Newbie

sashahanrahan

Hi everyone.

I've decided to have wls as I have struggled for over 25 years with my weight. I just made the decision last Wednesday to do it. I watched the online seminar from my provider and made the call today to schedule my initial consultation. I'm excited AND scared. Eager to have a little extra push in this life long battle. I'm currently at 273lbs and would like to be 120-130. Can you share w/ me the time frame of the surgery/consult process? What was the length of time between your initial consult and the actual surgery?

My husband is slowly coming around, but is really stressed about the financial burden this surgery will place on our family. We will have to private pay for the procedure. Has this caused marital discord in any of your relationships?

I look forward to hearing your stories and hearing your advice.
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Sasha

Agate69

I was a private pay and it was the best money ever spent.

Congorob

k to answer your ? my initial consult was May 1 and due to the insurance 3 month waiting period and the surgeon spending his vacation in Africa my surgery will be August 27 and I am really excited I started my pre op phase this morning and did Awesome today. I had a shake for breakfast a grilled chicken sandwich, asparagus and 1 pierogi for lunch and then another shake for dinner and went to the gym this morning and rode the bike for 90 minutes and then did the treadmill for 50 min. I have also added a cup of dieters tea in the evening before bed. I am looking forward to my new life free from insulin.

sashahanrahan

Thank you both for your feedback.

kvandeman

I had insurance pay for my surgery. But still had to pay for some stuff out of pocket. Those expenses totaled $2-3k. I had my initial consultation on Valentines Day and had surgery (RNY) on 7/16. It has been worth it so far. There are a few gripes but nothing that I can't live with. Good for you for making the decision.

Agate69

k to answer your ? my initial consult was May 1 and due to the insurance 3 month waiting period and the surgeon spending his vacation in Africa my surgery will be August 27 and I am really excited I started my pre op phase this morning and did Awesome today. I had a shake for breakfast a grilled chicken sandwich, asparagus and 1 pierogi for lunch and then another shake for dinner and went to the gym this morning and rode the bike for 90 minutes and then did the treadmill for 50 min. I have also added a cup of dieters tea in the evening before bed. I am looking forward to my new life free from insulin.

Sounds like a normal day for me, except, I needway more protein in a day and way fewer bread carbs, and fat! Welcome to the real working towards the new you.

Not only did my Diabetes go into total remission, my sleep apnea is cured, blood pressure nearly normal, and bad knees, now let me run!

sue100194

I made the decision last February and I still don't have a surgery date. By the time I went to a seminar, then applied to the insurance company, completed their requirements and had my first visit with the surgeon, it was 4 months. Then I started making appointments for all the pre-op consults and completed those so that was another 8 weeks. Then I got diverticulitis which may have been the result of becoming constipated due to the changes I made in my diet, so now I need a colonoscopy and also need more time to recover from the diverticulities. And then Fall will be here and I'm in grad school so really can't proceed until the end of Fall quarter so am looking at December. I had NO idea it would take so long to do this. I started out thinking it might take 3 months to get to the point of surgery but that was way too optimistic. Now I'd just like to get it done this year as I've just about met my insurance out-of-pocket maximum for the year. Hang in there and just consider it all as part of the journey.

fatfudgery

Has this caused marital discord in any of your relationships?

That really sucks about your insurance company not covering your surgery! This whole process already puts enough pressure on couples; I can't imagine having to deal with the huge financial hit on top of everything. My buddy who had surgery the same day as me (a little over a year ago) just got divorced from his wife, and I've heard plenty of other stories of people's marriages suffering after bariatric surgery... Please don't ignore your husband's concerns, talk things out with him, try to be as understanding as possible and maybe even consider counseling if things get rough enough.

FWIW, my wife and I are still together and our marriage is as strong as ever, so it's not like we're all doomed. She went in for surgery herself back in February and has been doing well. :-)

Best of luck to you!

Agate69

Yes it puts stress on many relationships. I've lost a couple of girlfriends since surgery, mostly cause I am " no longer fun to go out with". Translation, I really do not go out to pig out with food. Funny at 300 pounds I never realized that our GNO revolved around eating and drinking. Too much. I never did drink much, but eat anything and everything! He'll yes! On the bright side, I have gained better friends, met through support groups. I now go out for "good food, not quantity".

As far as marital discord, I was lucky, DH supported me 100% and still does! My Surgery changed his life, he lost some weight(needed). He looked at the $$$ as if we needed a new car and we budgeted it into our life. Cost really was not terrible, as we worked with surgeon and hospital and by pre paying a little each month prior to surgery, it was possible. We have good health insurance, but just not for bariatric surgery as a retiree and I am too young for Medicare.

Changing our eating and dining out style almost cut our food and entertainment budget in half or more. LOL. Now I only by lean meat, and green veggies and some fruit. We do a lot more fishing, gardening, canning and home baking and cooking. Non nutritious food is expensive

fatfudgery

Changing our eating and dining out style almost cut our food and entertainment budget in half or more.

This really surprised me, too! Between not going out as much and not needing to buy as many groceries, we're probably spending somewhere between a quarter to a third of what we would spend on food prior to surgery! It's been an undeniable, black-and-white look into the amount of food we were eating.

sashahanrahan

Well, I went to my initial consult. It was quite overwhelming. If I do everything on the checklist, I can have the surgery the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. I was able to squeeze in appointments with the nutritionist and exercise physiologist too. The doctor really emphasized the magnitude of the surgery and said I sounded like a better candidate for gastric bypass rather than the sleeve. Since the bypass is 20k and the sleeve is only 10k I told him the gastric bypass isn't an option since we are self pay. He just warned me that I had a 50/50 chance of keeping the weight off since I'm a self described sweet lover. 10k is a lot to risk on a 50/50 chance!! The exercise physiologist was nice and gave me some goals...30-35 minutes of moderate exercise 4 days a week and stretching 7 days a week. The nutritionist frankly freaked me out. No more starches. She gave me a strict diet to follow....no starches, no fruit....no carbonated or caffeinated beverages. Only lean proteins and non-starchy vegetables. Oh, and I have to start a pro-biotic. How do they expect me to stick to that when I'm sitting here looking at wls surgery as my last resort? I started today and I did great, but as I type I'm wanting to go find a snack. Ugh. I have to lose 13lbs before the surgery date. Really starting to wonder if this is going to be right for me.

rubisliprz

Hi,
When I started with the pre-surgery phase I was also a bit overwhelmed with the needed discipline, and my track record of past failures. But I ended up taking each appointment seriously, learning, trying, and changing decisions the majority of the time. I got rid of 20 pounds prior to the surgery, and am now 3 weeks post-op and continuing to lose (but faster now!)
Do the thoughtful work on your habits, emotions, and what you really want to change. Whatever you decide, the process will be valuable.
Wishing you the best.