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You are correct. I have receipts for the current medical policy. Click this link to the BCBSM website, or google bcbsm bariatric surgery medical policy MEDICAL POLICY - BARIATRIC SURGERY (GASTRIC SURGERY FOR MORBID OBESITY) Once the pdf opens, press Ctrl+F on your keyboard. Type 4/20/21 in the search bar. “Updated the policy to say 4 years for both BCBSM and BCN as per the JUMP’s recommendation and eliminated the 6 months waiting period statements” I also called Blue Cross Complete @ 800 228 8554. I spoke with a very helpful rep who informed me that there is no waiting period for Blue Cross Complete (Medicaid) Only documented medical weight loss program within 4 years of surgery request. Doctors determine the length of their weight loss programs. I’d give them a call and maybe do a three-way with your office manager.

You’ll only need to take the strong pain meds for a few days - I took my last one on day 4 but probably didn’t need it. Some find over the counter enough in a couple of days. We all handle pain differently. The shakes can taste disgusting after the surgery because our taste buds can temporarily change. Have a couple of different brands & flavours on hand. I forced myself to have a shake in the morning (doubled the water to dilute the flavour) & then had diluted soups (broths, consommés) the rest of the day. Ask your dietican for other protein rich fluids you can try. It’s really only for a short time. Water can be sort of hard to swallow - heavy. Try drinking other liquids as well. I drank green tea, thinned yoghurt drinks, electrolyte drinks as well as the diluted shakes & soups.. Warm drinks are often easier to drink - more soothing. As the months pass you will be able & encouraged to eat more. I was advised to start with 1/4 - 1/3 cup from purées slowly increasing to about a cup at goal (at 6 months for me). Check with your surgeon & dietician for their recommendations for portion size, maybe calories & any other nutrient goals like protein. Yours will be different to mine simply because you’re male. Same with when you progress through the restricted return to eating stages to support your healing. I was on 2 weeks cycles: liquids, purées, soft before solid which is pretty common. Having the surgery is not being a quitter. The truth is you will still be doing the work & it is hard work. You can’t rely on the surgery alone to be successful. People can & do eat around their surgery. The loss of appetite & hunger don’t last & some don’t lose them at all. I worked harder after my surgery than on any other diet simply because I wanted this to work & be as permanent as possible. The head work, understanding why you eat, your cravings, habits, etc. is probably the hardest aspect. I also did a lot of reading to work out a way of eating (not a diet - they’re temporary) that worked for me & could be sustainable. This was a huge difference. I could always lose weight (until the last gain I had) but I could also put it all back on again because I went straight back to what I did before. I was a quitter then because I didn’t stick to any exercise plan or change of eating style. I still watch my portions, monitor my protein & fluid intake, randomly check my calorie intake, & carefully read the nutrition panel on the few food stuffs I buy - I tend to cook most of my own food from scratch. All the best whatever you choose to do.

I had a slump about three months after surgery. So so tired. Remember walking on my treadmill (thought it was about time I did something more physical) & struggling to keep my eyes open. Thought I was going to fall off & hurt myself. Went upstairs and napped. Can’t recall how long it persisted. I went back to taking a diluted bottle of hydralyte with me to give me an energy boost if I needed it. Never did get back on my treadmill 😁😁.

Yep, that's a stall. Totally normal, you'll have a lot more. I tend to gain around 4 pounds in a stall and then just stay there for weeks until it breaks.

Hi Lindsey, I have lupus and fibromyalgia. I just did a revision from Lapband to gastric bypass a few weeks ago. I actually am doing a lot better with my pain control. I take 50mg of amitriptyline at bedtime for it. I actually get more sleep now since I did the revision and it helps my symptoms.

The pre-op diet is a rough two weeks, and quite possibly the hardest part of it all because you have to stick to this strict liquid diet without yet having the help of the surgery. Stay strong -- you can get through it. Your boss sounds pretty rude for rubbing it in that you can't eat, but 6 months from now, she will probably be jealous of all the weight you've lost.

Yep! I've experienced a few stalls. I only lost like 5lbs~ in my 3rd month while I was doing everything correctly but I lost almost tripple that in my 4th month. Just keep at it! Stalls are normal & they will continue to happen. If you stick to your plan you will break out of it & your hard work will pay off.

Congrats! You look great and should be happy with over 70 pounds in weight loss. I only lost one kilo (2.2 pounds) in January, so that’s not great. But I haven’t really been able to exercise since I was sick in the first week of January and then I hurt my foot. So far in this journey, I’ve always lost more in the month after a slow month, so here’s hoping February will be a success!

Have any of you experience a stall in the weight loss? At the 3-month mark I noticed I stopped losing weight and I even gained 2 pounds. My diet has changed a little bit and continue to follow suggestions by my nutritionist.

I started my 2 week pre-op liquid diet yesterday, and its been surprisingly difficult. I can have 3 premier shakes a day, broth or fat free skim milk in between, and sugar free jell-o or popsicles. Of course I can have as much water as I'd like and a max of 1 cup of coffee a day. My struggle right now is all the food sales they're having at work. I've been sitting here sipping my broth and smelling chili and frybread the past two days. I can't close my office door as you must go through my office to reach my boss. I honestly wouldn't mind as much if the people visiting me or my boss didn't bring the food in and tell me how good it is before going 'Oh you're on your liquid diet right now, haha my bad'. I can't even escape at the gym because they're running a lunch event every day for senior citizens, so all I smell there is.. you guessed it. Chili and frybread. My stomach has just been so sad. I'm not hungry per se, but I want to eat I guess? I want to feel solid food. Every time it gets bad I just try to down some more water, but still. How do you deal with it? I went into this liquid diet so confident lol. Embarrassing side question here: how are y'alls bowel movements once you're well into the liquid diet?

milk of magnesia is the only thing that has worked for me. i am nearly five months post-op and i tried miralax, magnesia tablets, metamucil, and exlax. the only thing that was effective was the exlax but you can’t take that very often cuz it can cause lazy bowel where your intestines don’t move your food unless prompted by a laxative. i started taking milk of magnesia last week and it works great! :D i take 30 mL every two days and that has been very beneficial. i also have the phillips cherry flavor and it kind of tastes like cherry flavored detergent or washing liquid; it’s not the best tasting thing but bearable lol

I’m approaching two months post op and I’ve found I’m so tired. Prior to surgery I swam twice a day slept about 6 hours a night. Now I’m sleeping many nights by 8:30 pm. My activity is currently only at one swim a day plus 3 personal training sessions a week. It’s 4:30P right now and I wish I had more energy for a second swim or gym session this evening but I feel like I already am ready to sleep. When will my energy come back?

I originally had an ESG, it wasn't painful as such but I did have rolling stomach cramps, you can get over the counter medication for that (buscopan). You need time to allow the suture / anchor sites to heal, so I would think most doctors would give you at least a week or two of fluids (shakes), I did see one plan when someone had to do shakes for about eight weeks. It really does depend on your doctor's guidelines (I would have thought you would have been provided with guidelines by now). I am not sure why you think having a weight loss procedure makes you (or anyone else) a quitter. I imagine you have had many attempts at losing weight and haven't been successful? If this helps you lose the weight and maintain the lost, that's a good thing. ESG is a lot different than the surgical options, the reduction in stomach size is not as great as those options, you mostly certainly eat more than a few bites at a time (as is the case with the surgical options once healed from those procedures). This is from an Australian perspective but you may find it useful https://bmiclinic.com.au/endoscopic-sleeve-gastroplasty-faq/

I am scheduled for ESG next week. i was excited until now. i am so nervous. not so much of the procedure, but the aftermath. i am 56 yo male. need to loose 40 lbs is it so painful after the procedure? i hope they give pain meds. although i don't like taking them i read that many have hard time drinking water or shakes. when do you get so eat soft foods? i keep wondering if i should do it the old fashioned way and not be a quitter to take this route. do you ever eat more than a few bites ever again?

As others have mentioned, the sleeve is cheaper and also a quicker surgery to do versus the RNY. The Mini Bypass (Omega Loop) that I got is also a quicker surgery to perform since there's one less intestinal join, but with similar benefits to the RNY. I had originally wanted the sleeve, but because of my pre-existing GERD, my surgeon advised me away from the sleeve and recommended the bypass instead. I am very happy with the choice and the results, and only regret not doing this sooner. Recovery for the mini bypass was a few weeks, but I had a hiatal hernia repair done at the same time, so I had a double whammy of pain. First two weeks were pretty rough. But honestly, recovery was pretty smooth all things considered! The main downside of the bypass is the lifelong supplements, but it's a part of my routine and as much as I dislike having to take a handful of pills every evening, it's only a small inconvenience.

My insurance just approved my surgery. I am scheduled for next Wednesday 2/8 as it was tentatively scheduled at my first consult in September. WHAT DO I DO NOW? Started my liquid diet this morning... any tips? lol Should i start a special vitamin now? what vitamins do you reccomend for after? I have to tell my job obviously so i'm waiting to hear back from the surgeon but my plan is to go on disability a week or two and then work from home 4 weeks (i commute from NJ to manhattan so dont want to deal wiht that in winter)

"high protein, calorie deficit & I workout 4x a week" because it's still true!

Hi this might be a dumb question. But here we go lol. So I’m almost 9 weeks post op and started to take the capsule multivitamin instead of chewables. On the bottle it says take with food. Well I will need to swallow it with water though. And since you can’t eat or drink within half hour how does that work? Thanks

MOST surgeons recommend not doing anything except walking for 6 weeks.

I can tell you my experience as someone who had bypass. My weight as of January 2022 was 245; on surgery day (May 13th, 2022) my weight was down to 223. As of today it's at 134. My height is 5'2. The surgery itself went fine, but I had some issues with pain management (don't let that freak you out, it's very individualistic on how people experience pain). I was in the hospital for 3 days and released when I was able to keep a bit of broth down. I found that walking around and heating pad helped with the gas, but it took quite a while for that feeling to go away. A week out from my surgery I had to go to the ER because I couldn't keep more than an ounce of fluid down and was dehydrated. 3 bags of fluids and a GI study later, they found there was still some internal swelling that was making it hard for me to meet any fluid/protein goals. I followed the nutritionist advice and start the mornings with a warm drink, which does help. Now, all of these months later, I'm not able to eat much (once again, this is more the exception than the norm), but clearly the amount of food I've been able to consume is providing energy to get me through the day. My sister also had bypass without complications and she lost 85 pounds in a year. She's been able to eat most things, though she's learned the hard way about dumping syndrome. I have no regrets about my surgery and feel much healthier than I've felt. I've gone from a size 22 to a size 8. Something I never thought would happen. Good luck on your surgery.

Sleeve is an easier surgery for doctors to perform and it's an easier recovery usually. I was back home the day of surgery and back to normal within a week or so. My surgeon recommended it over the bypass because if it wasn't successful there was still the bypass to do later, which is what ended up happening. I got severe GERD from the sleeve and ended up gaining some weight back. I just had the revision to bypass last month and wish I had just went straight to bypass a few years ago instead of doing the sleeve first. Sleeve recovery was simple and I lost 78 lbs in a year, then my gallbladder had to be removed, acid reflux/GERD got worse, and the weight gain started right after that. I didn't have acid/GERD issues before the sleeve. Recovery after bypass was harder for me, took me about a month to get my energy levels back up, but totally worth it so far. I took 3 weeks off work, but should have taken 4 weeks, but I work from home so I got through it. Congrats on getting your surgery date!

I was only allowed to walk for the first four weeks (in fact, strongly encouraged to do so). At four weeks out, I was cleared to do everything except for weights. At eight weeks out, I was cleared for weights.

Had my surgery on January 16th. I'm just starting the pureed diet. I'm down 16.2 lbs since the surgery but seem to be hitting the stall. Kinda stuck at the 273 mark. I'm walking for 30 minutes a night on the treadmill and I'm consuming very close to 900 calories a day. My major concern at this point is that I haven't really had that stuffed/full feeling. I can't identify at all with not being able to eat and ounce or two. I wish I did. It makes me feel like maybe I was left with a larger sleeve. I will say that I haven't felt very hungry and I do have to remind myself that I should eat something. The one thing that I have to improve upon is my water intake.

Walking was all I did for the first couple years. My spouse and I were walking 8-10 miles several times a week. I didn't think of it as exercise but rather people watching down on the Las Vegas strip. I had decided I wasn't going to do anything more until I was about 100 pounds overweight, at which point I challenged myself to complete a a program similar to "Couch to 5K". Running sorta got under my skin after that. I only had to wear the DVT stockings while I was in bed in the hospital which was 3 days. The bed itself was a torture device so I spent the majority of the 3 days in the nice, comfortable chair that was in my room free of the DVT stockings. Good luck, Tek

I am 7 days post GB! I have been walking multiple times a day for 15 mins a time; plus get up every hour and stand and do my breathing exercises. What sort of exercise worked for you all? What week were you cleared for more? I have to wear surgical / DVT prevention stockings for another week so I get some looks out walking lol (had a very conservative surgeon) who had multiple tests and other things before I even left hospital to ensure no issues so I’m making sure I’m just as conservative and patient!!