BjSkyGGEvan

Oh ok, read your post the wrong way. LOL Thanks goodness!!

Removing the grehlin slows your metabolism down? Well that sucks because my metabolism is already at a snails pace as it is.

I agree family is very important but I know I would not be able to enjoy myself or be at ease back home being overweight, let only obese. My brother is a personal trainer, was a professional athlete, lean and in shape and it was hard enough when I was younger and not overweight, but to go back home after all these years and be overweight, I couldn't do it. I don't want to embarass him or my family so I will do all that I can to lose the weight and hopefully it will be enough. Thanks for taking the time to respond and your advice, it is very much appreciated. As you can probably tell, I am going to need alot of support during this journey.:thumbup:

Hi I am anxiously awaiting my surgery and would really like to know what is a realistic weight loss goal for a 6-8 month time period. I was supposed to be done with all my requirements at the end of October, but I just got a call from the sleep study center and they want to do another sleep study with that stupid machine. Sadly, they can't get me in until towards the end of November which of course is now screwing with my surgery date. At the rate I am going, I won't have the surgery until January. My brother is getting married next summer and I really want to go, however I refuse to go looking the way I do. I have not seen my family, other then my mom and my brother, in over 10 years and I was thin back then. Anyway, say I have my surgery Jan what is a realistic amount of weight I can lose by July? Thanks in advance for your input.

No, what would be sad is not take what you are able to get and work it to the best of your ability and get the weight off and get healthy.

Luckily I go to a military hospital that has a bariatic clinic in it or I wouldn't stand a chance to get the sleeve. Military insurance covers the bypass and just recently started covering the band but they don't cover the sleeve yet. Since I am using a military hospital, insurance doesn't play a part in it anymore. If military insurance did cover the sleeve, I would go to a civilian doctor who doesn't have a problem doing the sleeve. I am glad that you are happy with the band and I may not have a choice but to be happy with one too. LOL Good luck with your weight loss!

I am hoping my doctor will do the sleeve. The bariatric nurse said that I am not heavy enough and the doctor probably won't do it for me. She basically said how it was a 2 part surgery and they typically didn't do the sleeve only blah blah blah. The nurse was really trying to convince me that the sleeve wasn't the route I wanted to take and how I really need to read up on it. She did mention that if I got the band and didn't like it, they were more apt to doing the sleeve then. I am still unsure what the problem is, but I am going to ask the doctor to go over the sleeve in the educational briefing tomorrow and see what she says about it. I trust the nurse but I want to know what the doctor has against the sleeve when it is obviously a very good weight loss tool.

Can you tell me what forum that is? I was going to go with the band but it didn't feel right to me and for some reason looked into the sleeve and it seems to be exactly what I need. I would love to have others to talk to about it. Thanks

I was recently approved and am having mine done at a MTF. Once my PCM put the request in, I was called by the bariatric nurse less then a week later to get the ball rolling. I had to go in for a weigh in and information session where they went over tons of stuff. In order to have the surgery I have to weigh in every month, see the nutritionist for a class and then a 1 on 1 session, attend 3 seminars, 3 support group meetings, have a sleep study done, tons of labs, a psych eval, and a couple of other things I can't think of at the top of my head. What I was surprised about is 2 weeks before surgery I have to go on a high protein low carb diet and thats it. I am getting my surgery done at Womack on Fort Bragg and they really push the gastric bypass but I told the nurse that I didn't want that. The bariatric nurse told me that I have a few different things to do since I am being banded but she wouldn't tell me what it was specifically. I am just happy that I was approved so quickly and I think one of the main reasons is Tricare is now out of the picture since I am having mine done at a military hospital.

From what I have been reading, Tricare doesn't care about BMI which is a bummer because mine is right at 40.

I am new to this forum and am thrilled that I found it. I just found out a couple of days ago that Tricare will cover lap band and am thrilled but don't think I will qualify. I am hoping maybe you guys can give me some guidance based on your experiences. I am 5'5 and 100 pounds overweight. My concern is the co-morbidities that Tricare requires. I already had asthma but now it is worse. I can actually be doing something and catch myself gasping for air. I can't speak more than 10 words without losing my breath. My husband tells me I snore (loudly) which I never did before. I have woken up catching myself trying to catch my breath. I have knee pain and it kills my feet to walk. I have severe back pain and my choloesterol is up and down. Right now it is at 199 but if it goes up 1 point, then I have high cholesterol. I have syptoms that fall under hypothalamus problems but don't know if it is coincidence or because of my weight. My blood pressure isn't exactly great either. My husband is active duty at Fort Bragg and they do have a bariatrics clinic at the hospital, however I don't know if they do the lap band or not since when I looked into the clinich, lap band wasn't approved. So if anyone has any experience with Tricare North, Womack, and what co-morbidities can be used to get approved I would really appreciate your input. I have read the basic information but I don't have diabetes, hypertension, cholecystitis, narcolepsy, Pickwickian syndrome, or severe arthritis. My PCM is a civilian doctor and I don't think it will be a problem getting the freferral as my doc knows I have been struggling with my weight for a very long time. Thanks for any help you can give me.