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You probably need to call your surgeons assistant/ surgical coordinator and ask them. I didn't see anything in the UHC requirements about needing to lose weight but I didn't see anything about gaining either. Have you been tracking your food on fitness pal? There might be a blind spot you're having with measurement/cal intake. I know when I was still gaining earlier this year I realized I was getting WAY too many calories from my Creamer and sugar in my coffee. Like I was literally doubling my Breakfast cals with my coffee intake alone. Sometimes getting your weight to at least stabilize just takes having an honest look at what your intake is and seeing if there's any tweaks you can make to at least get it to flatline. My trick was just switching to milk from half and half and not using sugar anymore (I prefer no sugar to fake sweeteners.) I do think that the Insurance could look at consistent gaining across the 6 months as a negative so better to be safe than sorry! But again, you should ask your doc office.

Exactly.

I scan or measure and log EVERYTHING on My Fitness Pal.

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@@Stephanie Salsera Perrott

Life after the sleeve isn't a life of denial. I love food and go out to eat all the time. You just change the way you eat, what you eat and how much.

I've followed this surgeon's eating advice. I got the book on Kindle a few days after surgery. It made a huge difference in my outlook on post-surgery life and I pimp it every chance I get. He really knows how to lay it out for people and teach you how to eat after surgery. Everyone thinks they know how, but they don't. He made things a lot easier for me and I still refer to the book constantly.

http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Gastric-Sleeve-Success-Practical/dp/0615830447/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1424296331&sr=8-2&keywords=duc+vuong

Thanks my friend. I had a come to Jesus moment last night after my NUT group meeting. I talked to myself in the car: "what are you doing? you want this so bad but you're not willing to do some work on your own before hand? Even if UHC approves me I need to lose weight prior to shrink my liver AND and i need to prepare for all the work after surgery. I had a real do or die trying moment and I said I'm going to do this. No More Excuses. I love this board! it's so helpful. Your advice about after surgery not having a choice if you're sick etc... good rude awakening!! keep'm coming!!!

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Manish S. Parikh, M.D he's awesome, NYU and Bellevue check him out

http://www.healthgrades.com/physician/dr-manish-parikh-3hgd3#tab=about :D

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*Most* insurance require you to have one of he following to qualify for surgery under. 40bmi

sleep Apnea

High Blood Pressure

High Cholesterol

Type 2 Diabetes

Venous Stasis Disease (Collection of Blood in the Lower Limbs)

Soft Tissue Infections

You'll have to call your insurance since every plan in different. Asthma is a good one to put on your letter of necessity but it isn't usually a qualifying for comorbidity. Learning disabilities aren't a weight-related issue so wouldn't be relevant.

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Hi everyone! I have been doing my consult at NYP at 168 St. So far so good...

Has anyone done their surgery there? My surgeon will be Dr. Bagloo

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I am a die-hard New Yorker, who now lives in Atlanta. I often wonder how my VSG journey would be different if I still lived in New York. There is a surreal emphasis on food down here in Atlanta, and every minute there are food commercials on television. You have to have a strong will, which I am developing, but it gets HARD!!! To answer your question, I heard that Mercy Hospital on Long Island has an excellent Bariatric surgery team. Btw, I am "Sleeved" 10 months and I've lost 73 pounds so far!!!

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I also was sleeved by Dr. Schwack at NYU a week ago. I have not had any problems with him at all. For anyone intending to use him though, stay on top of your pre-op requirements for insurance and the office itself. I found that on a few occasions I had to be the one asking what to do next because I wasn't fully informed. Overall, still a very good experience.

I'm having my Sleeve with Dr. Schwack on 8/25 and I am very comfortable with him. However, the office gets lower marks for exactly what you said, I needed to be a squeaky wheel to get the info I needed

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

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I also was sleeved by Dr. Schwack at NYU a week ago. I have not had any problems with him at all. For anyone intending to use him though, stay on top of your pre-op requirements for insurance and the office itself. I found that on a few occasions I had to be the one asking what to do next because I wasn't fully informed. Overall, still a very good experience.

I'm having my Sleeve with Dr. Schwack on 8/25 and I am very comfortable with him. However, the office gets lower marks for exactly what you said, I needed to be a squeaky wheel to get the info I needed

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

He's a very good surgeon with great bedside manners. Send him my best!

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I'm having my surgery at Mount Sinai with Dr. Herron. He was highly recommended and answered all of my questions and more. The entire Mount Sinai staff down to the receptionist are so informative.

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I also was sleeved by Dr. Schwack at NYU a week ago. I have not had any problems with him at all. For anyone intending to use him though, stay on top of your pre-op requirements for insurance and the office itself. I found that on a few occasions I had to be the one asking what to do next because I wasn't fully informed. Overall, still a very good experience.

I'm having my Sleeve with Dr. Schwack on 8/25 and I am very comfortable with him. However, the office gets lower marks for exactly what you said, I needed to be a squeaky wheel to get the info I needed

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

He's a very good surgeon with great bedside manners. Send him my best!

Eek! I'm having my surgery tomorrow morning with Dr. Schwack.

Like you both said, the office was incredibly difficult to get a hold of. Dr. Schwack was very nice and informed me about all procedures available. I only met with him once, since I did my pre-op visits with my PCP.

Getting nervous for tomorrow but so so excited!!

Sent from my SM-G920V using the BariatricPal App

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You probably need to call your surgeons assistant/ surgical coordinator and ask them. I didn't see anything in the UHC requirements about needing to lose weight but I didn't see anything about gaining either. Have you been tracking your food on fitness pal? There might be a blind spot you're having with measurement/cal intake. I know when I was still gaining earlier this year I realized I was getting WAY too many calories from my creamer and sugar in my coffee. Like I was literally doubling my Breakfast cals with my coffee intake alone. Sometimes getting your weight to at least stabilize just takes having an honest look at what your intake is and seeing if there's any tweaks you can make to at least get it to flatline. My trick was just switching to milk from half and half and not using sugar anymore (I prefer no sugar to fake sweeteners.) I do think that the Insurance could look at consistent gaining across the 6 months as a negative so better to be safe than sorry! But again, you should ask your doc office.

Exactly.

I scan or measure and log EVERYTHING on My Fitness Pal.

I'm so bad at tracking. I've done it with Weight Watchers on and off. I find it challenging to be accountable for eating things I should probably avoid, so I don't always put it in or just stop tracking. I worry that I'm going to fail at losing any significant weight because of this, especially months and years down the line. I think I will be more compliant early on because I will be scared of hurting my insides and causing complications. I don't see myself as being perfect and eating everything perfect, in the long run...I just want to eat like a normal, average weight person. I understand the importance of some degree of denial, but I don't want to live life depriving myself. That's most likely the perfect reason why I am still "morbidly obese" (about 46-47 BMI). I'm curious as to whether my thoughts and feelings may change after surgery. Any thoughts on this?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using the BariatricPal App

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Eek! I'm having my surgery tomorrow morning with Dr. Schwack.

Like you both said, the office was incredibly difficult to get a hold of. Dr. Schwack was very nice and informed me about all procedures available. I only met with him once, since I did my pre-op visits with my PCP.

Getting nervous for tomorrow but so so excited!!

Sent from my SM-G920V using the BariatricPal App

You're in good hands. Good luck and keep us updated on your progress!!

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I'm a patient of Dr. Brian Jacob, I only heard good things about him. I will most likely be sleeved in January. Anybody else?

Sent from my SM-G935T using the BariatricPal App

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    • KeeWee

      It's been 10 long years! Here is my VSG weight loss surgiversary update..
      https://www.ae1bmerchme.com/post/10-year-surgiversary-update-for-2024 
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    • BeanitoDiego

      Oh yeah, something I wanted to rant about, a billing dispute that cropped up 3 months ago.
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