Betelnut

My doc has me on a liquid diet for two weeks, then two weeks of "mushie."

TWO DAYS! Literally. BCBS.

Tomorrow's my surgery (October 7th). Starting to feel nervous. Wish me luck!

My shoe size doesn't go up and down but, when I'm fat, I need a "W" (for "wide") and a lot of shoes don't fit but not because of the length but the "roundedness" of my feet, if you know what I mean.

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If all goes well, I'm having my surgery on the 7th of October (Tuesday). I plan on going back to work the following Tuesday (after the long holiday weekend). So I'm missing four days of work. I've heard that some people have the surgery on a Friday and go back on Monday, but others say 2 weeks was necessary!

Okay everyone! I heard you. I will try to arrange something. I'm going to throw myself on the mercy of my co-workers, and, if that doesn't work out, I'll look into getting a car service. It is sort of a drag since I live in a rural area and the hospital is an hour (or more) away, but hopefully someone (or more than one) will be willing to help. I hate to use a car service (although I will if forced) because, frankly, I've had bad experiences in the past with reliability. But one does what one must, eh?

Hmm. I wonder what I'm going to do then. I live an hour's drive from the hospital and don't really have a support group to help me. Us solitary types are at a disadvantage, that's for sure. I'd hate to drive to the hospital and have to leave my car there.

October 7th here! Very soon....

After staying overnight, did the hosptial require you to have someone drive you home? I'm planning on driving myself there and back but someone was saying that the hospital might not release me if I'm driving myself! (I was thinking, "What are they going to do--handcuff me?") Anyway, what was your experience?

Hello all! Well, I'm in a bit of a shock. I finally completed my required 6 months of supervised dieting and sent in my insurance information on Tuesday of this week. When I faxed it over, I thought to myself, "Well, it will take awhile to get approved--I probably won't be able to have the surgery for at least a month or six weeks." No. I get a call on Thursday, "You're approved! When do you want the surgery?" So, exactly two weeks after submitting my paperwork to the insurance company, I'm getting my surgery--October 7th! I don't even know if I'm emotionally ready for it. First there was the shock, then some dread, but today, only one day later, I'm starting to feel excited! I'm happy to be a member of the October brigade!

Wow, that is going to be hard. My surgery isn't for another 6 weeks or so, so I'll need to start training my 2 1/2 year old now to get into her car seat, etc without any help!

I'm also worried that I'll get denied even though I've actually done the 6 month "dieting" period (3 months with Weight Watchers and 3 months with Jenny Craig). I have BCBS too. I think it is weird how some BCBS offices don't require six months dieting and some do. If I'm not approved I'm not sure what I'll do. I need to lose 120 pounds. I think I can do some of that on my own, but permanent loss to goal? Probably not. I've done it before and gained most of it back. Hopefully both of us will get approval and get to move on with our lives!

Heartfire: Shucks! You're probably right. I'm so used to "doing it alone" that I try sometimes to push the limit. My Mom would love to take care of the baby but she (or rather my Dad) is sort of a cheapskate so it would be the expense of coming up here that she might not like. But I'm going to ask, once I get the surgery date. Thanks for the advice! Susan

Thanks Tomatogirl! I really appreciate the encouragement. I probably will cave and end up having someone help me, at least for 1 day, but maybe not! A lot depends on the surgery schedule and if they want me to stay overnight (I'm still in the "insurance" phase of the process but will probably have the surgery in early November--at least that's what I hope happens!)

This thread is exactly what I needed. I too live in Maryland and I'm a single Mom of a 2 1/2 year old. I don't have a good support system AT ALL here, and I'm doubtful that my Mom will come up from Texas to help me. I mean, she could but I doubt she will since I think she thinks I shouldn't do the surgery (I should ask her though). I've been thinking of trying to do it all on my own, that is, have my daughter stay overnight with someone (possibly someone from work or one of cousins who live in the area) and then somehow get myself home to pick her up on the second day and then take a few days off work. My daughter would be in day care during the day so I'll have that "off time" to sort of veg at home for a few days until I go back to work. I guess I'm reluctant to ask anyone for help. I don't really want a lot of people to know I'm having the surgery. All my relatives that live "in the area" (45-60 minute drive from me) are very sympathetic people but have literally NEVER had weight control problems, so they simply wouldn't understand the issues. I guess I'm a bit ashamed of my weight and my inability to control my eating and I just don't want to expose myself to them on this issue. ANYWAY, is it unreasonable to think that I could drop my daughter off in the morning of my surgery, have the surgery, stay overnight and then pick her up the next day, then have a few days off work (take her to day care so I don't need to be moving around taking care of her during the day) and be ready for full time parenthood in just 2-4 days or by the next weekend? Is that insane?

After a while people will get used to your new look and the compliments/comments will slow down and stop. It can be a bit too much sometimes at first, but you deserve it!

Yep! I live in Charles County. I'm going through Dr. Averbach at St. Agnes Hospital in Catonsville. I went through him because he is covered by Blue Cross/Blue Shield. I haven't had the surgery yet since I needed six months of "dieting" before the insurance would cover it. I finish that next month and hope to have the surgery in October or early November. It is such a drag that we have to travel so far to do this, isn't it? BTW--Calvert's not small! It's long!:thumbup:

Thanks Patchelton! That's great advice! Since I've been waiting six months, I've actually forgotten a lot of what I learned about the system, so I need to get back up to speed. I wish I would have done more research during this slack period. I do hope to lose a lot of weight, like you, without having to have a lot of fills. For one thing, it is an hour and a half drive to my surgeon's office, so the less time I spend there, the better!

The few people I've told have had negative reactions, so that makes me reluctant to tell other folks. I haven't had the surgery yet, but I'm hoping to just "go under the radar" and have it without a lot of fuss and bother from others. On the other hand, I have a small daughter and someone will have to take care of her in the event I need to stay in the hospital overnight (hopefully this won't happen). The negative reactions were mostly on the order of, "Oh, isn't that drastic?" and "Wow, that will be hard," and so forth.

Hello all! I am a single Mom living in Maryland, 46 years old. I need to lose and maintain a loss of 120 pounds (or so) and I know from experience that I will have an extremely difficult time doing this on my own. I am finishing up the 6 month weight loss requirement that my insurance has for qualifying for the lap band surgery. I'll be finished with that in the middle of September and I hope that the insurance will approve the surgery! I'm hoping to use this forum to help me manuveur my way through this process. I've already gone through a lot of the pre-op requirements but the insurance "wait" has stopped my journey for now. I'm also looking forward to the support this forum will give me. I don't have a good support system in my life (most of my friends and family live far away from me), so you guys are going to help me get through this! Thanks for listening.