Pre-surgery...still

Good day everyone,

Still waiting for a surgery date. I know I still have my May and June dietitian appointments and 13 lbs to loose, but I just want to have a date. I want to be able to start planning things, let work know, plan my summer that sort of thing. I am a bit type A and work is already posting the ON call schedule until August. I want to get this show on the road LOL. So bummed I'm still so far from my pre surgery requirement. 313 shouldn't be that hard to get too. I got really frustrated at my last dietitian appointment, but she said I wasn't the only one in this boat. So they suggested I use the two week pre surgery diet to jump start my weight loss. I have some plant protein based meal replacement mix coming soon (slight lactose allergy-itchy throat, lips swell a smidge.) Ensure high protein doesn't seem to bother me, but it's a little bit higher in carbs :(

Any body else have issues getting their surgery scheduled d/t slow weight loss? I know I'm not the only one, but it just feels like it. My friends and coworkers mainly went through this one surgeon and he was a little more flexible when it came to meeting requirements pre surgery. Very few had a weight loss requirement. My surgeon is very particular, which I think is a good thing. He wants my liver to shrink some before surgery. He has an amazing record and all the surgery nurses comment on his skill, but this is such a stressful process. I like a more in stone time frame lol

While I didn't have a weight requirement, the program I attended had a rule that we couldn't have a "net weight gain" or risk getting kicked out of the program. My surgery date was based on when I completed all of my clearances. The program wanted to make sure everything the insurance providers asked of was complete before sending it for insurance approval. To limit the chance of them denying me. My insurance required I needed three 1on1 nutrition classes spaced 1 month apart each. So i knew it was going to be at least 3 months before a surgery date. In that 3 months I needed to get clearance from 4 other doctors and I was on top of going to all of those appointments with all those specialists but it was a pain in the butt trying to get them to send over the written clearance to my weight loss surgery program. On my last nutrition class, My dietician told me that I still needed clearance from 1 doctor..So she just made another nutrition appointment to give me more time. So I had a extra month. I was kind of bummed out but I just looked at it as me having more time to shrink my liver. Which As you know is extremely important. I know the wait can be frustrating but once you get that date it fly's by!

Wow I did not have the same experience

i went to a seminar my doctor does every month that is open to anyone interested in wls so u could learn more about different options

I called his office the next day saw him for a consultation and I walked out with a surgery date .... I had a list of things I had to do such as getting approved by my insurance company, meet with the nutritionist, cardiologist, complete sleep study, pulmonologist testing, and psych exam

I gave my self 6 months to get everything done and my surgery was moved back a month due to my blood pressure being high and I finally addressed it after I went to the cardiologist. I'm not sure if things are done different by my wls doctor I had my surgery in 2012

While your waiting for your date start making changes in your food intake and look into exercising

it could be waking or doing something that gets you moving

try not to buy too much protein shakes my taste has changed tremendously since my surgery in 2012, I hate milk and extremely cold food

I gradually cut out junk food and carb loaded food. Ensure isn't a good protein supplement due to the carbs

i lost 40 pounds in 6 months before my surgery

I think ppl really need to work at least 3-5 months of good food intake before wls

i still go off track but not often usually for my family for bdays and 3 holidays

i skip the office parties which is loaded with carbs and I rarely eat out and if I do I gravitate to healthy veggies or salads minus the dressing and croutons

i wish u luck on getting a date

I meant to say ppl need to work at making serious food intake choices 3-5 months before surgery

i just realized what I typed

Yes, I am defiantly working with the dietician. I eat a lot of salads now. I am hoping since the weather is nice it'll help. I've been working in my flowers. I've been moving mulch and doing a lot of squatting lol. I can totally feel it today! I'm hopefully, just get frustrated sometimes. This is a very big life change. Lots of emotions. I appreciate everyone's kind words of encouragement.

Your date will come quick

that's good you have found ways to make changes before the wls

FYI, salad is not a great choice if you're trying to acclimate to a post-op diet. Your best bet is to eat lots of lean, dense protein. Lettuce just takes up precious room in your sleeve/pouch without any protein! So stick to high protein as practice :)

There is nothing at all wrong with eating salads now, or post op - it is a good way to get into good dietary habits for the long term. You may interrupt that for a while early on when your diet is transitioning and you can't eat much, but it is much better to revert to the habit of having salads than going back to junk food. I started back on salads after about a month - granted they were small and did have some meat and cheese in them, but it was a start. And, as we progress, our eating volume increases over the months and years, and filling out that added capacity with high bulk, high nutrition low calorie veg is a great way to help with long term weight control.

I was blessed. Neither my clinic nor my insurance required a specific weight loss goal. I was told after I gained 5 lbs between my initial appointment and my official first appt with the nutritionist that I could not gain any weight or insurance would deny me. I gained then because I was binge eating due to a lot of stress. It had to complete the medically supervised diet, etc and see all the "ologists" cardiologist, pulmonologist, etc The only "ologist" I think I didn't see was the gynecologist. However, my surgery couldn't be scheduled until after all the requirements were met and the surgery was approved by insurance. Fortunately, that was pretty quick and once approved, it was 3 weeks from approval to surgery. I doubt you'll be able to plan more. Most offices will not approve until after insurance approval unless you are self-pay. Is the weight loss an insurance requirement or your clinic's requirement?