ColieCallwell

Yep. You can contact your insurance company and they should be able to tell you the requirements for the surgery. My husband had RNY in December 2020, and he was recommended this surgeon by the insurance company. I'm using the same surgeon, but having the sleeve. For my insurance (BCBS) I have to:

- Attend a WLS informational seminar before I could schedule an appointment with the surgeon. This was put on by the surgeon via Zoom. They scheduled this for me when I called to start the process. I think they do these once a month at her office.

-Meet with the surgeon, (I ate a huge lunch before I went in hopes of ensuring my BMI was high enough to qualify, lol. It worked).

-Attend a diet and nutrition class led by the surgeon, (this was 1 hour by Zoom). She explained the post op diets and what was allowed/not allowed after surgery. She mostly does not require the pre-op liquid diet...only for those with tight abdomens who need to shrink their liver so she can more easily access the stomach.

-Attend 1x per month for 3 months meeting with a nutritionist where I show *some* weight loss at each meeting. I didn't ask what happens if I gain. My husband did this during 2020 and said it was all via Zoom - they just asked him what his weight was, and he told them he lost a pound or two. He didn't get on a scale, but he ultimately lost weight between his 1st appointment and surgery date.

-Psychological evaluation, (my surgeon's office uses a service where you can schedule this via telehealth for anytime of day).

-Lab work

-Chest xray

They scheduled me for all these appointments in my first meeting with the surgeon. So far, my pre-op appointment is scheduled for 9/29, so hopefully my surgery will be sometime in October. I can only know what my surgeon told me, which specifically was not to lose too much weight, (even 10 lbs) or I could disqualify myself for surgery. I'm just going to be as healthy as possible and if I lose too much weight and get disqualified, I'll self pay.

I hope this is more informational than my last response. Good luck to you!


Sent from my SM-N976V using BariatricPal mobile app

Almost ALL restaurant food! It's such a shame because I am good at choosing healthy options, and enjoy sitting at a table and being waited on when I'm too tired to cook myself, but it all tastes SO processed! I took my 5 y/o to Applebee's yesterday and I ordered the 6 oz. sirloin. It was so nasty, it's like they smothered it in liquid smoke or something. We went to a Logan's a couple weeks ago, and I spent $30 for the filet - it was terrible! And for only being able to eat not even half of it, totally not worth it. I tried the mashed potatoes, I could taste that they were fake boxed. I've been to Olive Garden and ordered the shrimp scampi just to eat the shrimp out of it - again totally not worth the cost. I'm finally learning it's not worth it to go out to eat - suck it up and cook at home. (Don't judge me for the chain restaurant choices! I live in a small rural town and that's about all we have).

Sent from my SM-N976V using BariatricPal mobile app

3 years out.
I *thought* I had broken up with bread, but we got back together. 😆

I never was that into sweets anyway, but after surgery I found them disgusting, especially the shakes. It took everything I had to get them down early on. After about 6 months I was able to tolerate them and now I like the shakes again.
I have never been a big bread or sandwich eater, but especially since surgery I find that I just don't care for bread very much. I can't even explain what it is but I don't enjoy it.
I LOVED speaking Water (like LaCroix) before surgery and drank it all the time. For the first year I was not allowed to have it, but then I could in moderation. I am 16 months post op and I've tried it twice in the last 2 weeks and it does nothing for me now. It even seems to upset my stomach a little now. I'm so surprised by this!
I've always been a bit of a saltaholic too, and now things take a lot more salty to me. It's crazy!
Other than those things, I still like most of the foods I liked before. Now that I can eat more I'm super happy to be able to fit in some veggies, which one always loved.

Sent from my Nokia 7.2 using BariatricPal mobile app

Pasta. I love pasta. I make my own pasta. I have an array of pasta-making tools. I know how to cook pasta and how to marry Condiments to pasta.

It all tastes like gluey wallboard to me now. Which is fine, because I certainly don't need to be eating it. But it's a bit heartbreaking.

I have found I don't actually want more than a bite of anything sweet. And I mean a bariatric-sized bite, not a "barely fits on the spoon due to the intrusive influence of gravity" bite. We had something quite spicy yesterday and I bought a piece of flan ("chiquito", she called it, "really small", it was probably 8 cm/3 in on a side). A tiny bit, not even enough to assuage the chile fire within my mouth, and I pushed it away. My fiancé was shocked, because in the Before Times I would have hoovered up the entire piece and gone for seconds.

And deli roast beef now just tastes like those fake dead powdered spices they use on it. I don't have an issue with beef in general, even steak, but deli roast beef is gross to me now.

Have a mixed NSV from today! I'm 5 weeks out, and flew Southwest today to visit my parents for the holiday. I paid in advance for the COS extra seat policy, and when I got there I was stopped by a supervisor and told I wasn't big enough to qualify. I'm down 30lbs since surgery and about 45 since I last flew. The downside is that I'm still big enough that people don't exactly look thrilled to have me as a seatmate!

I was at a CVS and the automatic doors got stuck half open/half closed. I was able to fit through to get in. I would not have been able to even a year ago. I had gotten down to 141 pounds for a long time then became an alcoholic and gained back 40 pounds. 1 year ago I went to rehab and have been sober since. I have lost 52 pounds so am down to 135.4 pounds. My lowest since the WLS. My surgeon's goal weight was 135. I want to be at 125 I think.

I've had to sew up the side seams of my underwear and swimwear because they are too big and I don't want to buy new ones at this stage of my journey.

I have a funny one...
I have lost 155 lb and have a lot of wrinkles. So, I bought some compression pants and shirt. I had to go to Home Depot to buy a few building supplies. I put my sweat pants on over my brand new compression clothes and was walking through the parking lot with an arm load of stuff. And.... My sweatpants fell down to my ankles. Hahaha, I was so embarrassed. Watch out for those slippery compression pants when your butt is flat as a pancake. 😂😂😂

Agree with this - the Unjury chicken Soup isn't terrible, but still tastes like Protein Powder. I'm in the same boat, over the Protein. I've been using the Bariatric Advantage Creme flavor, it's less sweet. I mix 2 scoops with fage greek yogurt, 8 oz of Water, and 2 tbsps of PB2. It's like 50 g of protein and tastes ok.

Sent from my SM-N976V using BariatricPal mobile app

For me it was Aquanet! That crap glued the air vent to the floor of the bathroom and it took a crowbar to get it off!

I have developed a L'ange obsession. There is a hairdresser out of Boise who sells it, but also provides hair care advice - Jasmine Rae Hair Co., you can find her on Facebook and Instagram. I might just be seeing things, but her advice seems to be helping my hair. Things like how to blowdry/shampoo/brush and do less damage. Apparently vigorously towel drying your hair causes frizz and breakage, who knew?

Sent from my SM-N976V using BariatricPal mobile app

Agree with this - the Unjury chicken Soup isn't terrible, but still tastes like Protein Powder. I'm in the same boat, over the Protein. I've been using the Bariatric Advantage Creme flavor, it's less sweet. I mix 2 scoops with fage greek yogurt, 8 oz of Water, and 2 tbsps of PB2. It's like 50 g of protein and tastes ok.

Sent from my SM-N976V using BariatricPal mobile app

100% agree with Sunny. I log everything I put in my mouth: food, calories, Protein, carbs, fat, even vitamins/minerals. That helps me see whether I need to change something to get my body back to losing weight. I don't trust myself if I don't log everything. 😅

I'm only 2 months out from sleeve surgery. I had the same thoughts, PLUS just about a year ago finished cancer treatment for Stage 3 melanoma. I was worried that doing the surgery would somehow prevent my body from being able to fight cancer. I tried and tried and tried to lose weight and my body would not budge, even while undergoing cancer treatment. Finally, I decided on surgery when my last PT scan came back clean. Best decision I ever made. Just like other posters have said, it's a tool. There have been so many times I would have turned to food, but thanks to my surgery, I physically could not. I'm down about 60 lbs. and fitting back into clothes I wore 20 years ago. Plus, I eat much healthier than when I was going through cancer treatment. When you can only eat small amounts of food, you make sure it's the most nutritional food for your body. It's a tough decision to make, but you will thank yourself for doing it.

Sent from my SM-N976V using BariatricPal mobile app

Well here I am, 27 days away from bypass and I’m in a panic! I’m starting to think “I can do this by myself”. My family believes in me and has encouraged me saying, “you’re doing so good, you can do this without surgery”. Part of me believes that because honestly I’ve never maintained healthy eating AND exercise for 6 months in my life and here I am!!!I guess I’m just scared of all the risks and what if here I am healthy, I become one of those sickly, complication patients? Is this normal? To get cold feet? I don’t know if I should postpone or just go for it…any encouragement or advice is appreciated!

Used to say it wasn’t a real night out unless there was a haze of hairspray in the bathroom & all you could smell was Taft. Remember the big black cans of super hold Silhouette hair spray in the 80s (or maybe you’re too young). Superglue in a can. The only thing guaranteed to hold those gravity defying hairstyles we had back then. Lol!

Isopure unflavored. You might want to try injury chicken broth flavored too.

Slightly inappropriate but seeing my vagina much better without the excess hip and thigh fat. 🤣

I can workout without peeing myself [emoji15] I used to pee myself just going down stairs. I would have to run go pee before I went anywhere, run to the bathroom in the middle of grocery shopping because I had to pee. No longer an issue. I can even run 3 miles without having to pee! It's great.

But also, no more sleep apnea, I can wear SHOES that I haven't been able to wear in years (who knew we gained weight in our feet!?), my feet don't ache anymore, and I'm not ruled by food anymore.

Sent from my SM-N976V using BariatricPal mobile app

I can workout without peeing myself [emoji15] I used to pee myself just going down stairs. I would have to run go pee before I went anywhere, run to the bathroom in the middle of grocery shopping because I had to pee. No longer an issue. I can even run 3 miles without having to pee! It's great.

But also, no more sleep apnea, I can wear SHOES that I haven't been able to wear in years (who knew we gained weight in our feet!?), my feet don't ache anymore, and I'm not ruled by food anymore.

Sent from my SM-N976V using BariatricPal mobile app

I can workout without peeing myself [emoji15] I used to pee myself just going down stairs. I would have to run go pee before I went anywhere, run to the bathroom in the middle of grocery shopping because I had to pee. No longer an issue. I can even run 3 miles without having to pee! It's great.

But also, no more sleep apnea, I can wear SHOES that I haven't been able to wear in years (who knew we gained weight in our feet!?), my feet don't ache anymore, and I'm not ruled by food anymore.

Sent from my SM-N976V using BariatricPal mobile app

I can workout without peeing myself [emoji15] I used to pee myself just going down stairs. I would have to run go pee before I went anywhere, run to the bathroom in the middle of grocery shopping because I had to pee. No longer an issue. I can even run 3 miles without having to pee! It's great.

But also, no more sleep apnea, I can wear SHOES that I haven't been able to wear in years (who knew we gained weight in our feet!?), my feet don't ache anymore, and I'm not ruled by food anymore.

Sent from my SM-N976V using BariatricPal mobile app

I can workout without peeing myself [emoji15] I used to pee myself just going down stairs. I would have to run go pee before I went anywhere, run to the bathroom in the middle of grocery shopping because I had to pee. No longer an issue. I can even run 3 miles without having to pee! It's great.

But also, no more sleep apnea, I can wear SHOES that I haven't been able to wear in years (who knew we gained weight in our feet!?), my feet don't ache anymore, and I'm not ruled by food anymore.

Sent from my SM-N976V using BariatricPal mobile app

I can workout without peeing myself [emoji15] I used to pee myself just going down stairs. I would have to run go pee before I went anywhere, run to the bathroom in the middle of grocery shopping because I had to pee. No longer an issue. I can even run 3 miles without having to pee! It's great.

But also, no more sleep apnea, I can wear SHOES that I haven't been able to wear in years (who knew we gained weight in our feet!?), my feet don't ache anymore, and I'm not ruled by food anymore.

Sent from my SM-N976V using BariatricPal mobile app

I can workout without peeing myself [emoji15] I used to pee myself just going down stairs. I would have to run go pee before I went anywhere, run to the bathroom in the middle of grocery shopping because I had to pee. No longer an issue. I can even run 3 miles without having to pee! It's great.

But also, no more sleep apnea, I can wear SHOES that I haven't been able to wear in years (who knew we gained weight in our feet!?), my feet don't ache anymore, and I'm not ruled by food anymore.

Sent from my SM-N976V using BariatricPal mobile app