Is there anything that has happened, that you wish you knew/to expect before your surgery?

Is there anything that has happened, that you wish you knew/to expect before your surgery? ( good things bad things )

Hoping to get an answer from my insurance company today! but, with it being so close to 5pm, I'm thinking I am not going to get anything today! So, I am hoping to see what others have come to expect or didn't expect, both good an bad from having surgery.

Not a whole lot happened post-op that I hadn't read about pre-op.

I paid close attention to anything my surgeon said, in the seminar, in the documents provided, to the discussions in the support, to the intake discussions. I went out of my way to find journals, studies, articles, message boards, books, magazine articles about WLS. I also accidentally learned a lot about radio station WLS in Chicago.

I talked with anyone willing to be grilled about WLS.

I basically beat WLS with a stic****il it had nothing left to give me.

I learned about complications both frequent and infrequent, then developed a plan for how I would deal with them, if such was in my power.

By time I got to my first one on one appointment with my Doc, I could answer his questions without pause. He tried to shock me with certain complications and I was able to tell him how I would deal with them. I also asked him how he would handle certain situations. It's good to show your Doc you have done your homework.

Go get something, insurance will disappoint you every time.

Good luck,

Tek

Great advice. This is what I have been trying to do, and am just preparing myself to the best of my ability.

I wanted my insurance to approve surgery sooner, but had to see the dietician monthly for 6 months and then surgery was scheduled 2 months after. I expected to have a weight loss goal prior to surgery, but I wasn't given any. I didn't have to join a support group because I'm in TOPS (take off pounds sensibly). The procedure I assume went great and my recovery has been better then I expected.

I just completed my 6 months a week-ish ago. Still haven't heard anything from them yet, I have attended 2 in person, before COVID and have attended support groups via online meetings since.

Thank you for your response! I want my insurance to approve sooner, too! lol

not really - but I did a lot of reading and joined this forum and others about a year before surgery, so between that and the pre-op classes at my clinic, I felt pretty well-prepared.

Thank you, Not quite a year on here, but as soon as I made the decision, I wanted to do SOMETHING and found this website. very thankful for everyone and their willingness to help! I know everyone is different, just trying to get as much info as I can!

I spent four years debating, talking to people who had the surgery, studying, and trying to do it without surgery. I really did not understand it until I went through it myself.

My insurance was CIGNA. They had a board that met once a month to discuss whether of not to approve surgeries. My request was not submitted in time for that month, so I had to wait until after the next monthly meeting. The lady from the insurance called me as soon as it was approved.

A few hours later the director of my surgical center called to let me know I was approved. I acted excited and did not tell her that I already knew. Does your insurance have a board that reviews claims? Did they tell you to expect an answer today? It took me about six weeks to get approval.

I too have Cigna. I was just told the surgeons office would call me once they received the details. I didn't take into consideration that others may have had different insurance carriers... and silly me, I should have. Many others said it took a week or two so I was assuming the same. Seems a lot of "what to expect" I didn't expect from the insurance company... haha

I didn't have any surprises myself, but judging from some of the questions I've seen on this board, I'd say the most frequent unexpected surprises for people are:

• Getting on the scale a day or two after surgery and discovering you have "gained" weight (it's really water weight from IV fluids and will go away)
• The weight loss stall that happens around week 3
• Still being "hungry" after surgery (not really hunger, but excess stomach acid - drink extra fluids)