New to fifties group

[LainieG 132]

Grammy, medicare does have criteria to meet and so far I am on the right track. No one has told me when the request is submitted, I would assume before. Seems strange it may be after surgery. I still will have medicaid as my secondary and they cover it also. I just have to meet my spend down (1000.00) and they should cover the other 20%.

I will get my test results, hopefully by tomorrow. I am guess they did not find anything bad otherwise I would think they would contact me sooner. My biggest question is if the blood clot is still in my right thigh.

[#9grammy 274]

I start my pre-op Monday, the bariatric coordinator called yesterday to give me the rest of my appointments. See the surgeon the 16th, pre admit is the 22nd. Be at hospital the 27th and 2 week dr visit on Nov 11th. I'm just so excited and well nervous too.

I'm sure everything will go good, I will most definitely be asking him to take as much gas out as he can! That part scares me, I've had surgeries befor and don't remember having gas pains.

[LainieG 132]

Well, received results from stress test and doppler, Doppler showed several chronic blood clots (DVT) in both legs, small enough though for blood to pass ( in lower legs ) One in left thigh and still have the one in the right leg.

Stress test was a bit inconclusive. They don't know if they did not get good images or if the soft tissue between chest and heart interfered with images. Now cardiologist is calling my doctor next week to see if they think I need a cardiac cath to check for blockages.

OK, now I'm depressed !! If something stops this surgery I will be so disappointed and upset.

[LainieG 132]

Grammy, called today to double check the medicare issue but I forgot to ask when they submit the paperwork as we got off track with things. She said that the 20% is due the day of surgery but since I have medicaid it will be paid by them so I don't have to pay the 20%, She said that medicare only requires BMI over 35, psych evaluation and dietary consult, medicade is the same. I panicked when she said pay the 20% at the hospital.

Still concerned about being able to do the surgery following my test results. Has anyone had blood clots or heart issues and were still able to have the surgery.

Thanks !

[sherrie1957 27]

I start my pre-op Monday, the bariatric coordinator called yesterday to give me the rest of my appointments. See the surgeon the 16th, pre admit is the 22nd. Be at hospital the 27th and 2 week dr visit on Nov 11th. I'm just so excited and well nervous too.

I'm sure everything will go good, I will most definitely be asking him to take as much gas out as he can! That part scares me, I've had surgeries befor and don't remember having gas pains.

[sherrie1957 27]

The reason I was given as to why we end up with such bad gas pains is that they fill your torso with air to make it easier to manuever their instruments during surgery. You'll have gas pain clear up in your neck and shoulder. Walking helps a lot and the gas x strips.

[#9grammy 274]

Grammy, called today to double check the medicare issue but I forgot to ask when they submit the paperwork as we got off track with things. She said that the 20% is due the day of surgery but since I have medicaid it will be paid by them so I don't have to pay the 20%, She said that medicare only requires BMI over 35, psych evaluation and dietary consult, medicade is the same. I panicked when she said pay the 20% at the hospital.

Still concerned about being able to do the surgery following my test results.

Has anyone had blood clots or heart issues and were still able to have the surgery.

Thanks !

Yes I have to pay the 20% at the hospital on the day I pre register. I can't lose much more or my BMI wwill be under 35. Just hope I can keep it where I am till after dr apt on Wednesday . Think I will be safe after that, with the pre diet I will lose more for sure.

I had to go through every test there is because of my copd, sleep apnea. I also have high bp and cholesterol.

When is your surgery again?

Good luck, Linda

[Kathy812 794]

@@LainieG I am so sorry to hear about the test result. I have a valve regurgitatation I don't receive treatment for it, it's just monitored & I did get cleared for surgery, so remain hopeful but more importantly you want to make sure any underlying issues are under control before going through surgery. I Will include you in my prayers.

[Vsglady 142]

LainieG, how are you doing? My thoughts and prayers are with you, stay strong.

[LainieG 132]

On pins and needles until I find out what they figure out on Friday. Yesterday was a rough day as I spent most of the day on what if's. I am sure I am having needless worrying but it is hard not to. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.

[NavyMom2006 119]

@@LainieG - keeping a good thought for you! Keep us posted.

[beachgal2935 596]

Hi everyone!

Well today was my first day at mayo. After stepping on the scale and having my height measured, I turned in the inch thick stack of paperwork I had to fill out. They are so organized at that place it’s amazing. They’d Fed-ex’d everything to me last week so I could fill it out on my own time. There were even 3 pages of questions the poor guy at my Blue Cross insurance had to answer, including over 10 medical codes he needed to check for me to see if I was covered. He was super sweet but I kinda felt for him. OK, so apparently I have awesome insurance because everything is 100% covered. As of 6/14/14, they no longer require a 6 or even 3 month weight loss program in order to be approved – YAY! Mayo also doesn’t require you to lose weight before surgery. That being said, I WANT to lose as much on my own as possible before having the procedure and I’ll tell you why. Most of you probably already know this, but I was quite surprised. My first appointment was with the psychologist. She asked me which procedure I was leaning towards and I told her the sleeve. She’d gone over my medical history and shared with me that I might want to reconsider and have the roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) instead because I’ve had type 2 diabetes for more than 10 years. I didn’t realize they could do the bypass with laparoscopic surgery now. She also shared with me I could lose more weight and I’d lose it quicker with the RYGB. Now here’s what stuck in my mind more than anything … she pulled up a chart and showed with me the difference in dieting vs WLS. Everything dieting does to your body, WLS does the opposite. I wish I’d asked her to print me a copy. I will get one when I meet with the surgeon next Tuesday and post it here. Yoyo dieting keeps resetting your set point and however much weight you lose, your body fights to get it back. That’s why I’ve lost and gained 100’s of pounds over and over again. Can anyone else relate? Having WLS resets your set-point back to start. It’s like you get a do-over once and for all – yippee!!! Anyways she said with RYGB I could expect to lose 66% of my body weight by the end of 12 months. Now here’s the tricky part … that’s where my body will want to stay. I can continue to diet but it will be like dieting pre-WLS and the yoyo could begin again back and forth to that 66% pound mark. This is why it is IMPERATIVE to lose as much weight as you can BEFORE your WLS procedure. It makes complete sense and that’s my #1 goal right now. I’m going to use My Fitness Pal and see how well I can do. She told me it takes about 3 months at Mayo to get in all the pre-op labs, tests and procedures. I really wish they could have gotten it all taken care of before the end of this year as my $500 deductible and $1,700 out of pocket max have already been met, but oh well. At least at Mayo you never pay upfront as they bill you and you can pay whatever you want monthly. My 2^nd appointment was an hour with the nutritionist. She printed out some menus, told me about My Fitness Pal and gave me her phone number and email if I needed her for anything. She also went ahead and gave me the booklet of nutritional guidelines for RYGB surgery. I see her again in a month. Sorry to ramble, but I promised to share.

[Kathy812 794]

@@beachgal2935 thanks for sharing! Interesting information, especially the do-over part!

My insurance was similar to yours. No weight loss requirement. Everything was easy peasy. My surgery is Friday. . If you feel so inclined, please keep me in your prayers I report to the hospital at 5:00am

[LainieG 132]

So excited for you Kathy. Be sure and let us know how it went as soon as you feel up to it. This is so exciting, first of the October sleevers !! Anyone heard from Queen, missing her !!

[Vsglady 142]

Kathy you will be in my prayers! You're gonna do great! I just posted on the Oct forum about my last pre-op appt before surgery, but I want to share it here too...woke up this morning dry heaving, not sick just a case of nerves...went to pre-op and had to turn in a packet which listed all types of risks and complications that I had to initial. I also had the opportunity to go over about a dozen questions with the PA and interestingly she changed some of the medication instructions I had been given earlier this month by the hospitals pre anesthesia team. She said they don't really understand the Bariatric patient. Anyway the good news is I've lost enough weight that I lowered by BMi and my blood pressure was normal! I still have a week of pre- op but charging forward... Good thoughts to all of you.