Hi All!

I wanted to start a thread for African-American sleevers (no worries I HEART all sleevers from the rainbow). I just thought, no scientific proof, that African-American sleevers may respond to the surgery different than our lovely non-African American sleeved sisters and brothers. I wanted to know if we had the same skin issue, hair problems, and other surgery related issues. Also, how to deal with the culture shock. African-American "soul food" may be something of the past... or not. So I was just looking for a space to voice culture related issues and concens.

PS- I TRULY :heart: ALL SLEEVERS.

Do you know if bcbs pays for tucks?

As far as I know they don't pay for tucks( removal of skin and fat) in the classical sense, but will pay for some procedures like a panniectomy (removal of excess skin of the lower abdomen) if it causes rashes, skin breakdown, or limitations in a person's ability to perform daily activities. Of course this needs to be documented by your doctor in order for it to be approved. I think they may also cover removal of excess arm skin as well under the same criteria.

As far as I know they don't pay for tucks( removal of skin and fat) in the classical sense' date=' but will pay for some procedures like a panniectomy (removal of excess skin of the lower abdomen) if it causes rashes, skin breakdown, or limitations in a person's ability to perform daily activities. Of course this needs to be documented by your doctor in order for it to be approved. I think they may also cover removal of excess arm skin as well under the same criteria.[/quote']

I have bcbs of IL and i was just reading that mine covers what was mentioned as well as tummy tucks but also like mentioned it has to be documented and have to get preapproval but its worth a shot and im gonna try for it after i lose all the weight.

I have bcbs of IL and i was just reading that mine covers what was mentioned as well as tummy tucks but also like mentioned it has to be documented and have to get preapproval but its worth a shot and im gonna try for it after i lose all the weight.

Maybe it does depend on your BcBS policy (I'm BCBS Federal). Ours will only cover a panniculectomy, not a tummy tuck. In fact, the standard BC/BS policies specifically exclude abdominoplasty and identifies abdiminioplasty as a contract exclusion as it is always cosmetic, not functional.

Maybe your company paid more to add cosmetic procedures to it or the policy changed recently? I haven't had any skin issues yet, but if they occur, they will certainly be well documented with my doctor! Best of luck to ya!

Question to those who have been sleeved: How long did you wait until you started driving again? My surgery isn't until Monday 10/21 but I'm hoping to drive by that Saturday. Do you think that is realistic?

Whats your email address?

Dominique.latimer@gmail.com

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Question to those who have been sleeved: How long did you wait until you started driving again? My surgery isn't until Monday 10/21 but I'm hoping to drive by that Saturday. Do you think that is realistic?

Hi, I had to wait 2 weeks per my surgeon due to the pain meds.

I wish we had a subforum so we could post new topics withing African American Sleevers, and if there is would someone point me in the right direction? This thread is too long and we discuss such a myriad of relevant topics, but it is hard to get to each topic.

I have a question for my tenured sleeve sisters. What did you do about your hair? Did you find that you suffered from significant hair loss? And if so, how did you manage it(weave? wig?hats? scarves?etc...) Have you found products that have helped with the hair loss issues unique to our hair types? I am heading towards my 3rd month post op and trying to brace myself for the hair issues. I am planning to weave, but I am in AZ and it is soooo hot here right now.

I wish we had a subforum so we could post new topics withing African American Sleevers' date=' and if there is would someone point me in the right direction? This thread is too long and we discuss such a myriad of relevant topics, but it is hard to get to each topic.

I have a question for my tenured sleeve sisters. What did you do about your hair? Did you find that you suffered from significant hair loss? And if so, how did you manage it(weave? wig?hats? scarves?etc...) Have you found products that have helped with the hair loss issues unique to our hair types? I am heading towards my 3rd month post op and trying to brace myself for the hair issues. I am planning to weave, but I am in AZ and it is soooo hot here right now.[/quote']

I was wondering the same thing since our hair texture is different. I have weave with a closure just in case but I am planning on going bk to my real,short hair after I lose weight anyway. I am just tired of the constant weave,wigs,tightness from braids and sew ins. It gets exhausting! I am natural now and will prob stay that way for a while after surgery since it keeps my hair thicker.

I was wondering the same thing since our hair texture is different. I have weave with a closure just in case but I am planning on going bk to my real,short hair after I lose weight anyway. I am just tired of the constant weave,wigs,tightness from braids and sew ins. It gets exhausting! I am natural now and will prob stay that way for a while after surgery since it keeps my hair thicker.

Hi,

I have braids for now, but my hair has been natural for 6 years. I am thinking about just taking out the braids but I am not sure. I want to be proactive, but this is a hard one to gauge.

Question to those who have been sleeved: How long did you wait until you started driving again? My surgery isn't until Monday 10/21 but I'm hoping to drive by that Saturday. Do you think that is realistic?

Ask your surgeon. That was one of the questions I asked on my last appt. She told me as long as I wasn't taking the pain meds I was fine. I drove like on on post op day 4.

Hello ladies. I discovered something that turned out pretty good wanted to share it. I use beef stock with water and added some potato flakes to it, it gave it a little more substance and it tasted really good

Missvickie...I will definitely try it. I am getting extremely nervous since surgery is Sept. 10th!!!

Missvickie...I will definitely try it. I am getting extremely nervous since surgery is Sept. 10th!!!

My surgery was approved! Just waiting on the call to get my date!!

My surgery was approved! Just waiting on the call to get my date!!

Congrats, hopefully surgery will be soon.