Donegirl4life

Hello everyone,
My name is Tamika, and I am from Michigan. A little bit about me, I am 35, engaged to be married (8/20/16), work in information security, and have been on a weight loss journey most of my adolescent and adult life. I have normal cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar/A1C, and no heart issues. I do have polycystic ovarian syndrome, and suffered reproductive issues. I did lose about 100-200lbs on my own in spaces, but have been hovering between 275 and 368 for about ten years, with the last two years essentially at a stall in weight loss (most likely due to PCOS). I finally decided I need help through weight loss surgery. I was thinking of the sleeve originally, but may entertain the gastric bypass since my BMI is over 50.
I am in the beginning stages, my initial appointment is on Monday, January 17th with Beaumont Weight Control Center. I did the seminar on 1/7. I was told by my insurance company they will cover surgery and the 6 month requirement of a weight loss program is waived if the patient's BMI is over 50 (currently at 58). The requirements for Beaumont is to lose 5-10% preoperatively, do some medical tests. For those of you with a similar BMI, how long was the wait from initial appointment to surgery?
Thanks,

7 or 8 weeks. It only took that long because of summer vacations of various professionals delaying pre-op tests.

Hi tamika! I had to wait 90 days per my insurance plan from the initial consult to being submitted for approval. I had 3 NIT visits and a psych eval and that was it really. No sleep study, no X-rays...nothing. Originally, I didn't want to go that fast and had made up my mind that 6 months would be great, but in the end, 90 days felt like forever and I worked my butt off to lose weight pre op so that I would have a better outcome than at my starting weight of 429lbs. I was 386lbs on surgery day. The only requirement I had in regards to weight was not to have a net gain over the course of the 90 day program which of course I didn't.

Thank you all for responding. You all have done so well in your journey so far. I really appreciate your help!

I know!Hopefully we'll have surgery dates soon!

I'm getting married in October, I am feeling impatient also!!

Thanks. Puts everything in perspective. I'm really more anxious than discouraged. My insurance does not require me to do a 6 month Dr managed weight-loss program. I was not required to do a sleep eval. I'm going through Beaumont Troy.
So far I've had a pap smear, initial nurse practitioner intake , nutrition consultation and diet recommendations(1200 calorie all foods plan),and stress test. I was told I'll need to do a three week preop diet. I have a body composition and bone density test on 2/2. I meet with the doc on 2/16 and psych on 2/22.
Everything is moving relatively quick. I started with the seminar on 1/8. Maybe I'll have a date for March/April.
I'm getting married at the end of august in Key west. It's more impatience on my part.

Awesome! Congrats on the surgery date! How long was the process from initial appt to receiving a surgery date?

I wish you the best. I send positive, healing energies to you.

I'm also going to beaumont. Troy

I'm also going to beaumont. Troy

Looks like we may have a local support group!

I'm in Shelby Township. I'm in the pre-op stage if you're still interested.I'm a little farther apart in age at 35.

Looks like we may have a local support group!

Looks like we may have a local support group!

I'm in Shelby Township. I'm in the pre-op stage if you're still interested.I'm a little farther apart in age at 35.

Hi everyone,
I'm in the pre-op stage. I went to the seminar 1/7, initial appointment 1/18,and scheduled for the nutritionist, body mass composition, stress test, bone density scan, and pap smear. I am also scheduled for a follow up with the doctor and psych eval on 2/16.
The nurse practitioner said my Iron and Vitamin d levels were low, but all is perfect on everything else. I was diagnosed with PCOS at 21,but have not had blood sugar or cardiac issues. I will have to do a 3 week diet before surgery and supplement D/iron. Since my bmi is 55.7, my insurance does not require a 6 month program. Hopefully I will have a surgery date within 6-8 weeks. Good luck to you all!

My BMI was 51 when I started this process. The insurance company didn't expedite their process for me either. I was required to attend the initial seminar, have my initial meeting with surgeon/nutritionist/PT/psych before I could start my 13 wk fitness program. This was a minimum of 3x 30 min sessions for 13wks in coordination with the wellness center. During this time I also had to meet with my nutritionist 4x.
I was subject to a specific diet, nor did I have to lose a certain amount of weight. Matter of fact, I actually stayed the same weight as I was when I began my 13 wks. The different was my lean body mass increased by 12lbs.
All-in-all it took about 6 mos to complete everything once I attended the initial seminar.

My BMI is 51 and my insurance company does not require a supervised diet. I did my doctors visit, NUT and psych evaluation the week of Dec 2nd. approval came Dec 15th and my surgery was initially scheduled for Jan 20th

Thank you all for responding. You all have done so well in your journey so far. I really appreciate your help!

I had to do the six-month supervised diet, but I already had it out of the way before I started the program. I had my initial appt the second week of Jan (2015). I was told I could probably schedule my surgery in March, but I waited until June because I work in education (i.e., waited until school was out)

My BMI when starting was 55.6, but it didn't expedite anything, even with accompanying high blood pressure, fatty liver, and history of complex endometrial hyperplasia. It's awesome that your insurance does that. Mine still required the 3 month supervised diet. My first appointment was Sept 22, 3 month follow up where we submitted to insurance on Dec 21, now surgery on Jan 25 - so 4 months total in my case.

Hi Tamika,
My bmi was 53 to start. I did not have to do 6 months of monitored weight loss. My initial consultation was 3/1/15, surgery date was 4/28/15.