Hello All,

I started my weight loss journey first with my pcp then my possible gastric surgeon. I have followed the steps given per Cigna which include meeting with a nutricianist monthly for 3 months (I've gained 6 lbs) . My question is has anyone been approved after gaining less than 10 lbs in southeast Texas? (close to Houston) I am sooo scared I messed up after all the money and hard work I put in! Help!

Welcome @@amacox! I'm near Houston too, so welcome to the neighborhood.

My situation is a little different from yours, since I'm self-pay. But I'm going to toss in by $0.02 anyway...

If all of us were great at losing and/or maintaining weight loss, we wouldn't need VSG...so I don't think they should penalize you for such a small gain.

Hopefully some veterans will chime in here...

Best wishes,

There are 2 variables here. One is your insurance company and the other is your surgeon's practice. For example, my insurance company did not have a specific weight loss requirement, however, my surgeons' office required that you weight the same or less on the day of surgery than you did when starting the program. I would have never been approved for the surgery if I had gained weight.

You will find other people on this forum who gained weight and had no trouble getting approved while some had to lose 10%. This is not something I would wait to find out about. I would talk to the team and find out my insurance requirements.

Good Luck.

Thanks so much for sharing y'all! I actually looked up the requirements which are:

Bmi of 40+

A Body Mass Index between 35 and 40 with at least one significantcomorbidity that may include:

Type 2 Diabetes

High Cholesterol

Heart Disease

Pulmonary Hypertension

Obstructive sleep Apnea

You must also show that other methods of medically supervised weight loss programs have failed.

The medically supervised weight management program must include monthly documentation of ALL of the following:

weight nutritional program

exercise program

An evaluation from a bariatric surgeon and your primary care physician with a resulting recommendation for surgery is necessary. A mental health evaluation is required as well as a nutritional evaluation from a physician or registered dietitian.

* I have done all these things is there anyone who has gained 6lbs while on the same Cigna Insurance? Also, my BMI is 48

consider all reasons for weight gain. It may just be fluid. Fall on the mercy of your surgeon. I am sure you are not the only patient who has gained. I did not gain I kept losing but it did take a year for me to meet all the requirements of my insurance company. I had to have a certain amount of visits to my doctor plus be cleared for surgery by a cardiologist, pulmonologist, endocrinologist, phsyc evaluation plus group sessions with other bariatric patients. Maybe your trip to the operation room will be a little longer than you thought but you can lose that Go on a liquid diet and mentally tell yourself your life depends on it because in the long run it does. Do the liquids for one week and see the results. Do protein shakes, broth, V8 juice, get balerina tea it works like you won't believe. YOU CAN DO THIS!!! I am not in Texas but that doesn't matter. YOU GO GIRL

@@bluegrass thanks sooo much! I acutally just weighed myself and I've lost 4lbs!!!! I'm still going to do the liquid diet you suggested because I know it will be necessary to shrink my liver. My paperwork was submitted March 30th and I have an appointment with my surgeon on Wednesday (April 8th) I heard others say they've checked their status? Does anyone know how I could do that?

I started to meal replace with the protein drinks before surgery just to get used to the idea. It helped!

Will do thanks. @@iamjamilyn

Edited April 5, 201511 yr by amacox

To all that responded or wondered about my status here's an update**

My surgery date is May 7th!!!! I lost 8 lbs before I weighed in at my pre op appt with my surgeon!!!! Thanks everyone for your support

Awesome work. You are doing it!????

Thanks so much @@brennasmom