Hi all,

I am a 66 y.o. mother of six grown children. I have not had my surgery yet. Rather than Medicare, I have a Medicare substitute called Humana Gold Choice. I am awaiting approval from them and hoping to get it in time to have my surgery on 5/14. My BMI is 39.1 now, but I have hypertension, high cholesterol and arthritis. I will be going to Detroit to Harper Hospital - Dr. Gazayerli. I am working with a group called beliteweight.com. They are surgery coordinators. They are helpful when I call them, but I hate to keep calling with every question I have, so I'm glad to have found this forum.

Because my surgery will hopefully be 5/14, I started the pre-op diet yesterday. So far so good, but I was on Medifast in the past, so I know the really rough part is on the 3rd to 4th day.

I was an RN before retirement, and am not worried about the surgery itself. But I did not go to any seminars, nor have I had anything other than phone contacts with my coordinators. I was a librarian before I became a nurse, so I have been doing my own research.

Detroit is about 175 miles away. I will only be going there once, for a three day stay including the surgery itself. I will be having follow-up care and fills locally with a physician who used to be at Detroit. I wish I could have the surgery locally, too, but Medicare (and thus Humana) require it be done at a Center of Excellence.

It has been helpful to read the forums and learn how everyone is doing and how the different pre and post-op instructions have varied.

Thanks for being there, Sue

Well hi, Sue from Michigan. Welcome to the LBT forum. Good luck on your pre-op diet! Stick to it and you will get a great kick start to your weight loss.

Enjoy the forum and don't hesitate to ask questions here. The veterans on this site were so helpful to me when I was just starting my journey!

Hi Sue and welcome to LBT! Good luck getting your approval and be sure to keep us posted on your progress!

Good luck Sue. Keep us up to date.