Archives: February 2024
What to Do In Your Spare Time Before Bariatric Surgery
Unless you are paying out-of-pocket (cash pay) for your bariatric procedure and can get a surgery date soon, you may be at the mercy of your insurance company and their pre-authorizations for quite a while. Indeed, insurance patients are often subjected to upwards of six months of documentation to ensure their candidacy and suitability for bariatric surgery. Some of these preop requirements are necessary and revolve around patient health. Others have questionable value, but unfortunately, the rules are the rules.
Measuring Your Success the Right Way After Bariatric Surgery
We discuss qualification for bariatric surgery in terms of excess weight based on the body mass index, or BMI. Then, virtually every conversation regarding the successful failure of surgery revolves around (or at least includes) weight loss. But is this the best way to measure your success after a procedure? Or are there other metrics you should consider when you decide to evaluate your progress?
We all know the answer to the first question, which is, of course, there’s plenty more than just weight loss that we need to consider when deciding if we’ve succeeded in our postop bariatric journey. The marketing around bariatric surgery may not always suggest it, but the primary goal is to improve the comorbidities (diseases related to, or worsened by obesity) associated with excess weight versus the weight loss itself. So, with that, let’s dive into what success looks like after bariatric surgery and when you should be satisfied.