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Heather from MN

hsj

By hsj, in Tell Your Weight Loss Surgery Story

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hsj    0

hsj
Posted

My name is Heather, I am a mother of 4 from MN. Just have my first Surgical Consult yesterday for the Adjustable LapBand. I have struggled with my weight all my teen and adult life. My husband introduced me to the idea of a Forum, I have never done this. I am also a nurse, working in Long term care and with Hospice patients. Sure seems like a lot of doctoring for the approval of the procedure. I am both nervous and excited about this whole idea of surgery.

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Ale78    0

Ale78
Posted

Hi Heather,

I am from MN as well...Just had the surgery. There are a lot of appointments that you go to but they try to make everything as painless as possible.

What hospital are you going through? If you have any questions throughout the process please feel free to send me a message!

Good Luck!

~A

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hsj    0

hsj
Posted

Thank You. I am going through Unity Hosp in Fridley. How big a process did you have to go through to get insurance approval?

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Ale78    0

Ale78
Posted

Well I went through the Park Nicollet/Methodist Hosp. I did all of the things they required. It took a little over two months to get all the appointments done. I am not sure what of all of that is required by most insurance companies but I had a feeling a lot of it is done for that reason.

I have BCBS of MA. Once my packet of info was sent to them it took only a couple of days to get approved.

then a few short weeks after that i had my surgery :wink:)

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hsj    0

hsj
Posted

Thanks for the information. I have Medica. I have a Nurse Clinician appt, Dietician, sleep Study and Psych appt all this month. A Medica Rep. stated it would take them up to 4 weeks to approve once the Surgeon writes a recommendation. Yesterday I met with the Surgeon for the first time. Lots of thoughts raced through my head. Part being, how I let myself get to where I am now. Did you go through that? If you don't mind sharing, what was your thoughts. I am so looking forward to setting up a weight ticker like I see the others post. That is so cool!

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Ale78    0

Ale78
Posted

Heather...

I am sure we all have had doubts about why we are doing this. I actually started a mostly liquid diet before I was required to and stopped snacking. So I was thinking for about 5 seconds, I can totally do this on my own! But then I remembered, I HAVE done this. I lost 80lbs on my own but then it all came back plus some.

My hopes for the lap band is that it will be a tool that I can use long term. I don't ever want to be this big again. I feel a bit like I let myself down but now I am working on it.

You will go through every emotion you have at least twice :wink:) I was pretty mellow about the whole thing and didn't think I would freak out the day before like some other people had done but I did. Why am I doing this and all the what ifs. It was a stressful day to say the least and now 4 days out that day doesn't matter. I am on a journey to a new and improved me :thumbup:)

My insurance company said it could take 4 to 6 weeks for approval and it took 4 days. So I would say that the four weeks is a max time it would take.

Good luck Heather...Keep me posted!

~A

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Go To Topic Listing Tell Your Weight Loss Surgery Story

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    • Alisa_S

      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.
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
    • Alisa_S

      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

        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.

    • CaseyP1011

      CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
    • KimBaxleyWilson

      KimBaxleyWilson

      Three months and four days ago... I was in Costa Rica having a life changing surgery! Yesterday we had a followup visit with Dr. Esmeral via video chat and this morning my middle number changed.  I'm down 47lbs and two pants sizes. I can wear a Large tshirt for the first time in like... 14 years! Woot!! Everything is going great. I have zero regrets. I went down to the riverwalk with a friend and walked 2 miles on Monday without even getting fatigued. And no more snoring or chugging pickle juice for crazy leg cramps! I need to go to the gym more... I'm making new shirts next week so that will motivate me. LOL But I'm also just not as TIRED all the time! I have a LONG way to go...but seeing the progress on the scales and in the mirror is a huge motivator!! Thank you all for cheering me on and supporting me!!
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
    • bellaamey

      bellaamey

      https://alluniqueguide.com/java-burn-coffee-reviews/
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.

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