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:thumbup:My journey so far-From the time I inquired to seeing my PCP, going to Dr. Oliak's seminar, seeing the Psych, and meeting with the dietician it's been a month. I am 5 days into waiting for PacifiCare to approve me meeting with Dr. Oliak (surgeon). :thumbup:

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Welcome to LapBandTalk!

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Welcome to LBT!

Congrats on getting this far. I am sure you will be approved very soon. :thumbs_up:

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Hey Congrats to you:thumbup:, I just faxed my patient info form to Dr. Oliak. I was going to go with another doctor but he was NPAR (Milton Owens):eek:, so I decided to go with Oliak as he is PAR, experienced, seems prefered by many patients. I am going to the next seminar:blush:. Hopefully all goes smoothly. I have Anthem PPO. Both doctors seem great, I wonder how long it will take to get a surgery date? Excited and nervous at the same time.

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Hey Congrats to you:thumbup:, I just faxed my patient info form to Dr. Oliak. I was going to go with another doctor but he was NPAR (Milton Owens):thumbup:, so I decided to go with Oliak as he is PAR, experienced, seems prefered by many patients. I am going to the next seminar:blush:. Hopefully all goes smoothly. I have Anthem PPO. Both doctors seem great, I wonder how long it will take to get a surgery date? Excited and nervous at the same time.

HOWDY! Dr Oliaks office sent the surgery approval on MOnday, so I am pretty darn excited it is getting very close. I hear oliak has a 3 month wait, especially with holidays and stuff. I hope in Jan I am banded! Let me know how things go with you and your process. I would appreciate it!

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HOWDY! Dr Oliaks office sent the surgery approval on MOnday, so I am pretty darn excited it is getting very close. I hear oliak has a 3 month wait, especially with holidays and stuff. I hope in Jan I am banded! Let me know how things go with you and your process. I would appreciate it!

Hey Congratulations to you! I found out that my 1st choice does work with my insurance, Oliak seems to be a great doctor but I really could afford his out of pocket cash cost, to be honest. I have my 1st appt with Owens 12-5, my nutrition is today and I have my psych eval yesterday, they said I should have a date in January, maybe e will be there the same day! I am so excited, are you nervous at all?

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Hey Congratulations to you! I found out that my 1st choice does work with my insurance, Oliak seems to be a great doctor but I really could afford his out of pocket cash cost, to be honest. I have my 1st appt with Owens 12-5, my nutrition is today and I have my psych eval yesterday, they said I should have a date in January, maybe e will be there the same day! I am so excited, are you nervous at all?

:) Maybe we will! I am actually over the nervous feeling ( for now) I have been wanting to do this for a long time but, my nerves kept me from it. So, my feelings now are more like COME ON LET'S GET THE SHOW ON THE ROAD! You know what I mean? Once you start the process you want it to speed up, so you can start seeing results. I look forward to hearing about your progress in this lengthy process.

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:) Maybe we will! I am actually over the nervous feeling ( for now) I have been wanting to do this for a long time but, my nerves kept me from it. So, my feelings now are more like COME ON LET'S GET THE SHOW ON THE ROAD! You know what I mean? Once you start the process you want it to speed up, so you can start seeing results. I look forward to hearing about your progress in this lengthy process.

Yes, I absolutely know what you mean! It is so surreal to actually be moving toward being a size that I used to be! The meeting with the nutritionist went really well today and now being that much closer to getting to Onederland! I can't wait to see how soon my date would be. One of my goals is to go skydiving, go cycling with my husband and to go to an amusement park wuithout trying to make sure the ride will accomodate me! I love roller coasters and it would be great to just get on without any anxiety. Congrats on your progress, I hope that by this time next year we have met or are very near our goals!

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Yes, I absolutely know what you mean! It is so surreal to actually be moving toward being a size that I used to be! The meeting with the nutritionist went really well today and now being that much closer to getting to Onederland! I can't wait to see how soon my date would be. One of my goals is to go skydiving, go cycling with my husband and to go to an amusement park wuithout trying to make sure the ride will accomodate me! I love roller coasters and it would be great to just get on without any anxiety. Congrats on your progress, I hope that by this time next year we have met or are very near our goals!

So, what did you mean by Dr Oliaks out of pocket cash cost? I am not aware of this. I have contacted Melanie at Dr Oliaks office to ask her about this. I was under the impression, that my insurance would cover all medicall nessecary cost. Uh oh! Well, talk to you soon!

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It could be different for you, but I was told by his office oerson that in addition to what my insurance paid, I would have to pay my coinsurance plus another $4500 for aftercare (support groups, online chat access) I never really understood why that would cost so much since everyone goes for free when they haven't had the procedure and people from other doctors go to groups. But that is what she said to me, I spoke with Jennifer. I have really great insurance and I just thought it was crazy. I posted on the site when I found out. As I asked around, I learned that a lot of doctors do this and it is like an unwritten freedom that many doctors do. It seems to be a way of getting more money because Ins companies do pay them their total rate, only the contracted rate.

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Likewise- I stumbled in here while at home recovering from surgery, and the breadth of experience and information is really something. I have yet to come here with a question where there haven't been five or ten people who haven't been through the same thing.

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:thumbup:my journey so far-from the time i inquired to seeing my pcp, going to dr. Oliak's seminar, seeing the psych, and meeting with the dietician it's been a month. I am 5 days into waiting for pacificare to approve me meeting with dr. Oliak (surgeon). :grouphug:

got approved!!! Pre-op dec 18th.

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got approved!!! Pre-op dec 18th.

How exciting for you. Congrats! And good luck. :grouphug:

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Happy Thanksgiving! Dr. Oliak is doing my surgery on December 1st. Wish me luck keeping my mind on Monday rather than feasting today!

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    • Doughgurl

      2 days until I fly out to San Diego to have my Bypass Surg. in Tiajuana Mexico. Not gonna lie, the nerves are starting to surface. I don't fear the surgery itself, or the fact that I'm traveling alone, but its the aftermath that I'm stressing about the most, after this 8 week wait. I'm excited to finally be here, but I am really dreading the post surgical chapter. I know its going to be tough, real tough and I think I'm just in my head to much now that the day i here. Wish me luck, Hopefully I'm one of the lucky ones, and everything goes smoothly. Cant wait to give an exciting update,. If there is anyone else have a June bypass or even a recent one, Id love to have someone to compare war stories with. Also, anyone near San Antonio Tx? See ya soon with the future me. 💜
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    • LeighaTR

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    • Doughgurl

      Hey everyone. I'm new here so I thought I should introduce myself. I am 53y/o and am scheduled for Gastric Bypass on June 25th, 2025. I'm located in San Antonio, Texas. I will be having my surgery in Tiajuana Mexico. I've wanted this for years, but I always had insurance where bariatric procedures were excluded. Finally I am able to afford to pay out of pocket.  I can't wait to get started, and I hope I'm prepared for the initial period of "hell". I know what I have signed up for, but I'm sure the good to come will out way the temporary period of discomfort and feelings of regret. I'd love to find people to talk to who have been through the same procedure or experience before. So I look forward to meeting you all. Hope you have a great week!
      · 2 replies
      1. Selina333

        I'm so happy for you! You are about to change your life. I was so glad to get the sleeve done in Dec. I didn't have feelings of regret overall. And I'm down almost 60 lbs. I do feel a little sad at restaurants. I can barely eat half a kid's meal. I get adults meals often because kid ones don't have the same offerings at times. Then I feel obligated to eat on that until it's gone and that can be days. So the restaurant thing isn't great for me. All the rest is fine by me! I love feeling full with very little. I do wish I could drink when eating. And will sip at the end. Just a strong habit to stop. But I'm working on it! You will do fine! Just keep focused on your desire to be different. Not better or worse. But different. I am happy both ways but my low back doesn't like me that heavy. So I listened (also my feet!). LOL! Update us on your journey! I'm not far from you. I'm in Houston. Good luck and I hope it all goes smoothly! Would love to see pics of the town you go to for this. I've never been there. Neat you will be traveling for this! Enjoy the journey. Take it one day at a time. Sometimes a few hours at a time. Follow all recommendations as best you can. 💗

      2. Doughgurl

        Thank you so much for your well wishes. I am hoping that everything goes easy for me as well. We don't eat out much as it is, so it wont be too bad in that department. Thankfully. Also, I hear you regarding your back and feet!! I'd like to add knees to the list. Killing me as we speak! I'm only 5' so the weight has to go. Too short to carry all this weight. Menopause really did a doosey on me. (😶lol) My daughter also lives in Houston. with her Husband and my 5 grand-littles. I grew up in Beaumont, so I know Houston well, I will be sure to keep in touch and update you on my journey. I may need some advice in the future, or just motivation. Thank You so much for reaching out, I was hoping to connect with someone in the community. I really appreciate it. 💜

    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. LeighaTR

        I hope your surgery on Wednesday goes well. You will be able to do all sorts of new things as you find your new normal after surgery. I don't know this from experience yet, but I am seeing a lot of positive things from people who have had it done. Best of luck!

    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

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