The Greater Fool

I looked this up for you: https://www.azcompletehealth.com/content/dam/centene/policies/clinical-policies/CP.MP.37.pdf Tek

Knee and back issues would be comorbidities. WLS is *NOT* cosmetic, especially with a 50bmi and comorbidities. It is literally a life saving, health restoring surgery. Your insurance and surgeon are going to require all kinds of tests, history, likely documented weight loss efforts. You don't just sign up and get a date. You may have to take classes on the program. Every surgeon and insurance have different requirements that *YOU* must accomplish. They will tell you what and how. You need to RESEARCH (Interwebs work well) on the different surgery types. You need to understand each of them. This is important so you can advocate for the best choice for you. You will not succeed if you don't educate yourself. You found this site, you went through others. Now READ them to educate yourself. Again, your surgeon will help you with a road map. Your Customer Service at your insurance can help you also. *IF* you don't find what you think you need, keep trying. It's on you. Learn, learn, learn. I spent several days, all day, reading sites, journals, sites that explain the surgeries. Don't let them do something to you that YOU don't understand. It's all up to you. Good Luck, Tek

Welcome to the forums. My bet is that if your insurance covers WLS a 50 bmi is the beginning of the things you need to get surgery. Your surgeon's office will know what all the requirements are, so presumably when you talk to them they will give you a roadmap. If you want to get a jump on it, your insurance has a website that likely addresses it. If you can't find it, the Customer Service folks at your insurance can help. You also need to start researching the different surgery types, their plusses and minuses, and which will suit your situation and habits better. It's best if when you talk to your surgeon you are informed and defend your preference. You have to do a lot of your own work, and become your own advocate. Sitting back and waiting for it (not that you are doing this) will not get you WLS. Good luck, Tek

I recommend having a good book handy. Good luck, Tek

Be sure to take the rock's feelings into account. Tek

Good luck. Have a good time. Tek

They all work for at least some people (as much as vitamins 'work' for anyone). It's a matter of what works for you, which unfortunately, may be a trial and error affair. Good luck, Tek

OK, I am 17+ years post-op. At about your stage, though most of you is healed, the insides take up to 6 months to heal completely. During that time things can still get a little testy. Even now, I find if I don't drink enough I'm gonna get nauseous. If I don't eat well, it will make later eating more difficult because of nausea. But, another feature of my RNY is relatively early I learned that when I think of a particular food my stomach either says 'yes' or 'no' via a nauseous lurch. Initially I didn't pay attention which was invariably a mistake. Now I pay attention. Even now, though, I have to be careful to eat appropriately. It's a habit to build early. If you are following your plan religiously and still having such issues discuss it with your doc. If you are not following your plan religiously then you know what you need to do. Good luck Tek

A time will come when you can easily eat all your old comfort foods, like pancakes, if that is the choice you want to make. Though, this is how a lot of post-ops gain their weight back. The period you are in now is often called the Honeymoon period because your intake is so restricted you almost can't not lose weight (3 negatives there, be careful). It is also the perfect time to change your habits and preferences. This is the time to change what you think of food, particularly what your 'comfort' foods will be. What you learn in this early period will stick with you your whole life if you work at it now. Making pancakes with substitute materials (which someone will be along to tell you about) helps many folks. For me, not so much because, for me, it would be too easy to return to the original version. I had RNY, so sugar and fat are right out for me. For VSG it's a choice. But again, for me, proteins were most of my comfort foods, cheese being the rest. So, I could still do what I liked only in vastly smaller quantities. I hated veggies, but I learned to like some in the honeymoon period and still now choose them as part of meals. You will figure out what works for you, but be careful you're not figuring out how to repeat your pre-op issues. Good luck. Tek

AZHiker (hi neighbor) is spot on. My additional strong opinion is: Masks protect the people we are around. Anyone that refuses to wear a mask, aside from legitimate reasons, is being selfish and self centered and purposely endangering those around them. Wear a mask. Don't be a putz. Tek

I actually worked more before surgery. First, I had to make changes to several applications to ensure I was not going to be needed for them to work properly; Second, I didn't want to be sitting around doing nothing but worrying about surgery and my pre-op diet or anything else. I kept myself busy. After if I recall I was home for two weeks. The first week I did some noodling for work but I just couldn't focus well. Second week I was more able to focus. I think I prepared the company for 3 weeks just in case. But I only intended to take 2 weeks. To note, I had an open RNY with Gaul bladder removal and a hiatal hernia fix. I ended up with a drain for a week or so. Not the average surgery. I was in hospital for 3 days. Good luck and enjoy the ride. Tek

Congratulations on your surgery. When I read about them finding an issue with your liver I couldn't help but think how lucky you are. Now, the Docs can evaluate what's going on and take appropriate action. Hang in there. Tek

Have you done everything you can? I know I had a list, checked it over and over again, made sure everything was in line, so that when it got to insurance approval I would be completely sure it would happen. Yeah, I worried too. A lot. It's all part of the ride. Enjoy. Tek

Welcome to the forums. Way to jump right into the fray. Good luck, Tek

A quote I heard often comforts me at times like this: "Life sucks, then you die." Wait, that may not be it. Oh, yeah: "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." Well, it's better, but still. Oh: "It's always darkest before the dawn." Yeah, that one works. You have some dark times coming for the next few weeks, then it starts getting better and better, with new surprises around every corner. Welcome to cliche hell. Good Luck Tek

Congratulations! Not an unfamiliar milestone. You're a person after my own heart: "Stay on plan." Brilliant! Wishing you continued success. Tek

You mean that I have a friend? Well. I have a friend. Yeah, that's the ticket! I do have a friend. And, yeah, he... no she... want's to know! Tek

How many posts does one need to make to achieve member level "god"? Asking for a friend. Tek

Welcome to the forums. Even with the exact same insurance the length of process depends on a lot of things, no least of which is your weight and health situation now and what and how recently you've done mitigation (diets), and more. It should be a simple matter to get all of the requirements Kaiser has to approve surgery. I'd go to Customer Service to get this, then try to ensure you do everything in the appropriate time frame. Once you get to tests, they can mostly be done concurrently rather than sequentially and if you manage it well you can reduce time. The "options" classes(?) are a Kaiser thing, so us non-Kaiser folks don't really know what it is or how it falls into the process. Good luck, Tek

I would put an asterisk on your positive RSVP. (* Safety and pain thresholds allowing). Good luck, Tek

Welcome to the forums. I can't help with your questions with any sort of informed opinion. This is rather a specific set of questions so I imagine it might take a minute for the folks that know to see and reply. Just wanted to you to know you've been heard. Good luck, Tek

Oh. Crap. Sorry for the misunderstanding. The site had an issue at that moment also, so perhaps that's what happened to the post. I'll edit to clarify the error in my original. Tek

Welcome to the forums. Hopefully, you've learned what your post-op program looks like and how it works. Depending on the requirements it will make sense to have at least a few options available for the first week. Your tastes may change a bit for a while, so variety may help find something you like. Have a comfortable chair/recliner, or minimally pillows that can prop you up. Sitting up was often more comfortable than laying down. During your 3 day liquids, protein drinks, broths, soups (only liquid part), are anything comparable. I was never on a liquid diet preop or post-op, but when I do such I go for big flavor. Good luck. Tek

ETA: SAS11's reply was to a post that is no longer available, which I didn't see. I naturally assumed it was directed at me, Thus my reply was totally out of place and unnecessary. Sorry for the misunderstanding Tek

That is exciting news. Perhaps you could move Thanksgiving to a week or three earlier? We've done that before. I hope everything works out as you imagine. Good luck, Tek