Tiffykins

I didn't have trouble losing 20-60lbs. My issue was keeping it off, and being hungry all the time. I ate healthy, I just ate a lot when I wasn't dieting. For me, the sleeve gave me the best of both worlds, 3 years out, I still never experience physical hunger, and satiety off smaller meals within a decent caloric intake. I could do it on my own, lose it, but there's no way I could keep it off without my sleeve.

If you can't comprehend how shady this situation appears that is totally on you. It's sad because so many could be helped rather than shuffling people to just this particular surgeon.

I questioned how her surgeon was getting a non-covered procedure covered with Tricare after years of it being denied. Our bariatric program has been shut down at our MTF where I had my revision. Every spouse is getting referred off base and the band or bypass are the only allowable surgeries. Congressional complaints, appeals, and all the hoops have been filed and jumped through with zero approvals. We went round and round about it via private message some time last year. I should have recalled the screen name when she posted, but because I quit frequenting this forum, my memory lapsed. And, I was truly hoping it wouldn't be turned into a drama fest of my surgeon got it approved. Other military wives are struggling to get this surgery. It's cloak and dagger stuff, and it saddens me that others have struggled for years, postponed surgery, or had to self-pay because the codes used won't get disclosed. It's all secretive and in my opinion unfair if there is a way to get it covered, yet the information can not be shared unless you go through this particular surgeon. Out of the hundreds of denials, how in the heck is this ONE surgeon getting approvals and getting paid by a government ran insurance program. It really saddens me that this surgeon is not willing to help others in other states get approval. The rules of our insurance is strict enough as it is. IF there is a legal and legitimate way to get VSG covered with a civilian surgeon, it would help 1000s of other military wives/dependents who deserve to have the surgery they need. Like I said, Medicare has approved it, Tricare will follow, hopefully sooner than later.

Luckily, Medicare picked it up so hopefully VSG will be covered by Tricare. It'd be nice for this surgeon to share, but I think we've had this conversation before and I'll just quit asking for others to get help. This is why I quit coming here, because of the posts like this. No consideration for anyone else, cloak and dagger when others are out here struggling to get coverage.

Can you share how you got it covered and what code he used to get it covered since you're in the South region of Tricare as well? The reason I'm asking is because our MTF is no longer offering bariatrics as the surgeons have both been PCS'd. So, now everyone is getting referred off base, and getting denied since Tricare has NOT picked it up here. They've gone through the requirements, they meet the guidelines and they are still getting denied and ONLY approved for the band or bypass. No hate, just if it's getting approved, it would be helpful to other dependents if you could share some details to help others.

No out of pocket expense at all.

Thanks so very much ! ! ! You'll love the sleeve!

I agree 100%. Grant it, I had surgery to avoid setting myself and the baby up for possible complications and pre-disposing the baby to being obese as studies are now showing obese mothers have a higher incidence of obese children. The main reason doctors advise patients to wait an XX amount of months post-op is because it gives the body to stabilize at a specific weight, BUT there are hundreds of women who get pregnant before even 1 year post-op and have perfectly healthy, full term babies.

1) Your swelling has subsided. 2) Liquids in, liquids out 3) Acid mimics hunger. However, not all "acid medications" are created equally. If you are on an H2 blocker, you will not get the full effect of acid reduction. An H2 blocker treats the symptoms, H2 blockers are Zantac, Pepcid. Proton Pump Inhibitors/PPIs actually stop the acid from producing in your stomach and those are Dexilant, Prilosec, Nexium, Protonix, or any generic of those drugs. These drugs need to be taken on an empty stomach and some require a full hour wait time before eating, Nexium requires 30 minutes. OR, you can eat and take them 2-3 hours after eating. I choose to take mine first thing in the morning and wait an hour. Sometimes, you need to double up on the dose. Zantac, Pepcid never does anything for me. broth counts as a liquid. There is absolutely no reason to be alarmed with liquids. It's the sheer mechanics of your pyloric valve opening. Be grateful that you can get in that much liquid. It took me an hour to 8oz at 6 weeks post-op. We do not have pouches like RNY patients, there is no stoma. We have normal functioning stomachs, just smaller in size. Easy mental picture when you start progressing through the stages and learning about eating post-VSG: Think of your sleeve like a kitchen sink: Liquids : Dump liquids in, they slide right on down, empty into the drain. NO stopping Full liquids/thick liquids: Dump 3ounces of yogurt, cottage cheese, pudding down the drain; It will slide down the drain opening a bit slower, but you don't have to stir it around, or mush it through the sink drain. Mushy/puree: (this is where your teeth come in extra handy) you can dump some puree chicken salad/chili/egg salad down the drain and it's gonna sit there for a bit, it'll leak through, right? but it's going to take some time. So you might have to get a spoon to stir it around to get it to go down the drain. Soft Solids: Oh chewing is essential. You can toss some ground beef in the sink and it's not going down without some mushing down/stirring it around with the spoon to get it through the drain opening. . The stomach after surgery still isn't sure what to do with those soft protein/solids, so it's slow to work properly, and all the stomach really does is break down, mush down the food. 85% of Absorption of nutrients/calories etc etc occur in the intestine. Anyways, the meat is going to need some help to get down the drain. Gastric fluids, the mechanical work of the stomach, and chewing helps this process. This is when you really get the restriction. Measuring your mushy/purees and onto soft solids and Protein will keep you from overeating and puking or being in pain. Once you get to full liquids, still be cautious and measure out. Once you're on mushy/purees, always, always measure. Don't eat until full, eat the measured, prescribed portion and that will help you stay within your caloric intake for the day. The pyloric valve is what regulates how and when the food dumps into the intestines. That's why liquids don't offer restriction. Sip away, enjoy hydration so many of us struggled with being able to get in fluids. As time progresses, your stomach works better, transit time speeds up and you can eat a bit more. This is where the "sleeve stretching" posts come up. People think they've stretched something, when it really boils down to the stomach is just working properly.

Amen, you couldn't pay me to have any sort of band around my stomach. NEVER.

Yes, it's extremely true. That is why it is recommended that if you are going to use a hormonal bc method to use a back up method as well. Many early out WLS patients end up pregnant because of the hormone flux, and increased fertility and unpredictable cycles. I was never diagnosed with PCOS and we never TTC'd before I lost weight. Therefore, I have no idea if my weight decreased my chances of pregnancy. I simply refused to get pregnant fat. Now at 3 years post-op, I'm 21.5 weeks into my 2nd post-VSG pregnancy. Delivered a beautiful, healthy, full term baby girl last October, and this October we will welcome a new little brother to the family. Most reproductive endocrinologist highly recommend losing weight, especially by doing low carb to increase fertility. We struggled for our first year of TTC, I endured 2 chemical pregnancies, and then conceived Tatum without medical intervention, had a completely uneventful, uncomplicated pregnancy due to VSG with her, 2.5 months later, I popped positive again with Nugget. AND, we were preventing with a barrier method, and were not trying to conceive so quickly after delivery.

Just want to quote it for future reference and easy for me to pull. You wrote it all out so eloquently and precise. Thanks for taking the time for those trying to get VSG.