first appointment with the surgeon last night and I see light at the end of the tunnel.
Now, normally I am not an optimistic person. If something can go wrong or plans get messed up, it will happen to me. It's just the way things seem to work out for me.
For starters, I am really glad I chose this Dr. I like his personality, he is very straight-forward.
I had started journaling on MFP right after the seminar, so I printed off those days and put them in a binder for Dr. Gagne to take a look at. He told me not to change anything. To keep eating exactly the way I am currently eating that my Protein is perfect, my calories are good, my fat is good, etc. So that was nice to hear especially since the scale has not moved in 3 weeks.
Some other good news that I was told is that the insurance I am switching to at open enrollment (Highmark BCBS DE) no longer has the 6 month supervised diet. Because this sounded too good to be true, I verified this online and with HR this morning. Sure enough, that policy changed as of last month!!!! So it looks like as soon as I have the insurance at the first of the year, the coordinator will be calling to get a date set for me!!!!!
Other good news from talking to the Dr. I asked what the pre-op diet would be. He said well exactly what you are doing now. So I told him no, I had read about people having to do a liver shrinking diet. He said for him, it depends on the patient, but I would only have to do the day before clear liquids! How great it was to hear that.
So all these good things that I found out last night......a banana peel is sure to show up somewhere. LMAO

I am about to switch to Highmark BCBS DE in order to have my surgery.
Last night, my Dr. told me that Highmark changed their medical policy and there is no longer a 6 month supervised diet period.
So I went onto the Highmark website, scrolled down toward the bottom to Medical Policy, then hit search for Obesity. Sure enough the policy changed on 9-17-18.
What I am saying is double check to see if your policy has changed at all part way through the year.

Hi Carly,
My name is Andrea; I am new here too, my seminar is this Saturday. I am a planner, so not knowing the full treatment plan, pre-op nutrition timeline and weight loss requirement is kinda killing me. I've been reading articles and posts like mad. Two people from my work (same insurance) have had their surgeries approved, so as long as I do my part I expect the same, which is a relief. I'm hesitant to talk about my surgery plans - I'm not sure why - otherwise I would be plying them with questions.
Thank you for sharing information on your appointments and journey so far, it helps to know what to expect. Would love to be pre-op buddies!

Today is my first appointment with my surgeon! I'm excited for this too.
Good luck to us both!!

My name is Carly, and I’m new here. I’m from Oklahoma and pursuing WLS at Bailey Bariatrics in Owasso. I attended my center’s seminar on October 11th, and I had my first appointment on October 22nd. I just want to start somewhat of a journal to publicly keep track of my progress toward my WLS. My updates may be long, and I welcome anyone else who has information or questions to post here as well.
My first appointment went well. We went over my medical history, talked about the process and what challenges we may run into (my family medical history of heart problems and my bipolar 2 disorder). I also had labs drawn. We get binders with loads of information and a pre-op checklist, which I think will help with my impatience. I spent about an hour looking through it today to soak in as much info as possible.
Today I received a phone call to schedule my chest X-rays, liver ultrasound, and pulmonary function test. I’ll have all three tests on November 15th.
My next NP appointment for my medically supervised weight loss program is on November 19. My center also provides support groups that I will start attending monthly from November up to and after surgery (might as well start now!).
I’m looking forward to the whole process. I’m trying to wipe my brain clean for a fresh slate to take in the education given in the next several months leading up to surgery. Here’s to hoping for WLS in the next 6 months!

Anyone else just starting their journey want to be pre-op buddies?

Today is my first appointment with my surgeon! I'm excited for this too.
Good luck to us both!!