Oh yes, it is a waiting game. BUT, you are still doing working towards the goal of having it done.

With me, as it seemed to drag on and on between this and that and jumping thru this hoop or that, it really made me more determined that this was what I was going and how hard I was going to have to work to get it.

Bluemajestic wrote: »

Thank you for sharing! I am not going to give up, I'm sticking with it. I don't even miss a lot of the junk food I used to eat; and I certainly don't miss the fried foods!

No problems

Wow you have had so many hoops to jump through and more to go. You are a woman of strength and perseverance. Insurance can be a bear. I hope the rest of the process goes smoothly and quickly for you.

I'm at the hurry up and wait stage too. I started my pre-op plan on June 6, have done 6 months of supervised weight loss, met the surgeon on Dec 8. The surgeon office finally got my paperwork in last week to the insurance, but now the insurance says we have potentially not met their 2 years insured by them process (which is bs because work just went to that insurance 1 year ago, so they have to contact the old work insurance). I had to see a psychologist, nutritionist and get a letter from a general practitioner. My 6 visits for the supervised loss were amazing though - and I'm down 115 lbs on their diet/exercise plan - so I'm so glad I did it. At this point I could have surgery as early as Jan 25 if insurance gets their act together this week... will probably wait till beginning of feb though so I can get in a few more days at work I already signed up for. What a roller coaster!

I went to my seminar in August of 2011 and actually met my surgeon. He was AMAZING and I was immediately impressed (and that's odd for me!) I started my dietitian visits in September of 2011, had to pay for those (they were with his dietitian on his team.) After the 3rd visit--November--I found out that the insurance I had (had been Texas Medicaid) was dropped and I was changed to something called Amerigroup of Texas, as an SSI Recipient. My doctor would accept it, but Amerigroup WOULD NOT pay for the surgery. I had traveled 300 miles 3 times for 3 dietitian visits, paid cash for them, only to find out it was a waste. Well, later in the week the surgeon's office called and told me how to submit for approval to the company for the surgery, so we continued with the dietitian visits. I completed them in February of 2012. Next step was the psychological exam. I had that a couple weeks later--another out of pocket expense, another 300 mile round trip. All went well, so I had a naso-gastric test scheduled with the surgeon to test for bacteria in the stomach area. Traveled 300 miles round trip for that--that test was AWFUL! That same day I was sent to the hospital for the pre-surgical workup, only to find out AFTER they did all the tests that my insurance company had not sent approval. Contacted doctor's office only to find out I had been DENIED. Because I was denied that hospital pre-admit stuff was not paid, so I had to cover that out of pocket! Surgeon's office resubmitted paperwork and again was denied. This time I received a letter telling me I wasn't approved because I "did not have the mental ability to understand the changes that I would need to make post surgery...." Turns out they never received my psych results. They also never received the paperwork from my sleep study, the paperwork from my endocrinologist (I'm a type I diabetic on an insulin pump.) In fact, they had only received 2 pages of the 173 pages my doctor's office faxed to them. So the office faxed it all AGAIN--all 173 pages. By this time, we are looking at mid July of 2012. I had begun my preop diet twice and had to stop because of denials. I was using MyFitnessPal and seeing some success with a medically supervised 800 calorie diet. I was STARVING! I had also given up on the idea of surgery. Well, early September of 2012 I get a call telling me that I need to come to the surgeon's office so they can take my picture and I need to go to the hospital for my pre-admit work up. I had been APPROVED. I certainly didn't expect it, and almost decided against it. In the end, obviously, I went through with it and had gastric bypass surgery on 9/27/2012. I have no regrets. It was crazy getting there. The stress was nuts. I don't think my phone and my television remote could handle being thrown any longer. Here I am, 3+ years later. One of the best decisions I ever made.

Great news, Congrats!!

That sucks, but really, it's going to get worse. There are a lot of hoops after surgery too and not just with doctors and insurance companies. The food hoops are pretty serious too. Best to get used to it now!

Honestly, I think you are viewing it incorrectly. It's an opportunity, not a waste of time.

Use this time to research. Learn your nutritional requirements. Learn how much to eat and when. Learn from other people's experiences, which you are doing here. Learn about exercise, safety. The last thing you want to do is tear an MCL from going too hard, too soon. Trust me.

Use this time to practice. Get used to eating the recommended 100 g of daily protein. Get rid of the carbs in your life. Get used to a 1600 Cal daily limit. Get used to tons of water. Break your caffeine/soda addiction, because they don't want you drinking acidic stuff until you are fully healed. It takes a long time to beat head hunter into submission. It takes a while to withdraw from caffein. Better to do it before the surgery. Get used to going for walks, often.

You have only 71 days til surgery. Use every bit of those to your advantage, and you will rock the hell out of it. Or don't, I'm just some guy from the internet...