Hi! I just started my journey and I am looking forward to chatting with those of you who are on a similar time-frame as myself. My insurance is Cigna so they require a 3 month supervised diet, psych eval and sign off from my primary (which I am worried about, I haven't seen him in 5 years so what if he wont sign off? should I find someone new? suggestions?)

I am aiming for an early September surgery date, my Dr. said it is doable! I am excited and nervous.

I have learned so much already from reading about everyone else's experience it has really helped to calm me down.

I feel like I am obsessed with this and it's all I can think about. I have probably watched 200 youtube videos so far. LOL

Any tips, tricks or advice is welcome and appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

I started doing Protein shakes for breakfast yesterday and I am liking what I got so far. I also made my pysch eval and mine is going to be 3 hours. Is that normal? Got my Nut appt. next month, my 2nd weight mgt. supervision appt. is on the 26th and then I have 2 more left. Still need to do my sleep apnea study but things seem to be moving along I so hope I get approved after all of this!!

my psych appt was only 20-25 min long, what could they possibly talk to u for 3 hrs about, that's long, u only have 4 months of nutritional visit lucky you, I have 6 & don't have to do a sleep apnea test or that endo test, I think it's called endoscopy

I know!! I don't know what we're going to be talking about for 3 hours but I'll let keep ya posted. Yeah, my insurance requires 4 supervised PCP appts. Well, my bmi is 38.3 and I have a comorbidity of osteoarthritis of my knee and my surgeon feels that will be enough to get me approved through my insurance but wants to check me for sleep apnea since from the way I answered some questions regarding it, it may be a possibility that I have it. He said if I did, it would definitely get approved! How disturbing is it, that I hope I do? I guess, it would be better to have that, though, then something worse,,, which is the direction I'm heading in with prediabetes and borderline htn...

Your lucky that's all you have to see someone. The endoscopy wasn't bad at all. I've I only heard of you and maybe two others that didn't have to get one. I did all my testing early on so if it was bad I didn't go thru all the months for nothing. But still gotta have a final approval of surgery from insurance. Which I called before starting this to see what I had to do,outta pocket expense too. My cost is only $250._

And you're lucky to have an out of pocket cost of $250. My out of pocket cost will be between $3,000 - $3,500 after approval. I will be sick if I pay out all of this only to get denied :'(. Glad your endo. went good! That's great that you have everything done but your supervised appts. Sept. will be here before we know it

I'm shooting for end of Aug beginning of September I've had 2 Nut appointments already and have lost 12 of my required 15 lbs I have 2 more appointments with Dr and then he submits for surgery approval... It took me 5 years to decide to do this now I can't wait!

I started doing Protein shakes for Breakfast yesterday and I am liking what I got so far. I also made my pysch eval and mine is going to be 3 hours. Is that normal? Got my Nut appt. next month, my 2nd weight mgt. supervision appt. is on the 26th and then I have 2 more left. Still need to do my sleep apnea study but things seem to be moving along I so hope I get approved after all of this!!

my psych appt was only 20-25 min long, what could they possibly talk to u for 3 hrs about, that's long, u only have 4 months of nutritional visit lucky you, I have 6 & don't have to do a sleep apnea test or that endo test, I think it's called endoscopy

I know!! I don't know what we're going to be talking about for 3 hours but I'll let keep ya posted. Yeah, my insurance requires 4 supervised PCP appts. Well, my bmi is 38.3 and I have a comorbidity of osteoarthritis of my knee and my surgeon feels that will be enough to get me approved through my insurance but wants to check me for sleep apnea since from the way I answered some questions regarding it, it may be a possibility that I have it. He said if I did, it would definitely get approved! How disturbing is it, that I hope I do? I guess, it would be better to have that, though, then something worse,,, which is the direction I'm heading in with prediabetes and borderline htn...

I actually don't think it's disturbing that you hope you got sleep apnea, I hope u have it too lol just so you can definitely get approved, best wishes and keep us posted

Your lucky that's all you have to see someone. The endoscopy wasn't bad at all. I've I only heard of you and maybe two others that didn't have to get one. I did all my testing early on so if it was bad I didn't go thru all the months for nothing. But still gotta have a final approval of surgery from insurance. Which I called before starting this to see what I had to do,outta pocket expense too. My cost is only $250._

all I had to pay is 250 out of pocket as well, I actually never even heard of endoscopy until I joined this, then I asked would I need one and they said no and also said no I don't need to do a two week liquid diet before surgery

So i had a minor defusing of my WLS bubble yesterday. (It is not a pop... A little air was just let out)

I went in for my Psych eval and while I am happy to report I am psychologically normal, the psychiatrist would not sign off on weight loss surgery just yet. I have to go back for another appointment in four (4) weeks.

He said he did not feel like I was mentally prepared for WLS and that I needed to consider possibly reducing my extra curricular activities to prove I am committed to taking better care of myself... After contemplating it, it makes since that this surgery will be life altering and that I cannot continue to live the daily life that I am living because I will keep getting the same results.

I expected my diet to be changed drastically but I have never considered my schedule.

I am committed to make any necessary changes that I need to make, I was just taken back by all of this.

(Am I not prepared? Am I over analyzing this?)

Any thoughts or comments?

It's not all that uncommon for a psych to be the one to say "Hang on- are you really ready for this?" If nothing else, he wants to see that you're taking it seriously and have addressed whether you're ready. Those who are have better long-term results. I think a lot of us get excited "Yay! I get to have WLS!" but they need to make sure we're willing to put in the work.

Only you can know if you're prepared, and if you're not, what you can do about it.

On the subject of out-of-pocket, if I get approved, my out-of-pocket is $2700. My husband is much heavier than I am, and he's a couple months behind me in the process, but his surgery will cost $250 (just the cost of a not-covered psych eval) IF we can get his done this year too! Two-fer!

Wow! I weigh 219. Doesn't matter in your size with mine. I'm so happy abt that.

I really like the idea of trying the Protein powder now, I am going to pick up some this weekend to try. I am also going to order a sample pack of the Syntrax "nectar", I have heard a lot of people really like it.

My psych appointment got moved out until next month and I keep wondering when do I get to meet the nutritionist?

I am also toying around with the idea of a counselor/therapist to have someone to talk to, is anyone else thinking of that or doing it? Specifically someone who deals with weight issues.

I just know that my surgeon is an hour away and the support groups they do at his practice I will likely not be able to make so I want to have someone to vent to.

@@jobillandjosh I like the idea of using myfitnesspal, I will check it out and @@grace-not-perfection I love the dixie cup idea, have you seen all the muffin tin recipes too?

I started a secret/hidden board on pinterest where I have been tagging recipes, bariatric tips, dream clothes and things to keep me motivated about surgery. If anyone wants an invite to my board for ideas please send me a personal message with your email and I will invite you.

Thanks again to everyone who has participated in this thread, I don't get to reply usually until the evening (this forum is blocked at my office and the mobile app leaves a lot to be desired) but I do read all of your replies and ideas and it helps so much!

Edited June 18, 201511 yr by notforthefaint

Awesome ideas you have. I like the fitnesspal too. And already had my exercise class, so I ordered same stuff I used there to do my exercise with. Plus easy enough to start now too.

Hello... I'm a possible August or September sleever here. I started the journey 5/20...after my medical consult with the surgeon, Nutritionist, and Psychiatrist... I was a cigarette smoker, so my surgeon told me he wants me smoke free for 3 months. I haven't picked up a cigarette since 5/25. I was order labs and a sleep study, which I got my labs done and the earliest for the study is 8/7... my pre-determination letter was sent on 6/9 and I received my approval today 6/18. I also have a prep session on 8/10, which I believe will be the day my preop diet starts... just a feeling. I can't schedule until after my sleep study. Once I schedule the surgery, I'll also schedule my nutritionist visit to go over pre and post op nutrition.... and an anesthesia visit. The process is moving fairly faster, because I work for the hospital the is doing the surgery and my insurance is hospital insurance (private *** network). I'm really excited... I'm currently 275lbs bmi of 43.6 and my goal is 145-150lbs...

Edited June 18, 201511 yr by Sleevemetoo

Awesome sleevemetoo. Hopefully for you it's scheduled as quickly as possible.

I hope so... I don't want to gove my job any less than 4 weeks notice. Thank you