WOW, am I nuts? or what? Well, I like to eat nuts and they say you are what you eat, uh? :lol0: I just completed 8 months of preparing for the gastric bypass surgery - went thru all the hoops - was approved and waiting for a surgery date - I was not 100% sure that gastric bypass was the way for me to go - at first, I thought I wanted to go with the lap band but being a military wife and moving every 2-3 yrs. would've been difficult to continue changing doctors, etc. for the fill's and checkups - I believed the sleeve was the way to go but my insurance didn't pay for the sleeve :frown1: - I woke up one morning a little over a week ago and just knew that I knew that I knew :ohmy: that the gastric bypass was not the way to go - so, I made the decision to prolong my weight loss surgery until my insurance would cover it :svengo:- I found out that 5 major medical ins. companies now cover the sleeve and just felt that my ins. would be covering it in the near future - so, until that occurs, I have decided to continue to act like I was still in the process of waiting for a surgery date and am putting myself on a high-protein meal replacement regiment of 2 meals a day with one small balanced meal of a lean protein, veggie, salad and will do my best to stay away from pasta and bread (my favorites, afterall, I am 3/4 Italian and my brain and body know it and makes me crave those high-carb meals :eek:) Anyway, I joined this site for support and encouragement as I also walk the journey road of weight loss - thanks for your time in reading my introduction - have a great day and much luck to you on your own journey - I look forward to meeting many of you - have a great day!!! :thumbup:

I'm 1/2 Italian - and love carbs too. But I've done fine without them. Welcome on board. I believe you could always still get the bypass if the sleeve did not work out. But I doubt you would want to...the sleeve does it job just fine. Just get a great doctor that has done at least 100 sleeves.

Thanks pumpkin07 for the welcome, encouragement and advice re: surgeon having at least 100 sleeve procedures under his sleeve (lol, no pun intended)

I think you've made the right choice. A friend of mine is a medical resident and she's currently taking care of a woman who developed pretty serious malnutrition-related complications from her bypass - TWENTY YEARS LATER. And the woman's still obese! My friend is not sure whether she used to be heavier, but she was clearly unable to reach a healthy weight OR be healthy in other aspects with the bypass. I would've never gone for a bypass (if I was 500 lbs - maybe, because the rewards would then be worth the risks, but not at my original size).

Dynamo,

I too am a military wife wanting the sleeve. If your MTF or one close by does the sleeve you can have it done there and don't have to deal with the hassle of tricare. That was my original plan,but the surgeons here are fresh out of school & because of a neuromuscular condition I have do not feel comfortable doing my sleeve. I was going to travel to another MTF but they require a 6month supervised diet before being put on a waiting list that can take 3-6months. I am ready to start living my life now, before my husband's next deployment in 9mths! So I took out a loan and I'm gonna go for it. I'm torn about spending the money when I could get the bypass for free. But I too like you feel like the sleeve would be the best for me. Hopefully tricare will start covering the sleeve soon! I admire your patience and will power to do what you can on your own! Good luck on your "pre-op" diet!

good for you, you made a great decision!!! you will love it, welcome to your new journey to weight loss. congrats congrats!!!

hi Dynamo, I think you are very wise, and I hope your insurance company change their policy today!!!

Jane x

If you are near Naval Hosptial Jacksonville we are doing them here. I had mine done out in town since I only work here and am not eligible for care. But I know the surgen here and he is wonderful.