Hello all, new here as of yesterday. My first appointment is today. I have already been to the seminar and liked what I saw, so today is the consultation. Part of which is the decision as to what type of WLS I will shoot for. I say shoot for because it hasn’t been decided which surgery is best for me and there are a lot of hoops to jump through, not only doctor required, but INSURANCE required. The biggest one is the six month medically monitored diet required by my insurance.

The other stuff is pretty standard easy peasy stuff as I see it. Not stressed about the psych eval, already know I am crazy. The only stress I am feeling right now is if my STUPID insurance decides that the weight loss I have from the mando diet I have to do will indicate that I do not need the surgery. I have been down that path. I have lost 100lbs (which still was not to goal) in the past and gained most of it back. I am tired of the yo-yo and the work/emotional hits involved with it. Not to mention the stress it is putting my body through. I am also older and have to work harder just to lose a pound. My rational side of my mind says don't worry it will show in the diet, the psych eval, the Nutritional eval, and all the other hoops I have to jump through that yes it is justified. Then the irational side says yes, but the administrators of your health insurance are dumb asses. (Please excuse the language, navy veteran here and that is how I think and talk. Generally I would say get over it Francis, but I understand there are those that may take offence here, where none is meant.)

Today I will go over with the doc which surgery is for me; Gastric Bypass, Gastric Sleeve, or LAP-BAND. From what I have read, seen at the seminar, and talked about with friends that have all three, I am leaning toward the Gastric Sleeve. We’ll see what the doc says.

The second part of my appointment will be with the Doc’s Patient Relations Manager. She is an insurance guru and will help me get approved. She also helps with getting through all the other hoops. Scheduling me for all the pre-op checklist stuff and I get the feeling pretty much walking me through everything, or at least handing me off to someone to hold my hand through it all. The office staff I met at the seminar seems pretty friendly and helpful.

So hopefully I come out of my consultation with a warm fuzzy feeling.

See you all around!

Best of luck and welcome. It sounds like you are on the right path and in good hands.

I was sleeved on April 20 and couldn't be happier with my recovery and progress so far.

welcome to the family! I was sleeved 5/6/15 and have no regrets

Do which surgery is best for you. I almost did lap-band for my adult daughter and decided to go with mu original plan. I was approved for both and was undecided and chose the band for lack of "down time" and out patient surgery for BCBS.

Welcome! I had a bypass on May 21. I had wanted to have a sleeve, but my doctor strongly recommended the bypass for me because I had a hiatal hernia. You're smart to keep your options open until you hear what your doctor has to say.

Welcome and good luck today! I hope all goes well with your consultation and you get through the hoops as efficiently as possible. My insurance required the same 6 months. By the time I got through everything it was actually 9 months for me.

I originally chose the sleeve and had my heart set on it until I met with the surgeon and he reviewed my health history. I suffered from reflux/Gerd and he recommended that I really consider bypass. Apparently the sleeve and lap and could make this worse or give it you you if you did not have it already. After tons of research and a second opinion, I went with the bypass.

I am so very glad I had this surgery and so far have not had any complications. I am 9 months post op and down 111lbs with 34 to go.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do! It sounds like you are so ready to move forward. Keep us posted on your progress!

Oh, and I am not offended at all! LOL! If you met me you might think I was in the military! LOL.

The appointment went well. Looks like Gastric Sleeve for me!

No surprises occurred. I have to be on a six month medically supervised diet. I also have to lose 10% of my weight. Both for insurance reasons. I see the NOT and the APN on Jul 21st to start my diet. I will have to lose around 36 pounds. I will know the exact poundage on the 21st. That is the magic start date for my insurance. I also had to sign a contract to attend monthly support group sessions for a year post-op. Again insurance. I just love how they try to control everything.

I will get most of the pre-op check list done in one day, on August 6th. I have to do some sort of fasting test first thing in the AM (NO coffee DAMN IT!), then I see the NUT for pre and post op diet evaluation, then the shrink for a psych evaluation, then some other stuff I can't remember and don't have my notes in front of me for. Anyway after the that day I will only have an Upper GI and my diet left to finish. The Upper GI has to wait until I drop under 350lbs, because that is the weight limit on the table. WTF is up with that? Oh well, I have to lose it anyway for my 10%.

It was a good appointment, now on with the show. I am on my way!

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i had no weight loss requirements for my insurance or the surgeon but my nut wanted me to lose 2-5 pounds a month to make sure i was commited to the diet i was down 8 pounds but i slipped up and ate 6 tacos yesterday and am retaining 6 pounds of water oh well back to basics