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It's Really Happening!



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Woohoo! It's really happening! I'm going to be sleeved next Tuesday the 25th! I received my approval letter yesterday. :D

If you're wondering how I was able to get my surgery scheduled so quickly, I'll tell you my story. My wife and I both decided to have surgery done in April of this year and went to visit a surgeon. We knew immediately that he was the guy for us so we started the planning. My wife is a teacher and her insurance covers bariatric surgery with a $5000 copay (plus another $3200 for deductible and yearly out of pocket max)but my insurance does not. So she went through all the needed steps and had her surgery done on July 24th. She's already down 32 pounds too! Because she is a teacher, her insurance plan year runs from September 1st through August 31st so she added me to her insurance effective September 1st.

Last month I paid cash to have my "official" consult with the Dr. and to meet with the psychologist so that all that had to be done come September was to have the stress test and endoscopy done and meet with the nutritionist. I had my appointment to have all of those things done on the 6th of this month and then the Dr's office sent the paperwork on to the insurance company. We made a tentative surgery date of the 25th, being hopeful that the insurance company would approve me quickly enough and they did! I even started the pre-op diet last Saturday being hopeful that the date would actually work. I've been scared to death that the insurance company would come back and say I wasn't approved for some silly reason. I'm so excited that it's actually going to happen!

I've got a long way to go but I'm looking forward to the journey. My starting weight was 478 and I'm already down to 462 (16 lbs!) since I started the pre-op diet last Saturday! The pre-op diet has been really tough. I thought I knew how hard it was after watching my wife go through it but I didn't have a clue how tough a liquid diet would be!

Sorry for the long post everyone but I just really wanted to share.

Tim

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Congratulations on starting your journy! So nice that your wife is sleeved... You have an idea of what in store for you. Good Luck to you!

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Congratulations!!! Good luck next week, keep us posted on how you are doing afterwards!

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Congrats! Have a safe surgery and speedy recovery! And congrats to your wife too! 32lbs = great job! :)

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Thanks Yall! I'm heading to the hospital now to take care of all the pre-op stuff. Blood work, EKG and that kind of stuff. I'll keep you all posted.

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    • Aunty Mamo

      Iʻm roughly 6 weeks post-op this morning and have begun to feel like a normal human, with a normal human body again. I started introducing solid foods and pill forms of medications/supplements a couple of weeks ago and it's really amazing to eat meals with my family again, despite the fact that my portions are so much smaller than theirs. 
      I live on the island of Oʻahu and spend a lot of time in the water- for exercise, for play,  and for spiritual & mental health. The day I had my month out appointment with my surgeon, I packed all my gear in my truck, anticipating his permission to get back in the ocean. The minute I walked out of that hospital I drove straight to the shore and got in that water. Hallelujah! My appointment was at 10 am. I didn't get home until after 5 pm. 
      I'm down 31 pounds since the day of surgery and 47 since my pre-op diet began, with that typical week long stall occurring at three weeks. I'm really starting to see some changes lately- some of my clothing is too big, some fits again. The most drastic changes I notice however are in my face. I've also noticed my endurance and flexibility increasing. I was really starting to be held up physically, and I'm so grateful that I'm seeing that turn around in such short order. 
      My general disposition lately is hopeful and motivated. The only thing that bugs me on a daily basis still is the way those supplements make my house smell. So stink! But I just bought a smell proof bag online that other people use to put their pot in. My house doesn't stink anymore. 
       
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    • BeanitoDiego

      Oh yeah, something I wanted to rant about, a billing dispute that cropped up 3 months ago.
      Surgery was in August of 2023. A bill shows up for over $7,000 in January. WTF? I asks myself. I know that I jumped through all of the insurance hoops and verified this and triple checked that, as did the surgeon's office. All was set, and I paid all of the known costs before surgery.
      A looong story short, is that an assistant surgeon that was in the process of accepting money from my insurance company touched me while I was under anesthesia. That is what the bill was for. But hey, guess what? Some federal legislation was enacted last year to help patients out when they cannot consent to being touched by someone out of their insurance network. These types of bills fall under something called, "surprise billing," and you don't have to put up with it.
      https://www.cms.gov/nosurprises
      I had to make a lot of phone calls to both the surgeon's office and the insurance company and explain my rights and what the maximum out of pocket costs were that I could be liable for. Also had to remind them that it isn't my place to be taking care of all of this and that I was going to escalate things if they could not play nice with one another.
      Quick ending is that I don't have to pay that $7,000+. Advocate, advocate, advocate for yourself no matter how long it takes and learn more about this law if you are ever hit with a surprise bill.
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    • BeanitoDiego

      Some days I feel like an infiltrator... I'm participating in society as a "thin" person. They have no idea that I haven't always been one of them! 🤣
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    • ChunkCat

      Thank you everyone for your well wishes! I totally forgot I wrote an update here... I'm one week post op today. I gained 15 lbs in water weight overnight because they had to give me tons of fluids to bring my BP up after surgery! I stayed one night in the hospital. Everything has been fine except I seem to have picked up a bug while I was there and I've been running a low grade fever, coughing, and a sore throat. So I've been hydrating well and sleeping a ton. So far the Covid tests are negative.
      I haven't been able to advance my diet past purees. Everything I eat other than tofu makes me choke and feels like trying to swallow rocks. They warned me it would get worse before it gets better, so lets hope this is all normal. I have my follow up on Monday so we'll see. Living on shakes and soup again is not fun. I had enough of them the first time!! LOL 
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    • BeanitoDiego

      Still purging all of the larger clothing. This morning, a shirt that I ADORED wearing ended up on top. Hard to let it go, but it was also hard to let go of those habits that also no longer serve my highest good. Onward and upward!
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