Newbie: First Appt. Date at Mass General in April

Hi Jeana, Fortunately I don't have Mass Health. I'm on disability and have Medicare/Medicaid and private disability insurance through MIT, which is basically a BC/BS plan. It's my understanding that Medicare no longer requires weight loss or documentation of your weight loss history, having decided that people who are seeking weight loss surgery have obviously tried to lose weight in the past. I think they just require 4 weeks now, which is reasonable and fairly necessary to minimize abdominal fat and demonstrate compliance. Since you have to be waitlisted for surgery anyway, that's not much of a burden. I have a close girlfriend who had a RNY with Dr. Randall. She had Mass Health and had to do the 6 months of dieting. I felt so bad for her. I think it's a fairly silly requirement. People don't become morbidly obese and seek out painful, life-altering surgery without having tried dieting first. Have they read the statistics on successful weight loss through dieting? I do have one question. Once you have your consultation, or have your surgery set up, do they put you on a specific diet plan? I've heard some people mention having to do liquid fasts before surgery. Is that what you have to do? TraZey

Sorry Tracy, I haven't received anything about the required diets before surgery. My pre-op and Nut group meeting is scheduled for this Thursday so I'll try to fill you in on anything I find out. Good Luck w/your upcoming appt.! Jeana BTW, I think every surgeon's requirements are different, so whatever I get might not necessarily be what you get. Hope this helps.

Hi Tracey, I am working with mgh as well. My surgeon is Dr Hutter. I presented myself as is, flaws on the table and ok the only place for me to go is healthier! So I am ready...I am working on my 6 month program for insurance. They have submitted the paperwork for me, in hopes that I can get approval and a date. They told me last week that they are scheduling now for July. Thats fine with me, I will take any date I can get. I am ready! I went for the sleep study. They have moved to a new building now, they are in the holiday inn, which they say is more comfortable. I am having my second sleep study on March 2nd. It is not too bad, I don't like the wires and goop all in my hair, but I was surprised that I do have sleep apnea! We'll be trying a cpap next. It seems to take a long time to get into the first appointment, but then it rolls easily from there. The surgeons coordinators are awesome. They coordinate as much on the same day as they can. I have called the nutritionist and she called me back within an hour to answer my question. that gives me comfort, knowing that I can call and get answers. I have never had a problem with anyone calling me back. they really are good. I don't know what would keep someone from having the surgery, I believe that if there was something that was disqualifying, they would work with you on it. They worked with me on binge eating. (wow first time I have ever typed this!!) I look forward to sharing this journey with you, as your story sounds very much like mine. BMI to the over 300...plus having good Mom support. take care!! StellaMichelle

It does sound like we have a lot in common. Good luck with the second sleep study. I love my CPAP machine. Some people have a little trouble adjusting to it at first. I took to it like a fish to water. I think a lot may depend on your attitude. Just remember it's there to make you feel better. The only problem I had was some skin sensitivity issues and irritation, so I had to alternate masks to allow the irritation to heal. I don't have any problems with that now. My skin just seems to have adjusted to it and I can wear just the nasal pillow mask now with no problem. You get used to it, though it will seem weird at first. So about the surgery, it seems everyone I have talked to has Dr. Hutter. I guess he's the LapBand guy, and will probably be my surgeon as well, unless they have more than one, but he's the only one people are mentioning. I'm so anxious to get the ball rolling. I'm bummed that I have to wait for than a month longer for my 1st appointment. The time can't go fast enough for me. I was just corresponding with a woman whose blog I read, and she had her first fill this week. She went from being able to eat most of a pizza, to being full after 2 bites of mashed potato. And that's after only a 1cc fill! I think that is so awesome. And she lost 17 pounds before she even got her 1st fill. I can't wait to experience that. Can you tell I'm excited about this? LOL. TraZey

Hi, Any update on the surgery?  Did you get approval?  I'm having my surgery on July 9th.  Very excited!