eriadne

congrats and best of luck on your journey! :smile:

I had a similar problem with my PCP (and I also have Aetna!) The bad news was that my PCP first 'forgot' how long I'd been seeing them and didn't provide enough weight history -- then when I called them, they had to dig forever for more weight history and they had lost the only official weight I had had in 2007. My surgeon's office wanted to submit 5 years of weight history, Aetna requires 2 years (I think) and I only had 3 years after days of going back and forth between PCP and surgeon's office -- missing 2007 and 2008, the two more recent years that I thought for sure Aetna would demand! I didn't hold out any hope for getting approval but my husband kept telling me that there was no doubt that they'd approve me. Lo and behold my approval arrived in the mail on Saturday! It was definitely nice to be wrong and hear that "I told you so" from him, hehe :smile: It is totally understandable how frustrated, annoyed and impatient you feel. Definitely rant and get it off your chest, especially to people here or those close to you so you don't feel like you're going it alone. That way even when you feel down or a bit hopeless, you've got people to carry the torch for a bit until you feel up to doing it again! And you will, because this process may be frustrating, but it is going to be utterly worth it in the end :drool: You will get your approval and you're also already working on taking charge of your health, your medical records, your doctors and your insurance, all to get the healthy body you want and deserve. Way to go

I also use Livestrong MyPlate on my computer and on my iPhone (well iPod Touch, but same app :ohmy:

Some studies have shown that D3 is better absorbed by our bodies than D2. When doctors prescribe Vitamin D, it is typically D2 however. I personally was prescribed Vitamin D for a very substantial deficiency and switched to an OTC supplement of Vitamin D3 after finishing my first Rx bottle because it was cheaper. The same studies that show D3 is better absorbed also seem to indicate that you need about 1/3 the IUs of D3 to match D2. So instead of taking 15000 IUs of Vitamin D2 once a week, I take 5000 IUs of Vitamin D3 once a week. My deficiency is almost gone after 6 months and my PCP is pleased. :ohmy: Definitely be careful with Vitamin D, however. It can be toxic if taken in high doses. The recommended average intake is 200 IU/day. Vitamin D supplements with a few thousand IU are not intended to be taken every day! It might be worthwhile to visit your PCP and have them do a Vitamin D blood test so you can know if you are deficient. Then you can get an accurate dosage from your doctor to address your personal needs. Vitamin D deficiency has recently come to the forefront since recent studies have found that lots of people are significantly deficient these days, so a lot of doctors are now aware of it and checking for it even routinely. That's how my doctor caught me! Check out the wikipedia for more info on Vitamin D in general: Cholecalciferol - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

My surgeon also said my BMI (currently around 52) was toward the high side of where he recommends bypass over banding. He said that in his experience, people with a BMI over 55 have to work very hard to succeed, whereas with the RNY it's pretty much guaranteed you'll lose a significant amount of weight. I believe his cutoff point was 53, which has me a bit nervous since I've been gaining the last few weeks despite my best efforts. I'd much rather have a band and commit to exercise (something I want to do anyway) than have an RNY -- if I was to have irreversible gastric surgery, I'd probably go for a sleeve. Unfortunately my insurance company (Aetna) considers sleeves experimental still. I just got my approval letter from insurance and am waiting to schedule my surgery. Hopefully I can lose some between now and surgery or at least stop gaining so my surgeon doesn't start having second thoughts!

I live in Chesapeake, just signed up for the next seminar at WLSC with Dr. Terracina today. Pretty sobering when it asked for my weight and I stepped on the scale and got the over-limit display. At first I thought it was a mistake! Definitely time to get the ball rolling. What goes on at the free seminar anyway? I tried calling WLSC to just schedule an appointment but the calling tree didn't seem to have much other than the seminar signups so I figured that's the right place to start. Also taking my husband with since he's sort of cautious about the idea of me getting surgery, although supportive. Figure it will help alleviate his curiosity and get me going. I haven't been to my regular doctor for at least a year, just because I got fed up with being put on then taken off of different medications while my weight crept up and my energy/mood/money got sapped away. I hope that doesn't create many problems with the preliminary stuff! I have Aetna POS (ppo) and from what I've gathered around here I'll probably have a few months of prep ahead anyway. In any case, I'll be thrilled just to get started on the process. Just finding out about banding, reading up on it and making the decision to try for it has helped me feel a lot more in control than I have in years.