Some history: I am a 29-year-old American woman living in Denmark on a residency permit with my husband and his kids. We tried to get pregnant for a while, but after many failed attempts, we decided to bring our concerns to an OB/GYN. I was diagnosed with PCOS and was asked to lose quite a bit of weight before they would help via fertility treatments. It has been a struggle to get any assistance at all in regards to PCOS related symptoms because of my weight, never mind the fertility issues that come along with it. I decided to go for bariatric surgery, as recommended by my GP.
Meetings held & requirements so far:
A week prior to my meetings, I was required to get an EKG and blood test done.
12/09/2019 (141kg / 310lbs) - I had my first meeting with one of the doctors at the diabetes center. It was basically just the start of a medical journal. He got my starting weight, illnesses, medication, and allergies. I was told that I need to lose 8% of my current weight, which would put me at 129kg / 284lbs. He told me that it looked like I would be offered surgery since I met the requirements (a BMI over 35 with concurrent related diseases, which, for me, is PCOS, sleep apnea, and a history of hypertension), but I would find out on my next visit.
The day before I left on vacation (12/17/2019), I weighed 136kg / 299lbs! While I had a great time visiting family, I ate way too much unhealthy food and shot back up to 142kg / 313lbs when I returned home (01/09/2020). Yikes! ? I managed to get the weight back off before my next visit though!
01/15/2020 (135kg /297lbs) - This was my second meeting, but this time it was with a senior doctor. He described the pros and cons of each option for surgery. Due to me having a history of occasional acid reflux and heartburn, he suggested that I go with the bypass surgery. However, he told me that I could choose for myself. I have decided to stick with what he recommended. By the end of the conversation, he offered me the surgery (as I figured at this point ?) and set up an appointment for me to see a dietitian. He also said that my EKG and blood tests came back normal.
Within two weeks of the previous meeting, I had to send in a stool sample.
Upcoming meetings:
02/18/2020 - My first appointment with a dietitian.
03/06/2020 - Normally, I would be required to attend a patient seminar with other overweight people prior to surgery, but because I do not speak fluent Danish, I will have to participate in a 1-on-1 meeting with the details of how the operation takes place, how to prepare, and how to eat/live after the operation. This is a plus to me, as I am normally uncomfortable in large groups of people.
As of today (01/26/2020), I weigh 133kg / 293lbs! With this current rate of weight loss, I imagine I will have met my goal weight for surgery by the time I have my first visit with the dietitian. This both delights and worries me, as I am not sure how they will take this information. I was told during the meeting with the senior doctor, that once I lost the weight, I would simply call up the clinic to tell them and I would get my surgery date some days later via email.
However, the emails I received from the clinic prior to these meetings thus far have confused me, as they don't seem to suggest the same thing. Here's the list of requirements that I am still supposed to meet besides the upcoming appointments I have listed above:
Lose at least 8%-12% of what I weighed the first time I visited the clinic and maintain that weight loss until the day of surgery.
I need to have regular conversations (via meetings with a dietitian at the clinic or telephone) with approx. 4 week intervals to discuss:
Agreements and goals for progress and weight loss
Dietary changes
Exercise
Smoking and drinking alcohol
Medical diseases
Then, it says: after 3-6 months, I am to have a status interview and then a team of specialists will assess whether I can be offered an operation. ?
I guess what I am confused about is that I thought I was already offered the operation, but just needed to lose the required weight before I could get a date! Furthermore, if I lose the weight before my first meeting with the dietitian, would I really need to have so many more meetings after that? Eh, I guess I will make that phone call once I reach my goal weight to find out where I go from there. I am hoping it's as easy as the senior doctor said it would be during our meeting!
Anyways, that's enough from me for now. I'm Steph! I recently joined the FB group and ended up finding my way onto the website. I look forward to writing with you all more in the future! Good luck, everyone! If anyone else has experienced a similar situation in the Scandinavian countries, I would love to hear what clarification you guys had gotten! And sorry if I sound totally spoiled -- I know the US insurance companies require a lot more in order to cover the operation! ?