blackcatsandbaddecisions

Well I am officially done with day two of the liquid diet. It’s actually going pretty well overall. My surgeons diet is 100% liquid, with a strict restriction on any added sugar for the liquids. So far I’ve had premier Proteins, Protein Water, and crystal lite. I really feel like staying on the low carb diet prior to this helped because I swear the second I get ahold of carbs my appetite just goes crazy.

I’m fully committed to doing this pre-op diet to the letter of the (surgeons) law because first off it’s just for another 12 days, and secondly I worked so hard to get to qualify for surgery that I will do anything possible to make sure it goes well. Good luck to everyone!

The pre-op diet is no joke, for sure, but it's getting us ready for the post-op period. Postop you won't be able to eat the croissant, or the two bites of pizza, without risking significant postop complications. What is helping me now is a cup of broth in the morning and afternoon. Today I doctored it up with a little worcestorshire sauce which made it taste better (for some reason things taste bitter to me and the Protein Drink leaves a taste in my mouth like the smell of burnt hair - YECH!!). I do look forward to my evening meal and got the okay today to substitute eggs for meat if I want. I'd been craving scrambled eggs for some reason. Another thing that helps is that someone who is further down the line than us told me to develop the mantra: "I can't have that now, but I will be able to have it later." When I want pizza or a taco, I think about that. I hope this helps you, too! Not much longer to wait!

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So for prescriptions my doctor orders as standard:
Scopolamine patch for behind the ear
Zofran
Metoclopramide
Liquid hydrocodone
Pepcid ac I take for a few months
Two celebrex tablets to take the morning of surgery.

Anyone else have prescriptions already? I’m curious how different mds order different items.

My #1 greatest fear is dying during the surgery. I don't know what that one seems so much more terrifying - I think because I wouldn't even know that it happened!? As I'm going through the process I try to hold that one back. I tell myself that I could have to go into ANY surgery at any time (my appendix could burst tomorrow!) and so these things can't be avoided forever. It still freaks me out that I might go to sleep and never wake up and never know though. I think as it gets closer I will struggle with that a lot.
#2 is becoming not being approved by insurance. Doing all of these appointments and planning - Ill be so bummed if they find some weird loophole, drag their feet or if something changes because insurance mandates change in the coming months.
Either way, I have been trying to see everything that happens as a sign. I am not a religious person but I do believe that things happen for a reason, so I am going to just go with the flow and assume that the things that are meant to happen will in their own due time!

I'm not telling my mother. I'm not telling a lot of people. I'm just a very private person. I'm not telling my mother for many reasons. If your dad is pretty laid back, then tell him if you want... or don't. It's not a requirement [emoji4] Best of luck to you in whatever you decide!

Well I can officially knock insurance denial off the list- approved today! Surgery set for 11/10. I’m so excited, but yikes!

My biggest fears are:
1. Dying- I am the breadwinner for my family, have two young children, and two elderly parents with dementia I take care of. I need to be here because there are a lot of people counting on me for pretty much everything.
2. It not working- I feel like I hear so many horror stories of it not working, or people losing only a small amount of weight before nothing happening. I know it generally works, but you can’t help but be concerned that you might go through all this for nothing.
3. Regain. This is not my first rodeo with weight loss. Over 10 years ago I lost 150 lbs (without surgery) and had an amazing experience being “thin” for the first time in my life with all the accolades, pride, etc that comes with it. Only to gain it all back plus a lot more. I am doing everything I can to try to make this time different but I’ve done it to myself before and I’m terrified I’ll do it again.
4. My freaking insurance finding some dumb loophole to deny my surgery that they submitted for last week! Or Covid causing elective surgeries to be cancelled again and my husband losing his job that has the Bariatric coverage medical insurance before they resume surgery. Or basically some new reason that I get denied after so many years trying to make this work.
5. Complications: a leak, chronic issues, being nauseous forever, a clot, having to have the surgery revised later due to gerd, or any other issues that I can think of.

So basically what are my greatest fears? Everything, it looks like. Ha!

Surgery itself and not contracting covid

Well I can officially knock insurance denial off the list- approved today! Surgery set for 11/10. I’m so excited, but yikes!

My biggest fears are:
1. Dying- I am the breadwinner for my family, have two young children, and two elderly parents with dementia I take care of. I need to be here because there are a lot of people counting on me for pretty much everything.
2. It not working- I feel like I hear so many horror stories of it not working, or people losing only a small amount of weight before nothing happening. I know it generally works, but you can’t help but be concerned that you might go through all this for nothing.
3. Regain. This is not my first rodeo with weight loss. Over 10 years ago I lost 150 lbs (without surgery) and had an amazing experience being “thin” for the first time in my life with all the accolades, pride, etc that comes with it. Only to gain it all back plus a lot more. I am doing everything I can to try to make this time different but I’ve done it to myself before and I’m terrified I’ll do it again.
4. My freaking insurance finding some dumb loophole to deny my surgery that they submitted for last week! Or Covid causing elective surgeries to be cancelled again and my husband losing his job that has the Bariatric coverage medical insurance before they resume surgery. Or basically some new reason that I get denied after so many years trying to make this work.
5. Complications: a leak, chronic issues, being nauseous forever, a clot, having to have the surgery revised later due to gerd, or any other issues that I can think of.

So basically what are my greatest fears? Everything, it looks like. Ha!

+1 on trying to find something else to "comfort" you other than food.
+100000000000000000 on the slippery slope of "having just one cigarette". I had been smoke free for 8 years until one day on vacation last September, I thought I would "just have one". Then I thought well i can "just smoke while on this vacation". Fast forward 1 year and despite "quitting" 3 times for about a month at a time, I am back to smoking like I never stopped all those years ago. Le Sigh.
Sooooo...be careful when putting your toes back into old habits that got you to where you don't want to be.
....but obviously, YOU know yourself the best, and can endeavour to recognize your limits, and try not to toe the line if you don't need to. Personally, it's not worth it.
Good Luck!

Tek nailed it. I would just like to add one thing.. is there anything else you can turn to to make today a little easier to handle? Relying on comfort foods when things aren’t going well is a slippery slope... to give an analogy I once quit smoking for five years, cold turkey no issues or cravings.. but one day something really stressful happened and I bummed a smoke off someone to help calm myself.... a week later something a little less stressful happened and I had another, and another and suddenly my old unhealthy habit was back. For many of us (I’m not speaking for you specifically) turning to comfort foods on bad days is a dangerous thing, and if there’s something better we can turn to it’s a good idea to find it before the old habits that got us to where we are come back.

My biggest fears are:
1. Dying- I am the breadwinner for my family, have two young children, and two elderly parents with dementia I take care of. I need to be here because there are a lot of people counting on me for pretty much everything.
2. It not working- I feel like I hear so many horror stories of it not working, or people losing only a small amount of weight before nothing happening. I know it generally works, but you can’t help but be concerned that you might go through all this for nothing.
3. Regain. This is not my first rodeo with weight loss. Over 10 years ago I lost 150 lbs (without surgery) and had an amazing experience being “thin” for the first time in my life with all the accolades, pride, etc that comes with it. Only to gain it all back plus a lot more. I am doing everything I can to try to make this time different but I’ve done it to myself before and I’m terrified I’ll do it again.
4. My freaking insurance finding some dumb loophole to deny my surgery that they submitted for last week! Or Covid causing elective surgeries to be cancelled again and my husband losing his job that has the Bariatric coverage medical insurance before they resume surgery. Or basically some new reason that I get denied after so many years trying to make this work.
5. Complications: a leak, chronic issues, being nauseous forever, a clot, having to have the surgery revised later due to gerd, or any other issues that I can think of.

So basically what are my greatest fears? Everything, it looks like. Ha!

Im down some. I plan to continue to donate mine to dress for success. Its a program that helps broke people be able to look nice for work or getting a job.

Try selling on Poshmark

Today I "unsubscribed" from Lane Bryant emails! Although they served me very well through the years, no more plus sizes for me.
Sent from my SM-G965U using BariatricPal mobile app

I really appreciate all your responses, thank you! I want to take advantage of this time to set some new habits and lose as much weight as possible before surgery. I’ll keep up my dieting and try to get as low as I can so I have less to lose after surgery.

I asked this question of the Patient Coordinator and was told that the insurance goes by the weight of my first Surgeon appointment. Of course you may have different requirements... Your Patient Coordinator may be able to advise you. I believe my 'packet' will be submitted to my insurance (Aetna) next week. To be certain, I ensured that I didn't go below at any point in the process. Started the process in Nov '19.
Best of luck to you!!

Congrats on the stellar pre-surgery weight loss!
Ultimately, it all depends on your insurance companies guidelines for approval. As you've said, you're unlikely to get below 40 BMI in the next 2.5 weeks. Provided that that appointment is your final one before your surgeon submits to the insurance company, you should be fine. Your surgeon will use your weight and BMI from that appointment when submitting for approval.
Once the approval is given, you should also be all set. When my surgeon submitted for approval, I was at 42 BMI, The request was initially denied due to my surgeon failing to submit some key data from my endoscopy, so he appealed and the approval went through about a month after the initial submission. By the time the approval came through, I was down to 40.2 BMI. On my surgery date, I was down to 37.7 BMI. Since the approval was already given, I was still very much in the clear. So, you shouldn't have anything to worry about once your surgeon has the go-ahead from the insurance company.
Again, great job on the weight loss and best of luck on getting a quick approval from your insurance company!

I like this calculator:
https://www.losertown.org/eats/cal.php

So I have my long awaited first appointment tomorrow. Kind of makes me laugh thinking when I set it up over a month and a half ago I was like “wow how will I stand the wait” I guess the global pandemic kind of helped pass the time. Another minor good thing that happened is instead of having my appointment cancelled which I had reconciled myself to, it got switched to a telemedicine visit. That is great for me because not only do I still get to have the appointment but it was going to be a two hour drive each way for the appointment so that really helps. Not sure how it will work being virtual but this is just so they can submit me to insurance to find out my requirements so hopefully this all works.

I know my insurance covers surgery, and I know I am for sure heavy enough to qualify under any BMI (yay, good job on that, haha) but I’m still nervous. I know it will likely be a 6 month monitored process but the only way I can afford this is to qualify under insurance.

I haven’t told anyone in my life except my husband but randomly tonight my parents told me while I was filling their pill containers they were concerned about my weight. They have dementia/Alzheimer’s so it kind of made me sad that they will get lost and forget how to use the bathroom but remember that I am way too heavy. I don’t want to talk to them about the surgery because they wouldn’t really understand and it would worry them but I am hopeful that I can get this surgery and lose weight in enough time for them to see it and know that I am doing ok. It would mean so much to me for them to be able to see that.

I’ll report how the appointment went, but has anyone had a telemedicine appointment for their first visit? I’m a long time lurker and everyone here has been so helpful. Really appreciate the support.

So I have my long awaited first appointment tomorrow. Kind of makes me laugh thinking when I set it up over a month and a half ago I was like “wow how will I stand the wait” I guess the global pandemic kind of helped pass the time. Another minor good thing that happened is instead of having my appointment cancelled which I had reconciled myself to, it got switched to a telemedicine visit. That is great for me because not only do I still get to have the appointment but it was going to be a two hour drive each way for the appointment so that really helps. Not sure how it will work being virtual but this is just so they can submit me to insurance to find out my requirements so hopefully this all works.

I know my insurance covers surgery, and I know I am for sure heavy enough to qualify under any BMI (yay, good job on that, haha) but I’m still nervous. I know it will likely be a 6 month monitored process but the only way I can afford this is to qualify under insurance.

I haven’t told anyone in my life except my husband but randomly tonight my parents told me while I was filling their pill containers they were concerned about my weight. They have dementia/Alzheimer’s so it kind of made me sad that they will get lost and forget how to use the bathroom but remember that I am way too heavy. I don’t want to talk to them about the surgery because they wouldn’t really understand and it would worry them but I am hopeful that I can get this surgery and lose weight in enough time for them to see it and know that I am doing ok. It would mean so much to me for them to be able to see that.

I’ll report how the appointment went, but has anyone had a telemedicine appointment for their first visit? I’m a long time lurker and everyone here has been so helpful. Really appreciate the support.