One down ...6 to go..

Today was my first appointment with the nut for my 6 month medically supervised diet. She was very nice, and the plan we have seems doable...but I have to keep a food diary for 6 MONTHS!!!!  I have to bring them to every appointment so she can keep copies for my insurance.  Has anyone else had to do this??? Well, I know I can stay on a food plan when I write down what I am eating. If I want to get insurance approval... I guess I can do this Helen

Hi, Helen - Isn't that just a pain!?!  I had to go through a 6 month program where I saw my PCP monthly and met with a nut as well.  However, i just had to meet with the nut twice.  I did have to log all my food and exercise - but only for about 2-3 months while I was meeting with the nut.  I have to be honest, it didn't really help me!!  But it is what the insurance required so I jumped through the hoops!  I didn't really know if the insurance company wanted to see me fail at that in order to approve surgery or if I needed to succeed...  It's so hard to know what they are looking for!  But I got through it, got approved and had my surgery on December 6! Hang in there - you can do this!!!  You'll be surprised at how quickly the 6 months will go - especially in hindsight!!  Take care...

P.S.  I just looked at your blog and wanted to comment about your copay for surgery...  Check with your insurance company, but most of them also have an "out of pocket maximum" for the year.  My insurance had a copay for the hospital and then I had to pay 20% of the bill.  But once my out of pocket max was reached, I didn't have to pay any more - even though the 20% was much more than that...  Just thought I'd mention it.

Nancy, Thank you for your encouragement... I actually asked the question to my nut... am I suppose to fail at this diet... she laughed and said no... but if I could lose a little weight it will be better for me when I have the surgery. Re:  Insurance maximum... I got good new last week... our $15,000 max is for the Hospital charges only... so now I am hoping to have RNY instead of Lap band.  I am hoping that Premara has a maximum they will pay for the hospital charges and my $3000 that I have in my medical reimbursement will cover most of my out of pocket costs. This is the first year that the hospital I work for covered WSL. Helen

Hi Helen! ugh...insurance! I have a few choice words about them!hehehe. I had to do the six months thing, so I joined weigh****chers. I didn't have to see a nutritionist at that time, just my pcp once a month to "weigh-in" (which still cracks me up because my pcp's scale didn't even go up to my weight, so they just wrote down whatever weight I told them I was!) I did however have to write down a food journal, but luckily it was only for a week or two before I first met with my nutritionist. I found a great little journal at Barnes & Noble that I carried around with me in my purse. It has a couple of before and after sections, and helped me keep track of all of my food. There's even a part for water to make sure you're getting enough in! I still occasionally use it now, if I know I'll be away from the computer. Otherwise I use www.fitday.com on a daily basis to keep track of my food/protein/water intake.  I think it's a good habit to get into now, because it's really important to keep track of what you're putting into your mouth later. Good Luck!

Hey there.  Seems like a lot of ins want the 6 month diet.  You can do it!!  sounds like you ins co-pays will be manageable to.  Good luck.

Last year was the first year my insurance (Uniform Medical) would cover WLS and then only RNY.  We also had a choice of only two hospitals, Virginia Mason or the UW.  You did have to do a 6 month diet and talk via phone frequently with a consulting nurse for the insurance company.  Food diaries and exercise logs had to be faxed to her on a regular basis including what your weight was (weigh ins were weekly at home).  I had to lose 30 lbs before surgery and had to have at least 3 comorbidities that could not be fully corrected by the usual accepted treatments.  Unfortunatly, those requirements leave out a lot of people who would benefit from WLS.

No guessing, Helen.  You CAN do this!  Have you checked out sparkpeople.com and fitday.com?  You can print your reports and have some great tools to help you stay on track. I wish you the best on your journey. Lori

good luck Helen, you CAN do this, When I first started I thought 6 mos. was an eternity but Now I'm down to hopefully having my surgery in March. and if you have any ????? I'm sure someone on here will have the answer.

Thank you everyone for your encourment... if I REALLY want this surgery.... I WILL write down what I eat!!  I am trying out fitday.com today.  Is there an easy way to print the food diary... or should I spend the $20 and get the PC version.

Also... I am calling Premera tomorrow to find out the "rules" of this 6 month diet thing.  I am worried that  since I had my appointment early in the month... and I may need to see the nut every 30 days... I may have 2 appointments in the same month.  It's my employer that is requiring this... so I may have some lee way. .5 days down.... 182 to go!! BTW... since I can eat what I normally have been eating (I get to do this for 3 days), I am surprise how many calories I am eating everyday... No wonder I am size I am!

Helen