I am SOOOO happy! It has been a long journey, since March, & I got the call this morning...APPROVED! I am set for NOV 5th for gastric sleeve surgery. My PREOP is Oct 14th, so I'm assuming that is when I start liquid diet. I had heard stories with my insurance, since it is medicaid, on how long & tough it is to get approved. I was right on the borde,r 40 bmi, but I also was diagnosed with sleep apnea & diabetic, now in prediabetes. So what should I do now? Take pictures of before for after? FOr the people that have already had surgery, do you have any tips or "I wish I would have done this before surgery" type of suggestions?

Congratulations!!!
Taking a lot of full length photos to help document your progress is very helpful

Congrats!

I have BCBS but I started the process in January and just had my surgery 2 weeks ago... so, it felt like forever! It wasn't just the insurance hoops, but the surgery center was understaffed and my outside Dr. didn't talk to them, and lots of little things.

I would say to prepare, clean out your pantry (if you live alone) so you won't be tempted by things that are not good choices. Also, have food that you can eat after surgery ready to go - protein shakes, yogurt, sugar free jello and ice pops. People always say don't buy too much because your tastes will change, but my tastes didn't change at all really. I loved sweets before, I still love sweets. I was hoping I wouldn't like them any more.

But you need to have the food ready to go because you can't carry heavy things like canned soup, protein drinks, etc right after surgery.

Have your house clean and your laundry done and your dishes washed because it will be hard to do these things for a few days.

Pick up all your prescriptions ahead of time, except for those they give you the day of surgery. Get Miralax and Laxative Suppositories, because the constipation is REAL.

Buy a few water bottles (the reusable kind) to keep in the fridge so you can rotate them as they get warm, since you can't guzzle water after surgery, and you may not want warm water.

Start tracking your food and water on an app like MyFitnessPal or just pen and paper in a journal.

Congratulations on getting approved for surgery. Yes, take pictures! (I don’t love pictures of myself, but had my husband take one right before surgery. Still have not wanted to see it, yet.) I wish I did it earlier, since I lost some weight pre-op. I found it helpful to research meal plans (just to get an idea, many are similar), get meal ideas for the different stages, & sample protein shakes. I also started logging food, journaling & habit tracking pre-op, which I found motivating.

Wishing you luck & looking forward to hearing more about your story.

Congratulations, you slogged through a long process. You’ve earned it!

Congratulations! Take as little as possible to hospital. When you aren't sleeping, you will be walking to relieve the gas pain.

You really won't need anything besides a change of under clothes/socks (I wore the same leggings+t-shirt home that I wore to hospital), tooth brush, paste, mouth wash and phone. Less to keep track of and you can just focus on you! Good Luck!

Congratulations on your approval. As far as advice on moving towards your surgery date, I echo the sentiments shared by others here. Make a list of everything you will need the first four weeks post-op (your surgeon and/or nutritionist can help here too) and ensure you have them on hand before your surgery date. Be sure you have a good water bottle or two that will help you track your fluid intake post-op. Get rid of things in the house that you won't be able to tolerate so you don't even have to look at them. Have foods on hand or a way set up to get them when you're able to transition to the next diet phase (the puree/mushy phase). Finally, have or arrange to have some physical support. Getting around the house may be tough post-op. Every little bit of help is a lot in my book. Good luck.

On 9/3/2022 at 9:50 PM, Shagi said:

I think the before and after pictures will inspire people suffering from the same disease as you. Maybe you'll even inspire them to think about recovery, which will help them a lot. I certainly did, because people need hope and encouragement to strive for something. As for me, I would just wait for calls from people I've helped and inspired, as it actually feels good. On my page I left my VoIP number, which I bought at https://usechalkboard.com/, so that anyone in need in the world, can call and ask for help. That would be cool.

Not a man, but a treasure. You probably offer to help all the people on the street.