Last week was my 5th appointment of my insurance required 6 month supervised diet! It went by really fast after having all the required testing! I was required to have an upper GI, pelvic ultrasound, chest xray, echocardiogram, ekg, nuclear stress test, home and lab sleep study, pulmonary function test, abdominal ultrasound, two nutrition consults, 2 psychiatry visits, pulmonary consult and a cardiology consult! Wow! It made the time fly by and now I am just waiting for my July 2nd pre-op visit and my surgery is scheduled for August 1st! My pre op diet starts July 18th and I will be on the Optifast program. It will consist of shakes, bars and soups, 6 times a day. My birthday is August 17th so I will probably just be starting mushies but this will be the best gift I can give myself! I can't wait to be banded! Is anyone else scheduled for August?

I'm hoping for late August... I have 2 appointments left with the nutritionist, 1 on the 17th of this month, and the next is August 7. Health New England should take no more than a week for approval, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed! When did everyone notify their employer of surgery? I'm planning on taking 2 weeks to adjust to my new diet, one will be vacation time, and the other will be sick time (we have a bank that goes toward short term illness, maternity leave, etc), I just have no idea if I should wait for a surgery date or if I should give them a heads up first. So glad to have found this forum!

I just found out my surgery date is Aug 20th and am debating the same thing. I don't think my employer has a 30 day notice, but I'm planning on taking 5 days off. I'm also not saying what surgery I'm having, just that I have to have a procedure and will likely take sick days (I have 60). I'm thinking of telling them about my "necessary procedure" within the next week or so - I'm hoping that won't be a problem and that it doesn't sound sketchy!

When are you telling your employer?

I submitted my time off request and my FMLA request on the same day. I was approved for the time off already, but the FMLA is still pending at this time (but it won't affect me being able to take the time off). I took two weeks as well, one for vacation, one for recovery. I just told my supervisor that I'm having stomach surgery. I work in an office full of women and they tend to be nosy, lol.

I submitted my time off request and my FMLA request on the same day. I was approved for the time off already, but the FMLA is still pending at this time (but it won't affect me being able to take the time off). I took two weeks as well, one for vacation, one for recovery. I just told my supervisor that I'm having stomach surgery. I work in an office full of women and they tend to be nosy, lol.

Funny - I too work in an office full of women and agree on the nosey trend.

So this may be a stupid question, but can you explain how FMLA applies? My doctor told me that I shouldn't need more than a week off but should take the full week to be sure, so not sure how this works. I was just going to let my HR know and assumed that since I have 60 sick days, would be able to apply those. Am I missing something? Or should I go about this differently?

I'll try to explain I don't quite understand the concept myself - I just remember last year I was going to just take vacation time to recover from a tonsillectomy, and my boss freaked. She wanted me to apply for the FMLA just in case I had to take more time for any more issues related to the tonsillectomy, it would all fall under the same case and wouldn't be considered unscheduled time loss.

This time I just went ahead and applied for the FMLA so if I have to take any time off beyond my scheduled two weeks it won't count as an unscheduled absence that I'll be dinged for. I think it gives you extra protection if you have to call in - at my job I can have up to 6 unscheduled absences a year and up to 3% time loss without getting into trouble (one absence counts as calling in for an issue - so if I had a 3 day flu it'd only count as one occurrence).

I still end up using my PTO days, they just code it as FMLA instead of vacation time. So if you've got 60 sick days, you should be able to just notify your HR and then they'll code it as FMLA - if you need more days it won't be an issue. At most, they'll probably have you take a form to your doctor indicating how long you'll be out of work, your expected return date, and if you need light duty or anything like that. If I remember from my tonsillectomy stuff, that's all I had to do. Our time loss is handled through an outside company now, so they contact the doctor for that sort of info, I don't have to be the middle man anymore.

I'm pretty sure I just rambled on there, but hopefully it makes sense, haha. Just goes to show how little I know about the process itself

I told my employer last Monday finally. My boss is really awesome and flexible so it definitely takes a load off. My HR department is sending me FMLA paperwork as well. I've had a lap band weekend from hell though. I got a call from my surgeon's office on Friday because my next appointment with the nutritionist (appointment #5) is tomorrow and my health insurance only covers 4 visits so my last 2 I'd have to pay for my last 2 visits out of pocket. I called my insurance company right after and, after holding while the rep talked to various supervisors and their health services department, I was told that my last 2 visits would be covered without any need for prior authorization. Awesome! So I called the surgeon's office back to let them know that I'd be all set. As soon as I got off the phone, then I got a call from my health insurance informing me that they were wrong and I wouldn't be covered.

So I wrote an e-mail that could have doubled as a novel to my insurance company. I told them that if they wanted me to have six visits then they should cover six visits, and if they'll only cover four visits, then the requirement should be four visits. I got a call back later in the day from a representative at Health New England apologizing for all of the confusion. She told me that the surgeon's office has misinterpreted the requirements and that four visits were required over the course of six months. She assured me that she was working on contacting the local surgeons' offices to correct the problem, and that since I had already fulfilled my four visits, I would be able to submit my request for authorization, and she would personally deal with the person who handles my surgeon's authorizations to make sure everything went okay.

So I had an amazing weekend with that off my back, only to get a call this morning from a supervisor at Health New England telling me that, yet again, I've been misinformed and, yet again, I wouldn't be covered. So now I'm back to square one. My insurance told me that I can see my PCP for the last 2 visits, which I made appointments for because my co-pay is certainly less expensive than an out of pocket visit. I got to thinking, and realized that I saw a peri-surgical weight loss doctor who referred me to the surgeon, and that would give me 5 consecutive monthly visits, so now I only need one PCP visit, then my 6 month follow-up with the surgeon. Sorry for the novella, but I had to get my frustration out!!!

I am so sorry that happened! It's really frustrating for me to read stuff like that because I work for an insurance company (an ***, so referrals and stuff are required)... I process claims now, but I started in customer service and it was always of the utmost importance to make sure that I got the info to my customers correct the first time. I had lots of folks calling for info on the different bariatric surgeries, and my calls would always be long - I wanted to make sure they got all of the information that they needed so stuff like this wouldn't happen. You should ask if they do what's called a "service recovery." We did those when people were grossly misquoted their benefits - told something would be covered when it wouldn't (like an office visit covered in full w/just a copay but we forgot to say if there was a deductible or coinsurance or something). It was rare when we gave them, but when they were justified they were granted.

Again, I'm sorry that they messed it up so many times! That's so ridiculous. So to make sure I'm understanding right, you just have one more visit with the PCP, then you get your surgery, then your 6 month followup? Regardless - good luck!

As far as the FMLA topic goes, at my job I have earned time, which is my vacation time, and SCEPI time, which is like short term illness (maternity leave, etc.). I've decided to take 2 weeks off to get through most of the liquid diet and adjust to my new eating habits, so I have to take 1 week of vacation time before I can take 1 week of SCEPI time, although I'm not sure if the FMLA will change any of that. My HR dept also told me that since I'll be out for 14 days, I can apply for short term disability through Cigna which she gave me the phone number for, but that will only pay 60% of my weekly pay, so I have no interest in it especially since I've got 6 weeks worth of SCEPI time. Keep fighting the good fight!

I am so sorry that happened! It's really frustrating for me to read stuff like that because I work for an insurance company (an ***, so referrals and stuff are required)... I process claims now, but I started in customer service and it was always of the utmost importance to make sure that I got the info to my customers correct the first time. I had lots of folks calling for info on the different bariatric surgeries, and my calls would always be long - I wanted to make sure they got all of the information that they needed so stuff like this wouldn't happen. You should ask if they do what's called a "service recovery." We did those when people were grossly misquoted their benefits - told something would be covered when it wouldn't (like an office visit covered in full w/just a copay but we forgot to say if there was a deductible or coinsurance or something). It was rare when we gave them, but when they were justified they were granted.

Again, I'm sorry that they messed it up so many times! That's so ridiculous. So to make sure I'm understanding right, you just have one more visit with the PCP, then you get your surgery, then your 6 month followup? Regardless - good luck!

I'll have to look into that! Thanks so much! I know I babbled on FOREVER, I have to see my PCP for my 6th consecutive month of nutrition counseling, then I have to have a follow up visit with the surgeon to mark 6 months since I first saw him, THEN my paperwork can get submitted for authorization, then (hopefully) not too long after, surgery!

@duckydoom @cmaxwell331 Thanks so much for sharing your FMLA advice and experiences! I'm a total dope with that kind of thing so an email to HR will be coming from me to ensure I'm covered.

@cmaxwell331 - So sorry that back and forth is happening to you. My doctor's team has yet to submit my insurance paperwork, but it is completely understandable that you'd be frustrated - I definitely would be. Keep us updated!! Venting here is healthy and needed!!

I'm just a waiting! I'm having a hard time waiting! my date is august 28th, can 't wait...

Today is day one of my pre op diet! I'm excited, especially after seeing my PCP yesterday for my pre op appointment. After losing 22lbs, she already had to lower my blood pressure medicine! Whoo hoo!

Hi. I'm an August Bander!! The 15th!!! Be here before ya know it:)))

Im on August 1st! My Pre-op diet starts today...

Im on August 1st! My Pre-op diet starts today...

Me too! So far so good but it's only been a few hours!

Me too! So far so good but it's only been a few hours!

Ahh!! Good luck - please keep us posted. My doctor has us do 2 full weeks of liquid diet - no solids at all. I won't lie - I'm nervous about being able to do that! I've done cleanses, fasts, etc before and since I am so addicted to carbs, I got major headaches and was really irritable by the second day! How long is your pre op diet for?