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Tiffykins - thanks for your reply. THe surgeon I'm using in Arizona (Scottsdale) has an excelletn reputation - I just need to find out how many sleeves she has done. Yes you are correct $25K is ALOT ALOT of money but my quality of life should also improve ALOT - that's the way I look at it. One reason I go back and forth on the sleeve vs. bypass is the data they have on the bypass is significant but not as much on the sleeve - but the sleeve sure seems to have a lot of positive going on for it. I meet with my surgeon next week and hopefully I can find out how many sleeves she has done and what her recommendation is for me. Thanks again for yoru reply - the support on this site is fantastic.

Hello everyone,my name is Veronika and I was wondering has anyone had the RNY gastric bypass?

Anyone here had to get pre-authorization for removal of the band, without any further revision? Mine is causing problems (serious pouch dilation) to the point the surgeon wants to remove it ASAP, but it's being submitted for pre-authorization. If you had to go this route (as opposed to ER sudden removal, etc.), did you have any trouble getting it approved?

Hello, Anyone ever have any luck with getting gastric bypass approved with having a policy with a written exclusion? It isn't a employer based exclusion just a general wls exclusion. Is there any point in trying to get it approved or should we just try to find financing options? Thanks,

I got the labband in 2007. Had had some success with it, lost and have kept of right at 60 lbs. I have struggled with the usual problems that come with the band, heartburn, acid reflux etc. Well it was determined about three weeks ago that my band has slipped. The Doc recommended removal and revision to RNY. It request was submitted to BCBS for approval. Received a copy of the letter, and they have approved the removal but not the revision. I do not meet the criteria now. I have worked hard to losse this weight and try to keep it off, and I know without the band or something I will gain all of the weight back. I have been unfilled and it is already starting to happen. My lapban surgery was with a diffrent insurance not BCBS so it would be my first WLS with them. The criteria says that I have the diagnosis of morbid obesity for a period of 2 years prior to sugery, duh, I had the band and got my weight down; My bmi is now 33, so still suffer from obesity but not morbid obesity with a comorbidity I no longer have a problem with blood pressure like I did before I am no longer borderline diabetic I still need to loose about 50 lbs Has anyone else had this problem and how do you fight it? Thanks, Laura

I having mini gastric bypass surgery and my BMI is 38 pre -opp. Sent from my SM-P550 using the BariatricPal App

Te operaron o estas haciendo la dieta antes de operarte? Cuál operación te vas hacer VSG o bypass? Sent from my SM-G900H using the BariatricPal App

I know it def slows at some point. I’m at about 2 lbs a week now. That’s healthy and I’ll take it! As long as it continues to move in the right direction! HW 242, SW 236- (Bypass 12/20/17) GW#1- 199 [emoji736] (2/11/18) GW#2- 175 CW 182 5’6”

What is a mini-bypass? I've heard this term before and I'm unsure of how the procedure is different than RNY or Sleeve? I can probably google it I'm just lazy lol Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Yes, all my codes said gastric bypass, but it all worked out fine. Don't worry, have a great weekend and just call 'em Monday. :-)

I haven't been here in a few months but I had not given up on getting VSG surgery approved. I've written some posts which tell more of my story if anyone is interested and is going through the same thing: http://www.verticals...er-suggestions/ This has been such an emotionally draining time that I wanted to share that I have finally had SUCCESS and I thank all of those who encouraged me to keep trying. I will be having a Lapband removal and revision to Sleeve - Surgery date not scheduled yet since my surgeon's office said they have to see if any pre-tests will be required. I was originally denied by UHC in August stating that I had not met their requirements since I hadn't completed a 6 month pre-op physician supervised diet. I was, however, approved for the Lapband removal due to complications. I wanted both done at the same time and found the fact that they approved one and not the other completely illogical. My surgeon's office suggested I move forward to start a physician supervised program (since UHC says it specifically cannot be a Bariatric physician). I started seeing my primary care Dr. specifically for weight loss. I had recently moved to FL so had to find a primary care Dr. to begin with. So essentially I decided to go down both tracks - appeal the denial as well as work on the six months pre-op diet so, in my mind, worst case I would still qualify by March. However, I was still upset about the whole 'principle' - or lack of - principle of requiring someone who lived with the Lapband for so long to do another 6 month pre-op diet. I sent an appeal letter to UHC and received the most ridiculous response I have ever seen - let alone another denial. They had another Dr. review my case - someone supposedly with knowlege of bariatrics and his lame reason for denying me was that since I had failed with the Lapband I would just fail again with a Sleeve and then I would be asking for a gastric bypass - almost his exact words... no lie. This infuriated me and showed a total lack of knowledge on his part in my opinion. I mean, just like that, this Dr. who does not know me at all, has never even spoken to me, let alone examined me, decides that I am just a BIG failure!!! I was told the next level of appeal would go to my employer since my employer self insures the plan or something like that. In the meantime I continued to go for my monthly Primary Dr. visits and the first few months lost about 5 lbs then after the holidays gained that back and more. I forgot to mention that my Band was unfilled back in July and my appetite has been worse than ever let alone that I can now eat a whole lot more plus things I couldn't eat for years. It took me another month or so to finally write my second appeal letter which went to my employer. By the time I sent it off it had grown to 70 pages - 2 for the letter and the rest my prior letter, denials and other medical records. The first appeal letter was 4 pages of a letter and 30 pages of records but I went ahead and obtained more records in the interim from my podiatrist, etc. I didn't intend for this post to be so long - I guess I'm kind of venting along the way so forgive me for that. I finally received a letter from my Employer the other day stating that they, too, had had another surgeon review my case who had bariatric experience and this Dr. (bless him) completed validated my case - stated that both surgeries are absolutely medically necessary and that I was correct in pointing out that UHC's own Bariatric policy contradicted them denying me both times before. I choked up as I read his words - and just praised God for his answer to my prayers! I don't have a date yet - I am supposed to hear from the Nurse at my surgeon's office on Monday to go over my health questionnaire to see if I need any pre-tests for sleep apnea, etc. I am really healthy other than my morbid obesity and even when I had Lapband in 2006 only had to have a pulmonary test done aside from the routine blood, etc. So if all goes well I may still have the surgery by the end of the month or in March. All this to say that if you are going through the same type of thing - particularly with UHC - DON'T GIVE UP!!! I'm willing to share my letter with anyone interested - email me if you want a copy. It's sad that they make us go through all of this; upon reflection it has all the more strengthened my resolve, but will still really unnecessary. As my plans progress I'll post in other topics. Thanks. Susie

The depression is probably not caused by feeling hunger, since depression is defined as sadness, lethargy and loss of will that has no discernible cause. If it were as simple as stimuli, the 21 lbs you've lost in the past few weeks should have you elated and ecstatic! I had a sleeve, not a bypass but my hunger didn't disappear overnight. The liquids phases were especially tough as I was missing the satiety and chewing from eating proper foods. If you're feeling depressed, I would recommend talking to a mental health care professional about finding a therapist. No amount of "cheer up!" Is going to help with depression.

I too am sort of new. I joined about the time I had a lap band. Did well for a time then began having troubles finding the "Sweet spot". Then breast cancer and had my band deflated for fear of vomiting. I have been pretty discouraged and talked with my PCP who felt I had done as well as I can expect with the band. I have lost and gained the same 20 pounds now for months. We discussed the bypass and I am waiting to see if I will be accepted into the program. I am looking to give and get support and learning tip from those who have gone before me.

They said the insurance company codes it as the bypass.. It's enough to confuse the patient tho

My surgery is in Tuesday. There are quite a few women who have been very successful at my old job (on COBRA) so I'm still covered. My sister had the sleeve not too long ago and from what my mom says she doesn't sound like she has lost weight and may need surgery for scarring. She's been having issues with it. She lives in the Middle East. My doctor does less lap band now than the other procedures but is well known for all of these surgeries, so I'm not worried about that. He still is going to do the lap band for me, he says less are asking for the lap band. Just getting nervous about the negative things I see out there about complications. Oh and my mom had a gastric bypass years ago and now has osteoporosis since she doesn't absorb Calcium. I've got a small area of osteopenia of my lower spine which I'm taking calcium supplements and picked up upper body weights. I broke my knee 3 years ago and had to stop Impact exercise which stimulates bone growth. I swim, ride my bike a few miles and go to the gym. I just need not to be hungry. I've been eating less theses past few months also. Anyway. Just nervous. I'll do anything not to throw up that's the worst thing in the world for me. I know I can follow the instructions on how to eat what to eat and exercise. I'm a RN also.

I've been researching the differences between the bypass and sleeve options and it gets really confusing! My understanding from most studies is that you can achieve comparable weight loss over the first couple of years with either. But, since I have such a long history of losing large amounts of weight and gaining it all back and more, I am really concerned about choosing the one which will give me the best chance of keeping the weight off for the rest of my life. So, from all I have read so far, the biggest difference between the way bypass works and the sleeve is, that although both restrict intake and hunger, the bypass also changes absorption. So - I assume this means that if I get to the point 3-4 years down the road where I can consume 1000 calories a day with either (which several sites suggested is typical), fewer of those calories will actually be absorbed with the bypass than with the sleeve. Is this correct? My biggest fear is that if I go for a long period of time eating less calories - which will happen with both - will there be a time when my body thinks it is in that starvation mode again and switches back to that horrible place of being able to gain weight at a much lower calorie level than normal. For example now, I might normally eat 1400 calories a day, but if I want to lose weight so I might eat 1000 calories/day for a few months. Then if I start eating 1200 calories/day, I gain all that weight back! Is there that same "diet rebound" with WLS in general or not? If not, why? And if so, is there less of that with bypass because your body just doesn't absorb as much ever again?

Hi Zoelifechick, I have Dr. Halmi too. I went into Potomac on July 19th and was discharged on the 21st. First two days were Pure D MISERY but today is a new day and I'm feeling a little more normal every day. Today I went out for a nice long walk. I did make one HUGE MISTAKE. They send you home with what I call a narcotic ball. You have a bag with a plastic ball filled with pain medicine with the tubes running from the bag thru the tubes and steadily into your belly. Well the directions were to wait untill the ball deflates then slowly pull out the tubes which should be in a couple of days. I didn't realize there's two layers to the ball so when the outer layer was completely deflated I pulled out the tubes (don't worry that part doesn't hurt). My curious 16 year old inspected the ball , stabbed it with a knife and a large amount of pain medication was in the center of the ball. There had to be at least 2-3 more days of pain meds in that ball. You can't put the tubes back in once you've pulled them out. Needless to say after about 10 hours the pain monster kicked my butt. Fortunately they send you home with a precription for liquid hydrocodone so the pain monster subsided and all is well. Lesson: DON'T PULL OUT THE STOMACH TUBES UNTIL THE WHOLE BAG IS COMPLETELY DEFLATED!!!!!! On a good note Dr. Halmi was fantastic, I also recieved visits from Dr. Nain, The P.A. Amia, and the other P.A. Renaldo. The repaired my hiatal hernia, removed the lapband and revised it with the Gastric Sleeve. From the 19th to today I'm 14 pounds down. I'm not getting too happy because most of that was from the liquids completely emptying my colon. Now all the pounds from this day forward will be fat . Good Luck Zoelifechick, you have a great Bariatric team. Keep me posted.

I went with Michael Talbot. You don't get much face-time with him, but his staff are all really good. Especially his nurse Patricia. Progress is going alright. Mine was a revision from lapband so my weightloss is probably going to be slower. But so far I'm really pleased. Start a new job this Friday and they were able to get me in for surgery with enough time to recover so I'm very happy.

Congrats...could you pls tell me what u did to get approved?! I live in dallas tx btw...or could u give me any hints...pls i dont want the gastric bypass...why reroute my insides when i could just get a partial of my stomach removed ...

Yea i want to have a baby slso thats why i didnt get sleeve got bypass instead didnt want my stomach cut either You guys are correct about the sleeve not being reversible; however, I don't think it has a negative impact on becoming pregnant (providing you are willing to wait a year after the surgery to stabilize weight): http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23306797 http://www.marinahospital.com/blog/will-i-be-able-to-get-pregnant-after-gastric-sleeve-surgery Studies stated, "Barring very uncommon complications of surgery, this should eventually make it easier both to conceive and to carry a child to term with less risk of negative consequences."

So, I just went through gastric bypass on March 8th, the first week post op was just fine. However, after my 1 west post op, I have been noticing some breathing problems. I can't seem to catch my breath. I can't take a shower without having to sit down afterwards to breath or walk up a flight of stairs without my chest tightening and I have to sit down. This is not normal for me. I have no pain or fevers and I had some vitals checked and all my vitals look good and my oxygen was 98%. Has anyone else experienced this? Do you know what it is? Sent from my SM-G920V using the BariatricPal App

Last Friday the insurance coordinator said she submitted my request to Cigna and we would hear something Tuesday or Wednesday of this week. I called Cigna on Tuesday and they told me my request was pending clinical notes from the surgeon's office. I called the insurance coordinator and told her what Cigna has said. She said she would call Cigna. When I called Cigna on Wednesday the status was still pending clinical notes. I asked what clinical notes they needed and they proceeding to tell me it is all the paperwork we have been getting together to submit to insurance.Can you imagine my frustration at this point? Couldn't get the insurance coordinator by phone or email on Wednesday. Thursday, the insurance coordinator sent me an email that the paperwork had been faxed to the case nurse. When I called Cigna on Thursday they said it takes 2 business days to decide approval and denied. I call this morning and got a great C. S rep named Patti. She had gastric bypass in 1999 and understood my anxiety. We talked for over 20 minutes. She said the approval could come any time today up to 9PM. I was just wondering if the paperwork had be submitted with the request for surgery approval last Friday would I stil be waiting today?

Sorry - I didn't have a revision so I don't know the guidelines for a revision. I was also self-pay since my insurance policy does not cover any WLS. Hopefully my response will bump this & someone with insurance experience can chime in.

Hi I am new here and love all the support I see on this site. However I am very nervous. I have been reading the forums and online articles preparing for my surgery. Ordered shakes, Protein and Vitamins. My friend who had her surgery 8 months ago said I am too prepared. LOL I am not thinking so. I am so nervous today and my gastric bypass is tuesday morning. I am doing this for medical reasons and for the weight. I have severe reflux, hiatel hernia, gallstones sleep apnea and IBS. I am looking forward to feeling better after the recovery from these issues. Any support or suggestions are very much appreciated. Thanks Cynthia

Hello today is the big day . I am getting a revision from the lap band to the sleeve , I go in at 9:30 am . I had the band put in twice the first time I contracted h pilorie or what ever it was which caused a lot of vomiting and acid . Which Inturn caused the band to bend the stomach. So they took it out but before they did I lost a 100 pounds I was 430 when I had the band drop to 330 . Then they put it in again but just maintained it . But then I started having problems , they now are saying it is bending the stomach and some of the fluid is missing .so now today I will get the sleeve I gained 20 pounds unfortunately .so I am up to 350 ..looking forward for the new lifestyle and hopefully no more constant hunger pains that never seem to get satisfied .