KimB7811

Unfortunately it’s just their requirements. I have BCBS but federal plan and mine was 3 months. Just one doctor appointment a month, either my surgeon or GP. Most do seem to be 6 months.

You really some time to get through all your requirements and get your head in the right space. I have BCBS, mine was 3 months, but it was a busy 3 months

Guys this is unbelievable and has literally brought me to tears I'm 8 days post op just had my week check up weigh in and on surgery day I was 374 today I weighed 354 I lost 20 pounds this week I'm so excited about this journey I started in October at 406 pounds my heaviest ever
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💙 Good luck 💙

Reading everyone’s story on here is so inspiring and insightful on this journey of weight loss surgery that I figured I would share and track mine as well. It will be nice to hopefully look back and read this a year from now anyway after being successful with my gastric sleeve surgery...fingers crossed! All up to that dang insurance approval!
Backing up a bit... let me explain a little about me and my battle with the “fluff”. I’ve pretty much have always battled weight. I was always chubby as a kid and grew up in a big Italian family where portion sizes weren’t a thing and life revolves around food. For most of high school I was overweight... except junior year when I decided I would go on a major diet and exercise. I lost a lot of weight and looked good but still only got to 175. By senior year I was pretty much fat again. This would continue every 2 years until my first pregnancy. I would drop 40-50lbs and then gain it right back. By my first kid I really gained a lot though and was a little over 300. Only now due to the pregnancy, I got hypertension that never went away. Then I lost 80lbs. but you guessed it! Gained it all back and then some again! This pattern continued more and more. I remarried and got pregnant again and was back up to 275 again. I have always thought about the idea of weight loss surgery in the back of my head but I was going to try 1 more time to lose it myself and try to keep it off. I found a medically supervised weight loss program with “pills” and lost about 90lbs on it. That was almost 2 years ago. But now I have sadly gained at least 40 of it back and It seems to keep pouring back on me. Plus now I am suffering from severe osteoarthritis as well in both knees and I need a total knee replacement in my right. I’m still going to the gym and I’m still on the medicine, but my body isn’t reacting to it really anymore. So enough was enough and on March 1st I went and saw a weight loss surgeon! When he started explaining to me about how my body just starts to resist the weight loss and thinks it’s starving or wants to go back to my reset mode (which is my 300lb weight) it all made sense! I just always called it my inner fat girl wanting to come back out. He explained how cutting out this part of the stomach removed those hormones and will help me fight those genetics. Now I understand I need to keep up my end of the bargain and still exercise and count calories, but it def explained why it’s like all of a sudden my body would just hit a wall and start gaining back the weight even when I was still dieting. So sleeve it is and I couldn’t be more sure of this!
So here goes my journey. They set me up that day with referrals for the psychiatrist, the gastroenterologist and the nutritionist. Luckily, since I’ve been in this medically supervised weight loss program for 2 years, I pretty much already have in my nutritionist meetings but he wanted me to meet with a Bariatric one at least once pre-op. I met with her on March 9th for the first visit already and learned a lot about what to expect the first few weeks out of how to eat and the different phases of food. My next apt with the Bariatric nutritionist is April12th. My endoscopy is scheduled this Friday so hopefully that goes well and my psych is scheduled for the following Friday. I have already filled out the package they sent to me for that which was about 500 questions. I do think it’s a little weird they want me to release all my hospital medical records though.
I just hope and pray I get approved by insurance. Depending on who measures me, I range between 5-5 or 5-6 it seems. I also weighed in at 228 which left me with a BMI of 36. My insurance requires a BMI of 35 with comorbitities which I obviously have of hypertension and osteoarthritis. So the low end of BMI has me concerned with approval.
Now the other thing is this, and please don’t judge,....My daughter was born in Jan of 2016 and in May of 2016. my husband and I decided to have a “date” night home with a few margaritas for cinco de mayo. This was my first time drinking anything since she was born so they hit me pretty hard and he and I got into the biggest fight of our lives where he confessed some stuff that I was not expecting...throw in terrible post partum depression that I was suffering from that I wasn’t really aware of at the time and I ended up taking a handful of Tylenol PM’s that night. Well..of course I came to my senses right away and immediately called for help so this landed me stupidly in the ER that night vomiting up the pills and being monitored. I went home the next day after they made sure I wasn’t “suicidal” and of course followed up for a few months with therapy because I was just suffering from out of whack hormones thanks to post partum. my husband and I also worked things out as well. But long story short is....I’m really afraid that might be a clear strike against me for the psych eval. Especially if I release my medical records......
i guess we’ll wait and see. I’ll keep you guys posted on Friday on my Endoscopy.
And thanks for reading this whole thing if you made it up to this point! 😄

I had a questionnaire and I’m sure she had access to my medical records. However, it was just a 50 minute 1:1 therapy session and then she said I need a letter from my psychiatrist to say he treats me and will continue to treat me. That was kind of ridiculous since insurance sees that I take my meds and see him monthly 🙄

I didn't have any of that, no questionnaire at all.
I just had a single half hour face to face chat. (It was really one of the easier visits, so far, for me.)
Sounds like they are more through where you are, which isn't all bad. Hang in there!

Mine was an hour, face-to-face. No questionnaire.

Nope, just a half hour 1:1 talk

First of all congrats on your success so far! But I’m glad I’m not the only one who obsesses over this. I’m already thonking about that issue and I haven’t even had the sleeve surgery yet!!! I have lost (easily) anywhere between 60-100 pounds a handful of times throughout my life so far and yet here I am!.... getting ready to submit my request to insurance for Bariatric surgery because I gain it back and then some every freakin time! So I’m already terrified that this will ultimately end in the same scenario. I know this is different though. It’s a great tool given for weight loss that I feel this time might be pretty darn hard to ignore.

the support groups are a really key in this journey. I am not a 'people person' lol so I avoided them in the beginning. I have been twice now and OH MY I love it. my doc kept after me until I showed up.

Seeking support from people who have been through the same experience really helps. My job is working with bariatric surgery patients, and I run the support groups for my hospital program - otherwise I would not have ever attended, but it makes such a huge difference for me. It's a monthly reminder of how far I've come and the challenges I still have to face, but I have the support of those around me. If you think you're heading into disordered eating territory (anorexia/bulimia/binge eating disorder) seek support from a therapist with experience with eating disorders.

That would be a huge sigh of relief if that’s the case! It’s just torture just having to wait well over a month before I can even find out if I’ll be approved!

I believe they don't count your BMI during your supervised medical weight loss. It was a huge worry for me before surgery that I would lose to much on my supervised medical weight loss and no longer qualify for the surgery. They explained that it went by my weight before the diet and my falling below wouldn't disqualify me.

I too had an issue at one of my clinic appointments where I fell under 35. They were like if this stays here you wont meet the eligibility guide lines. I panicked as well after all the preop things I had done. I needed like 2 pounds to be back where I was. I had to also send in 2 years of Doctor checkups. Some of which were close but not 35. I have 4 comorbitities against me. Too say I was worried was an understatement. Finally,insurance approval came in.

You sound just like me!

Thanks Dale! And congrats to your success with WLS as well! I have no problem putting in the hard work and dedication it will take for the rest of my life after surgery... it’s just hoping insurance doesn’t stand in my way!!! Lol

This sounds like the majority of us!
Many of us - including me - were convinced weight loss surgery wouldn't work. So many other things didn't work, so why will this?
I'm more than 4 years past WLS & I can tell you it does work. It's not perfect & you still have to do the work every day. But WLS is an incredible tool to help you make better decisions.
Please keep pursuing this! Good luck! You are not alone.

I do not have a BMI goal honestly. Mostly because I will always be overweight according to BMI. I feel BMI is totally unfair for anyone with muscle mass and a non-slender frame. I’d have to be 190 lbs to be “normal weight.” That will never happen. I’d say my skeleton along weighs 90-100 lbs.

I like it. 🤪🥳🥰😂 But I’m just incredibly average—so it actually is applicable to me. I played along with my Mom’s opinion that I was just “big boned” all my life until I had the surgery and lost a ton of weight and discovered I wasn’t. LOL, the big fat lie was exposed. I’m average and trying to get into normal. 🍾🍾🍾

The BMI chart is outdated and not a good measure of whether or not you’re healthy. I dropped down to wearing a size 6 and was still “overweight”. It’s BS

My insurance only wanted the weight I was on my first appointment. I was at 135 bmi with a lot of comorbidities. I was worried about that low BMI as well. Particularly since I wanted to lose as much as I could before the actual surgery so I'd have less to lose afterwards. I was at 132 BMI on the day of surgery and until they rolled me into surgery, completely worried that someone would say "nope, stop, she has lost too much weight" but I worried for nothing.

That's just the worry talking. My insurance only asked for my current weight. Take a deep breath and everything's going to be okay.

Your surgeon will make sure that you meet all of your requirements before they submit your package to your insurance provider

My insurance only asked for a starting weight