If you got your insurance approval mid-November, would you go ahead and schedule surgery for first week of December, or wait to start the pre-op diet on January 2nd? Inquiring minds and all! Party or no party?

Edited October 21, 20178 yr by FluffyChix

I have no patience for waiting so I would schedule ASAP. Why wait? You will be more tempted to eat poorly next Holiday season because you will be completely healed.

ASAP

if its that serious for a thanksgiving dinner and Christmas lunch, we can just do an early one

I was so over being fat

I say ASAP, was thinking more along the line of my out of pocket expense for insurance will probably have been maxed out by mid-November, so I’d get it all done before it starts over again in Jan. lol

I'd bum-rush to have the surgery in December before the new year starts.

Medical insurance deductibles usually reset in January, so I'd rather have surgery before the reset to limit or eliminate my out-of-pocket portion.

I held mine off a month because of the daughter's wedding - not the food - I was doing the floral arrangements. And I am in charge of some stuff at 2 sewing guilds - so planned it to be after those. It's going to work out for me. But I will not be taking in much by Thanksgiving and it doesn't matter to me. I will still do the cooking - I am not a snitcher when I cook and I will make my niece test the spice levels in the stuff I can't have - but I have been cooking the holiday meals like this for 40 years and think I have it down by now.

Best reason to proceed in December would be insurance deductible and out of pocket for current year, and if costs are large enough - taking tax deductions too.

More than food/party--although I said it that way to try to keep the level of anxiety down and make this a kind of zany/silly thread...I think the real issue for me is fear. I'm approaching the end of the pre-op stage and on Monday will have a definitive direction about which surgery she wants to do on me. All of my surgeries for cancer/reconstruction were done from November 1 to January 3rd. All of them had so much recovery with them--pain, exhaustion, fear, drains, etc. So I felt like I pretty much ruined my family's Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Year on at least 3 occasions. I know I can still cook/participate with them without eating or drinking--I do that most of the time anyway since I'm always on a diet. They're used to it by now and want very badly for me to be healthy and feeling good. The fear comes in that this is now very real. And what happens if I fall into that 1% with complications? Will it fork the fam over the Holidays?

I think I'm leaning toward, hearing what the surgeon advises on Monday--and how quickly she thinks this is gonna go down and get scheduled. If it can happen in the first week of December, then I would go for it now rather than wait. If I can't get approved/scheduled until mid-December, then I would defer a month in order to just relax with everyone and enjoy the Holidays, then hit hard. But you know, with new years come new insurance rules and who the hell knows what happens in January. *sigh* Just big decisions...

Edited October 21, 20178 yr by FluffyChix

I wanted to have mine down before the holidays as it's just me and hubby this year but am currently waiting for my insurance approval. Surgery coordinator said the surgeons are booked up and with the holidays, it looks like the earliest I might be scheduled is after January 19. You may want to call the surgery coordinator and just ask a few questions. Might make the decision for you!

if it were me, i would wait til January.

If you got your insurance approval mid-November, would you go ahead and schedule surgery for first week of December, or wait to start the pre-op diet on January 2nd? Inquiring minds and all! Party or no party?

I would start now. If you work, depending on the work, most of us have jobs that are less intense or we are off during the holidays and then need to hit the ground running in January.

In addition if you are mentally and emotionally ready why wait?

3 minutes ago, Kat410 said:

I would start now. If you work, depending on the work, most of us have jobs that are less intense or we are off during the holidays and then need to hit the ground running in January.

In addition if you are mentally and emotionally ready why wait?

You make a good point. If I'm fired up and engines revved, then I might lose momentum during the wait. I've been a little concerned about that happening. Since May, I've been so focused and goal/action oriented--and it would be very easy to let down my guard and lose traction--would also need to re-prepare mentally and emotionally.

Edited October 21, 20178 yr by FluffyChix

My vote is to proceed asap. Once I made my decision I was locked and loaded and it couldn't be done soon enough. Then again it might be just a a guy mentality. Good luck with whatever your choose.

Before you even divulged the history of illness at holiday time, I was gonna say wait. It's only a month, you won't lose traction, and your family will thank you. It's not about the party.. although it can be if you want. It's more to do with having a good holiday with your family.

It'll be good to have some "the last Christmas before surgery" pics with the family to look back on, since all Christmas's from here on out will be with skinny-minnie you.

2018 is gonna be here before we know it! (My oldest will be 18 next summer, all grown up, and *hopefully* leaving the nest).. it'll be a great time for new beginnings!

For me : There will always be a reason to wait, but most people are off over chrismass so will give you added time to recover, but if people are waiting so they can eat specific food lol I would be worried. You can eat a christmas dinner in a smaller portion when ever you get to the point of normal meals so I would just go for it

5 hours ago, FluffyChix said:

You make a good point. If I'm fired up and engines revved, then I might lose momentum during the wait. I've been a little concerned about that happening. Since May, I've been so focused and goal/action oriented--and it would be very easy to let down my guard and lose traction--would also need to re-prepare mentally and emotionally.

I had 3 weeks from consultation to surgery.(Paid Private) All this long waiting, then to wait another whole month, I would not be revved to wait another month But you seem to be really in the game and focused so you may be find waiting longer, I think its such an individual thing, its hard to say what the right thing is lol.

I'd wait, I have a big family and we get together during the holidays. Since I didn't tell anyone about the surgery I wouldn't want to have to make excuses to my whole family why I wasn't eating or why I was losing weight during the holidays. After the holidays it would just me and the wife and far fewer people I have to explain things to.