Hello to all my sisters & brothers of WLS,

I am slightly new here. I have been browsing this forum as a guest for a few months and finally made my own account because I finally decided that the VSG is right for me. I am still in the early, early stages of this journey, but very excited... eager... nervous... all the above! & I need your help, please!! So far, I have only gotten the referral to the bariatric surgeon from my PCP & they require that I attend an orientation which will be held next week. SUPER EXCITED to get this ball rolling.

A little info about me: I am 26yrs old. I have a 4yr old son delivered via C-section. I am a medical assistant/group facilitator for a prenatal group in which we teach patients a bunch of stuff about pregnancy, labor, and post partum. (we also talk about health & nutrition in one of the sessions) which is extremely uncomfortable/embarrassing for me because here I am, sitting at 290lbs while trying to teach women about eating right lol. I am the heaviest in our department, but that's just a teeny tiny reason of why I really want this surgery.

I need your advice: My BMI is 44.7. I have no medical issues, except for being obese. My ankles hurt and so does my lower back because of this. I also snore. I have struggled with my weight for years. I have been overweight since 3rd grade. At age 15 is when I started trying to do something about it. I tried everything. OTC weightloss pills, prescribed weightloss pills (Qsymia), I've done juicing, I've done calorie counting, low carb, meatless diets, intermittent fasting, you name it. I have successfully lost 50 pounds over a 2 year period but guess what? I gained 67 pounds back. I'm nervous as hell. I don't know what to even tell the surgeon! I don't know if he is going to tell me to try do it on my own again since I lost 50 pounds before. I don't know if I should even tell him that I've successfully lost weight in the past. (even at a snail's pace) I'm not sure if my BMI is enough to qualify me since I'm otherwise healthy. Not saying that's a bad thing- but I feel without a medical issue, I'm not a favored candidate. I believe my insurance will cover. I think I'm just nervous that the surgeon is going to say I'm young enough and healthy enough to lose the weight on my own and I think I will just pass out right there in his office lol.

Please, can someone let me know how they were approved without any medical issues? Or what have you heard from success stories here? What should I tell the surgeon? & What do you think they will say about my weightloss/gain history? Thanks a bunch!! All responses are appreciated.

It was a brief chat about why I wanted to have the surgery and my past weight history. The rest of the time was spent with the psychiatrist asking me to read his manuscript and send it to my publishing contacts. Similar experience to @@OutsideMatchInside I guess.

Consequently, while I was waiting to go into surgery they left me in a room alone with my chart for some time so I was leafing through it and found the clearance letter that the shrink wrote. It was riddled with errors - he had my age wrong, he had my weight history way way wrong (I was not an overweight child or teenager, I gained most of my weight in the last few years) and he said I was "preoccupied with my appearance" which we didn't discuss at all. My guess was that it's just more of a form letter and he knows what to write so I'll get approved but jeez.