Today I went to my final Pre Op appointment (my surgery is 2/19). I gained weight. The doctor said I had to go on my liquid diet NOW and loose weight. He also wants to see me again (on 2/9) for a weigh in. My surgery depends on this... so a month liquid diet here I come. He was also nasty about it. Yeah I did wrong. Don't need to be hit over the head with it.

2 hours ago, dhardy30 said:

I have to agree. I work for Cardiovascular Surgeons and if you do not comply with the guidelines they WILL NOT do the surgery. It’s to make sure that you have the safest surgery possible. So with that being said, yes the doctor was rude and unprofessional but there is a frustration that is added on when they feel like the surgery is not being taking seriously

No individual in their right mind is going to go through the process of getting approved, have their stomach ripped out and never be able to eat again normally if they weren't serious. That being said, having to pass a psych exam and the psychologist/psychiatrist should be able to see that the individual is not taking the surgery seriously and is an inappropriate candidated. Does your Cardio Surgeon require every single one of his patients to have a 6 month or longer waiting period for surgery, demand that every single one of his patients see a therapist and attend classes before he determines if the candidate is appropriate for the surgery?

I believe the six month waiting period and psyche evaluation are pretty standard. That is what my insurance required. Six months of weigh ins and office visits, psyche evaluation, EGD, clearance from primary doctor. All kinds of stuff before approval.

Walter, I like the fish lips, LOL. Why do kids always do that???

WLS is elective, and I bet most heart surgeries are not (but I could be wrong).

2 minutes ago, Apple203 said:

Walter, I like the fish lips, LOL. Why do kids always do that???

WLS is elective, and I bet most heart surgeries are not (but I could be wrong).

My doctor told me I would die without WLS. My insurance company (United Healthcare) with my particular plan does not authorize for WLS, but upon appeal agreed because I will die without it. A boob job is elective. WLS is not, unless I elect to die, and for many others like me who will die if they do not have surgery, it is not elective. By the way. Insurance companies do not cover elective surgery. The majority of Insurance companies do. They don't consider it elective. They consider it a medical necessity.
By the way. Billing codes for Weight Loss surgery are Vertical Banded Gastroplasty (CPT 43842, 43843), Gastric Bypass (CPT 43846, 43847) or Laparoscopic Gastric Bypass (CPT 43644 and 43645), As I stated. Insurance companies consider it non elective and medical necessity.

Many people will die without liver transplants.

But there are conditions for getting a transplant. You have to remain alcohol free for a set period of time to qualify for a liver transplant to save your life.

If you screw up and have drink...you don't get a transplant. And you die. And that's on you. YOU have responsibility in the process. Many people do elect to die.

Just like weight loss surgery. You can elect to comply, or you can elect to die. It's up to you.

To qualify, you have to be accountable and prove that you're serious about changing the behavior that contributed to the damage.

Without behavior changes, weight loss surgery is not only a waste of resources, it also can cause more harm. Particularly, if a patient cannot get hold of their eating habits enough to keep themselves safe.

Yes, you have to lose weight before surgery and prove you can break your addiction JUST EXACTLY like liver transplant patients must give up alcohol.

Liver transplant patients get their blood alcohol tested....weight loss patients get weighed. If you screw it up, the next step is therapy, not surgery.

If the fact that "you're going to die" without surgery is not enough to inspire you to comply with a few months of pre-surgical requirements....you will very likely get a referral to a psychologist to help you work on these issues first.

Not being unkind, just telling you the truth.

Edited February 3, 20188 yr by Creekimp13

Creek Imp this hits home. I haven't too many,baripals but my l a te husband the Somewhat Lamented chose to die of kidney disease 5 1/2 years ago. Never told me or the kids of the diagnosis. Didn't know for certain until I went through his paperwork after he died. Lab reports, letter from his doctor etc. Wouldn't you have thought he would have shared this with me? We had been,married 44 years. What makes it even sadder, I naturally have 3 kidneys. If I hadn't been a match something could have,been worked out with OSU, they do chain kidney transplants, if you're not a match you still donate a kidney which is given to your match and another kidney is found for your loved one. I could have helped him change his diet to a kidney sparing one. There is still latent,resentment,in my [emoji173] that he didn't care enough to share the news with me. Like you said these are also raw truths.

Sent from my VS880PP using BariatricPal App

39 minutes ago, Creekimp13 said:

Many people will die without liver transplants.

But there are conditions for getting a transplant. You have to remain alcohol free for a set period of time to qualify for a liver transplant to save your life.

If you screw up and have drink...you don't get a transplant. And you die. And that's on you. YOU have responsibility in the process. Many people do elect to die.

Just like weight loss surgery. You can elect to comply, or you can elect to die. It's up to you.

To qualify, you have to be accountable and prove that you're serious about changing the behavior that contributed to the damage.

Without behavior changes, weight loss surgery is not only a waste of resources, it also can cause more harm. Particularly, if a patient cannot get hold of their eating habits enough to keep themselves safe.

Yes, you have to lose weight before surgery and prove you can break your addiction JUST EXACTLY like liver transplant patients must give up alcohol.

Liver transplant patients get their blood alcohol tested....weight loss patients get weighed. If you screw it up, the next step is therapy, not surgery.

If the fact that "you're going to die" without surgery is not enough to inspire you to comply with a few months of pre-surgical requirements....you will very likely get a referral to a psychologist to help you work on these issues first.

Not being unkind, just telling you the truth.

I work for Optum Health Insurance, part of my job responsibilities is decide who gets treatment or not and if one meets medical criteria. And I hate to tell you 'proving you have broken addiction' is not a reason why one is denied for a procedure. You will ignore this question as it was posed to you a while ago and you deflected and never answered. What do you do for a living?

So sorry, Kakatlady. It's very hard to watch loved ones make these kinds of decisions.

Edited February 3, 20188 yr by Creekimp13

Jelly, you are confusing "qualifying for insurance money" with "meeting surgical qualifications" ie: the benefits outweigh the risks. There is a huge difference in those two concepts.

Lots of people who monetarily qualify for liver transplants are turned down...because they cannot comply with pre-op requirements.

Being insured for a procedure is not the same as qualifying for one.

I'm insured for a triple heart bypass. But I won't be getting one anytime soon because (since I don't have coronary heart disease) the benefits would not outweigh the risks.

Medicine is not fast food. You don't just order what you want. Even if you have the money in place, you MUST qualify and comply with instructions or the surgeon can simply say no. And yes, that is his/her judgement call to make.

If you would like to make that judgement call on your own...might I suggest the following:

Take four years of challenging undergrad at the best university you can get into.

Write the MCAT and hope you haven't just wasted four years of your life.

Hope your scores are good enough to get accepted to a decent grad school.

Incur hundreds of thousands of dollars in student debt.

Lose years of your life to incessant and intense studying.

Get into a decent residency program.

Earn a surgical specialty and become board certified.

Do continuing education for the rest of your career.

There ya go. Now it's up to you!

Edited February 3, 20188 yr by Creekimp13

1 minute ago, Creekimp13 said:

Jelly, you are confusing "qualifying for insurance money" with "meeting surgical qualifications" ie: the benefits outweight the risks. There is a huge difference in those two concepts.

For the third time, and yet another deflection.
"You will ignore this question as it was posed to you a while ago and you deflected and never answered. What do you do for a living?"

Edited February 3, 20188 yr by Jelly Belly

Neither myself, nor you, nor anyone on this board is required to divulge personal information about themselves....unless they choose to:)

Edited February 3, 20188 yr by Creekimp13

1 hour ago, Creekimp13 said:

Neither myself, nor you, nor anyone on this board is required to divulge personal information about themselves....unless they choose to:)

Correct nobody has to divulge personal information. That being said, you act like an expert and degrade individuals who come to this forum for help and exuse forum participants. It is only natural for one to ask your credentials. However, you are too afraid to give your background. Interesting. You are a computer warrior judging others, but are ashamed of yourself personally. That is the epitome of a troll. Just saying I understand you are afraid to show who you really are. Continue to hide behind your keyboard :). Have a wonderful day. I don't respond to trolls.

Edited February 3, 20188 yr by Jelly Belly

Walter, I like the fish lips, LOL. Why do kids always do that???
WLS is elective, and I bet most heart surgeries are not (but I could be wrong).

Thank you, just trying to be silly with my wife. I thought we were talking about WLS, not cardiac surgery. That is why I chimed in with my two cents.

This thread is very strange and oddly entertaining.

It seems very strange that a bariatric surgeon would call a patient a fat pig when they deal with obese people every single day. That is very uncalled for and its crazy that he still has patients with that attitude. I hope you reported him. It definitely sounds like a good reason to find a new surgeon.

As for gaining weight pre-op... that is really tough and I'm sorry you weren't able to stick to your plan. Its tough stuff for sure. I know its easy to feel defensive about something so upsetting but CreekImp is really not trying to insult you... it just is what it is. We all had to do it, some people had to be rescheduled and try again. Some aced it and continued on and some people had to cancel. But we were all instructed to do it. It is not even entirely because of post-surgery habits. From what I was told it also affects how fatty your liver is during surgery. If it is too fatty it puts you at much higher risk. These rules aren't put in place to make your life harder.. they're put in place to ensure that you continue to have one.

I hope that you're able to identify and resolve the problem. Good luck!

Edit to add:

Also, I wanted to point out that no one doubts anyone's need of WLS. We do not determine if a surgery is elective. People need elective surgeries all the time. Should it be elective? That can be debated.. but it doesn't change the facts. Saying it is elective isn't to belittle anyone's story. It is just a fact.

Edited February 3, 20188 yr by N0VA

2 minutes ago, N0VA said:

This thread is very strange and oddly entertaining.

It seems very strange that a bariatric surgeon would call a patient a fat pig when they deal with obese people every single day. That is very uncalled for and its crazy that he still has patients with that attitude. I hope you reported him. It definitely sounds like a good reason to find a new surgeon.

As for gaining weight pre-op... that is really tough and I'm sorry you weren't able to stick to your plan. Its tough stuff for sure. I know its easy to feel defensive about something so upsetting but CreekImp is really not trying to insult you... it just is what it is. We all had to do it, some people had to be rescheduled and try again. Some aced it and continued on and some people had to cancel. But we were all instructed to do it. It is not even entirely because of post-surgery habits. From what I was told it also affects how fatty your liver is during surgery. If it is too fatty it puts you at much higher risk. These rules aren't put in place to make your life harder.. they're put in place to ensure that you continue to have one.

I hope that you're able to identify and resolve the problem. Good luck!

My Doctor (who is the inventor of the Duodenal Switch), doesn't believe in the liquid diet. Just clears 24 hours before. Due to my medication which was changed recently, my hormonal treatment made me gain weight. My doctor spoke with my Endocrinologist who verified the reason for the weight gain and understood. Weight gain, for people with medical illnesses could come for other reasons besides over eating. A good doctor will look for the reason why. My surgery is still on target for February 28, weight gain and all.