My surgery update
If anyone is considering Dr. Houston or Centennial, they get my vote. I think you will be in good hands with them.
**** I AM AN OH SUPPORT GROUP LEADER ****
WHY I CHOSE DS: No dumping. Highest percentage of weight loss, Best long term results, Won't regain weight! Eat normal sized meals, 96% diabeties, 90% high blood pressure, 80% sleep apnea cured. I 
MY DS!
My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four unless there were three other people. ~Orson Wells
Once Dr. Houston received all my paperwork from my previous surgeon (read my blog), they IMMEDIATELY faxed it. They sent it to Cigna around 8:30 am and I had an approval by 11:00 am same day. I had been dealing w/ Cigna w/ some issues on our state of GA insurance, so they already were familiiar with me. Still a 3 hour approval was quicker than I expected.
I made sure to dot all my i's and cross all my t's. Look carefully at the pre-approval requirements and DOCUMENT EVERYTHING. Don't trust anyone to explain it to you. Get it in writing and see for yourself! Your requirements may be different from mine. Some of the requirements maybe dictated from your employer. Mine were slightly more than the Cigna standard requirements.
Ask Cigna to assign a personal case manager to you. I think it helped speed my stuff up. They will likely not know what a case manager is when you call the 800#, but be persistant until you get to the right department. You may need to ask for a supervisor.
My case manager Geneva has been great. She even called me when I was in the hospital to check on me. She called every week or so pre-op to see if I needed help with paperwork or anything which was a godsend in a couple of instances where I had run into roadblocks. She also helped point me to health resources and even some finanial savings Cigna offered for taking tests and getting medical exams and stuff. This is a hidden Cigna service many people don't know to ask for.
I didn't have any major problems with the surgery itself. The 1st 2 days post op are a blur. I was thinking, so this is what Humpty Dumpty must have felt like after the fall. The surgery was no joke, but the pain meds made it bearable. By the time they took all those tubes out on the 3rd day I felt good as new. I did have an elevated temp a couple of times. It only went up to 100, and the nurse said it was normal with any surgery and not to worry. I just tried really hard to get in liquids and use the spirometer.
Dr. H. his office staf, and the nurses at Centennial are top shelf standard. You can't go wrong. I know Dr. H. is new to DS, but keep in mind he has done a lot of other wls surgeries. I felt so good when Michelle one of the nurses told me I made a good choice. She said they all use him for their own non wls surgeries because he is so good. When your colleagues use you and they see your work 1st hand, there is no better compliment!
The customer service lady at Cigna also reccomended Centennial. She said it's one of the best hospitals in the area. She made me feel really good about my choice.
I am sorry you can't have the DS. I am naturally biased in favor of the DS, otherwise I wouldn't have chosen it for myself. My 2nd choise was lapband or Realize. I think ANY wls is better than none. Weigh YOUR options and see what is best for YOU. Research, Research Research! Be grateful your insurance will even cover wls at all. SO many people out there cant get this and need it. I am glad you at least have a chance.
Please add me to your friends list and keep in touch.
**** I AM AN OH SUPPORT GROUP LEADER ****
WHY I CHOSE DS: No dumping. Highest percentage of weight loss, Best long term results, Won't regain weight! Eat normal sized meals, 96% diabeties, 90% high blood pressure, 80% sleep apnea cured. I MY DS!
My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four unless there were three other people. ~Orson Wells
The long term results will tell us whether my theory is true. I guess I am sort of a guinea pig for him, since he has went w/ smaller sleeves with his other DSers.
I have already lost over 10 lbs in less than a week, so I guess it's working. I guess my weight loss may be less long term, but I would take an extra 20-30 pounds over being malnourished any day. As long as I get to a healthier weight I am cool with it.
**** I AM AN OH SUPPORT GROUP LEADER ****
WHY I CHOSE DS: No dumping. Highest percentage of weight loss, Best long term results, Won't regain weight! Eat normal sized meals, 96% diabeties, 90% high blood pressure, 80% sleep apnea cured. I MY DS!
My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four unless there were three other people. ~Orson Wells
**** I AM AN OH SUPPORT GROUP LEADER ****
WHY I CHOSE DS: No dumping. Highest percentage of weight loss, Best long term results, Won't regain weight! Eat normal sized meals, 96% diabeties, 90% high blood pressure, 80% sleep apnea cured. I MY DS!
My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four unless there were three other people. ~Orson Wells
I think Ronda has a 38 bougie and 125 CC and I have a 34 bougie and 100 CC. I have had no issues with getting in my fluids or proteins. Now that being said I have to eat every two-three hours to make sure I get 100gms of protein a day but I had one of the easiest recoveries and have not a complaint un the world about my DS. I actually love it - I have a good amount of restriction and what that does not catch my CC does. I also do not have issues with BM or gas either incase you were wondering.
Please keep us updated on your status and how things are going and fasten your seatbelt the DS ride has begun.
480/435/180/230
HW/SW/CW/GW
Currently Looking into Plastics with Dr. Carden (in Mexico)
**** I AM AN OH SUPPORT GROUP LEADER ****
WHY I CHOSE DS: No dumping. Highest percentage of weight loss, Best long term results, Won't regain weight! Eat normal sized meals, 96% diabeties, 90% high blood pressure, 80% sleep apnea cured. I MY DS!
My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four unless there were three other people. ~Orson Wells
I was only a few pounds off from not being approved, since I did the pre-op diet. I had to cheat on the diet to keep my weight up, but still appear to be trying to comply.
Be grateful for your wls and don't look back at the other choices with regrets.
**** I AM AN OH SUPPORT GROUP LEADER ****
WHY I CHOSE DS: No dumping. Highest percentage of weight loss, Best long term results, Won't regain weight! Eat normal sized meals, 96% diabeties, 90% high blood pressure, 80% sleep apnea cured. I MY DS!
My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four unless there were three other people. ~Orson Wells
