What to expect next?

Good Afternoon Everyone!
I have finally gotten the initial testing done (bloodwork, cardio clearance, endioscopy and psych eval) and I meet with my surgeon on Monday. Can anyone tell me what to expect next? I'm thinking insurance approval. I'm hoping to get a surgery date. I'm a little worried I will have more hoops to jump. I guess to be fair I've only been in the process for a month. What was your experience like ? Thanks for anything you can tell me!

That is how mine went.... After I got through the testing, I got approval and then a date!  I was lucky that the process was pretty quick and effortless.  I think I started the planning in  August 2006 and had my surgery in November 2006.  I hope you are just as lucky and get a date soon.  Wishing you much luck and success on your journey!

 

HUGS,

 

That all depends on your insurance company.  Sounds like you have everything except the 6 month physician supervised diet, if that is something that your ins. co even requires.

Good luck,

Edie

Usually, at the point at which you meet your surgeon, the surgery is scheduled. I did not need a 6 mo. supervised diet.
I'm also from Michigan. Where are you having your surgery done?

I am having my surgery at Harper Hospital. Which insurance did you have? My surgeon submitted to my insurance company yesterday. They claim it only takes a couple days to a week (we'll see, I have Blue Care Network). Then he said he will schedule surgery 2 or 3 weeks after that. Sounds too good to be true.

I had BC/BS also. I think I was approved in 2 days. I went to Henry Ford. That was the easy part. HFH made me do a sleep study, see a Psychiatrist, see their attending Physician, and a couple of extra appointments in there. Those appointments took me about 2 months to get through. Once I met with the surgeon, the surgery was 2 weeks after.

Good luck! Which surgery are you having?

I am having RNY. I went to my appointment and discussed the different surgeries with my doctors, then he went over all of my test results. Now I'm waiting for my approval. My surgeon said I should have the surgery in the next 2-3 weeks! I'm so excited!

Great, take the time to get ready for your return home. Get a supply of protein shakes, oatmeal, or malt-o-meal, applesauce and all that good stuff. Kroger has a yogurt called Carbmaster, which had the same amount of protein as a lot of shakes, and it's a cheap. The best thing that my husband did for me was to get a sick bed kit together. He organized all my meds, band aids, tissues, pill splitter, chap stick and lotions in one shallow plastic tub that he left for me bedside. He even prepared pre-measured doses of my liquid pain killer, so that I would have everything at hand when I needed it. That made things so much easier.
He slept in a different room than me, but if I had owned a recliner, I would have definitely been using that. Your rear will get numb after a few days, because you won't be able to roll over while you sleep.
Good luck, I'm just ending my Family Med. Leave and will be returning to work on Monday.

Congrats on your recovery and back to work! Please let me know how you progress. I am thinking about all of the things I'll need. It's just soooo confusing depending on what you read. I haven't had much information from my doctor. I'm definitely going to study Pam's blogs they are filled with great information and beyond that I'm hoping my doctor will start giving some up 

Basically there are 5 phases to your diet.
Phase 1 is clear liquids. You'll be on that for a day or two.

Phase 2 is full liquids. 2 weeks more or less

Phase 3 is mushy food like oatmeal, mashed potatoes mixed with unflavored protein powder,
pureed tuna, cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, refried beans and chilis. 2-4 weeks

Phase 4: foods easily chewed like chicken stews, thinly sliced turkey from the deli, cheese sticks, protein bars, egg salad, eggs. That's were I am now. 2-4 weeks

Phase 5: Anything you can tolerate within reason.

The rule of thumb that was given to me is that your food should contain nor more than 3
grams of fat per 100 calories, and your total carb intake should be less than 30 grams per sitting.

Protein comes first at every meal, and if you have room, start on the complex carbs.

Good luck and write if you have questions.