_Lisa

I've always said that I would never consider any kind of surgery unless it was necessary to live. The idea of any surgery has always scared me, especially the part about anesthesia-I know that sometimes people never wake up after being put under anesthesia. I'm sure the percentage isn't HUGE, but it doesn't make me feel any safer.

I gained most of my weight back in 5th grade, I remember it so well because I couldn't fit into any of my school clothes except for my dresses. So every day for that entire school year I wore only dresses. I've never really been able to lose weight & keep it off since then. I've tried not eating (which definitely didn't work out like I thought it would), weight watchers, pilates classes, regular use of an elliptical machine, alli, low-carb, high-protein, low-fat, jazzercise, sparkpeople.com, etc. And yet, here I sit at my heaviest weight ever.  I know that some of my biggest problems originally stemmed from emotional eating (the weight watchers program really helped me to defeat that), and I still have a tendency to hide food from others so they can't see what I've eaten. I'm ashamed to be seen eating, I often eat alone & have stopped eating out with friends.

My Mom sent me a history of my family's medical problems-both of my grandfathers died in their early 50's due to Heart Attack because of morbid obesity. I'm so terrified that my life could be cut short due to my weight.  I may end up self-paying for the surgery if Humana denies the claim after the surgery, but I believe this tool could help prolong my life by helping me to be healthier, and I know that its necessary whether my insurance understands that or not.