I have scheduled to attend a weight loss seminar at a local hospital on May 18, 2015. Is this the first step to beginning the road to WLS? Should I have met with my primary physician before I do this?

I currently have BCBS of Michigan through my small (less than 50 employees) employer. They will only cover 50% of the surgery as far as I know. When I called BSBS they didn't have anymore details than that to give me. My BMI is approximately 53.

Anyone have any advise, suggestions, experiences to share, etc? I am just looking to figure out what to expect next, what kind of timeline I might be on before surgery were performed, etc. Perhaps someone here has some info. to share.

HI, I have BCN of Michigan but the guidelines are the same. If you have a BMI of over 50, which I did too, they waive the 6 month supervised diet. You will just have to do the initial blood tests, Psych eval, Dietician and excercise pysiologist and meet with the MD and Surgeon. I am going through Beaumont Weight Control Center, the process is moving along pretty fast. The information seminar will help explain everythign.

Good Luck

Thank you for the response! May 18th can't get here soon enough. I feel like all I do is rush through my day to get home and research some more. I hope that I'll get more details after the informational seminar.

So blood work (which I had a TON of done in January.. like full panel everything.. wonder if that will count?) psych eval, meetings with a dietician, etc. are what I should expect? I just had a sleep study done a month ago and was put on a C pap as well. I'm hoping it all comes together quickly.

I went to the seminar locally on May 18th. In order to even make my 1st appointment there was a huge list of questions I was required to call my insurance company and get answers to. Hah.. BCBS wouldn't give me an answer one!

So... after reading online and talking to many friends I decided to look at surgeons and facilities elsewhere in the state. So on June 13th I head down to Barix Clinics in Ypsilanti, MI. My dad had his lap band done here about 5 months ago. On the 13th I'll attend another seminar AND have a face to face consultation with the surgeon. Nervous and excited all at once!

I had my surgery with Dr. Pop at Barix. It is a great facility with great people!