hadouni

I don't have the support of my primary care physician... he doesn't "believe" in WLS and put me on welbutrin which was great for about 4 months. He begrudgingly agreed six months later that WLS might be the best option for me but when I asked for my most recent labs and a letter of support, all I got was the copy of the labs. Condescending beanpole jerk!! =) I have Anthem Blue Cross PPO and there is only one place anywhere near me, fortunately, it's the one I wanted to go to in the end. You might call the surgeon's office and ask their insurance billing person to run your insurance info. If they do that for you they can find out quickly if your insurance will work for their group. That's how I found out that the place I'd been sent to by my insurance wasn't covered by my insurance... I was sitting with their insurance billing person. It's frustrating to sit through a seminar, like a group and then find out you can't go there... just a thought! Headed to my psych eval tomorrow morning! THAT should be eye-opening!

Hello - We're in the same boat. I'm 40 with a 3yr old son. I've been dieting since I was 9 years old and can usually loose 10-15lbs, then plateau, loose the willpower to keep struggling without results and gain it all back plus some! I'm 100-120lbs overweight. I'm trying to decide between VS and GB. Surgeon said it's up to me. He mentioned they have more historical data about GB success rates and that it seems GB might be a little more effective long-term keeping the weight off but he stressed it was all about how committed the patient is. If I wasn't a sugar junkie, I would have no doubt that the sleeve is the procedure for me. However, I have a mouthful of sweet teeth and I'm worried that I won't be able to give up the sweets if something like dumping isn't keeping me honest. My mom and aunt have both had GB. I think my mom lost about 110lbs at her max but gained as much as 60lbs of it back before getting herself back on track. She's probably around 60lbs below her start weight today, but this is almost 20 years out. Her lowest weight was at a time of extreme stress/unhappiness too. My aunt has also gained some back from her lowest. I have my psych eval Friday and have an endoscopy scheduled for the end of the month. I hope to have surgery as early as possible in January. Oh- one thing that snagged me up along the way is my insurance only covers WLS at a very few select places in my area. You mentioned you found out your insurance covers surgery which I knew mine did as well, but it was a bit of a roller-coaster finding out exactly which Dr/Hospital I could go to for WLS. I went to a seminar at once place and then went back to my insurance with a questionnaire and my insurance told me I couldn't go to that place and gave me a list of three approved hospitals- one of which doesn't do bariatric surgery, another of which I was not a fan of the surgeon's. I went to a seminar at the third hospital and was seen by that group, only to find out my insurance doesn't cover that hospital/surgeon group! :/ A lengthy phone discussion with my insurance actually landed me back with the place that I wanted to go to but was originally told was not an option for me. I was happy to be back to the original place, but NOT happy to have lost a month of time and the cost of running around an hour in a different direction for nothing!

I've told a few close friends - one said go for it and the other said don't because she thinks WLS makes people unhealthy. I've told my mom and my cousin - mom's supportive (she's had GBS) and my cousin is disappointed I think (she's currently trying to get me to diet with her following a plan that would make me insane). I told my aunt and cousin (both have had GBS) but because they figured it out, not because I wanted to tell them. I haven't told anyone at work but am mulling over telling a work friend. I've talked to her quite a bit about my food issues - she's a beanpole - literally is probably 5'11" and might weight 120 soaking wet, wrapped in an equally wet towel. People are going to know something is up if one drops significant amounts of weight quickly so I figure I'll have to come to terms with it or make something up one of these days but for now denial is working just fine!

Right there with you!!! I'm terrified and as much as I WANT to NOT want to eat, I'm so afraid I'll never be free. My PCP had me take welbutrin for a while last year and I had about three months of feeling normal. For the first time I could actually take a step back from something my brain wanted and not eat it. Unfortunately, that only lasted about four months and then I started to feel really tired all the time and I became even less active... I'm off the welbutrin now but the anxiety is ramped up some.

Incredible and congratulations!

The group I'm with requires an endoscopy prior to surgery. I'm really nervous about it because I was a barfer in my late teens and early 20s and have a pretty strong gag reflex. I'm told they give you a strong sedative before they do it but I'm more afraid of this than I am of the surgery! I've had trouble with heartburn since I hit about 200lbs. I took prilosec in the late 90s for a short time and took something Rx for the last two months of my pregnancy in 2008. I manage now with pepcid AC (chewable) 4-5 days per week. I'd love to get rid of the heartburn but I want the fat gone more!

I had a similar comment from my primary care physician when I first told him I was considering bariatric surgery. I told him about my diet history (dieting since age 9), that my mom and her sister both had GBS and my entire family battles/battled obesity and he gave me the "eat less of fewer calorie foods and exercise more" speech and said I was likely obsessive compulsive and I walked out with a Rx for welbutrin. The welbutrin actually helped for 3 or 4 months but I went through a very stressful time at work and the food crazies won. One year and 16lbs or so more later and I'm back on track for bariatric surgery. I need to figure out if it's going to be sleeve or GBS. I prefer sleeve but I'm worried I won't loose as well as I would if I went with GBS. I'm really looking forward to the psych consult. The person who does the consults for the group I'm seeing has had sleeve himself so I'm really interested in his perspective as well as his thoughts on how crazy I am or am not... I so don't believe I'm obsessive compulsive!