Hi all!

I recently came across this app through my researching and have been reading a ton of super helpful info and thought I'd put myself out there.

I'm a 31 y/o Wedding Planner living in the PNW, considering/hoping for getting sleeved. I've struggled with weight all my life and have lost a significant amount (50+ lbs) several times and I always gain it back and then some. I'm now at my highest weight at a BMI of 41.9 and I'm ready for a permanent change and a tool that will help me to accomplish long term success without making myself miserable in the process.

I had a checkup w/ my PCP on 10/26 where I told her I have been considering it (and researching for almost a year now), and wanted to take the steps to move forward. She gave me a referral to a weight loss surgery program (I have bariatric coverage w/ my insurance) and I sent in my new patient app on 11/2. They contacted me he next day saying they need to verify ins. and then the patient specialist would contact me for a consult and to allow 2-6 wks. From what I've read it seems that's normal as far as timing.

I'm most worried that I will feel that maintaining the changes (several small meals a day, high protein/low carb, etc) long term will become tedious and I will end up failing and/or gaining all my weight back.

I'm also anxious not yet knowing what my ins. (Anthem) will require and how long it will all take so I can't plan. I love to plan!

Anyway! That's where I am in the process.

Any encouragement or success stories would be so helpful!! Thx!

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Try to relax......all the waiting is usually the worst part! First let me say the 2 to 6 weeks for a consult isn't all that normal.... The first step is usually an educational seminar put on by the surgeon's office.....for me they had those scheduled once a month. I went to one, and at the end of the seminar I was able to schedule my consult with the surgeon for the following week.

As far as insurance requirements, they are all different but with your bmi being over 40 you'll be good for that part. But there may be other requirements like a medically supervised diet. You can easily contact your insurance company and ask them to send you the specific coverage criteria for bariatric surgery....that way you won't have to wonder. In fact it's always best to get that information yourself because doctor's offices are not perfect and you wouldn't want to be jumping through hoops that are not necessary or missing hoops that are required.....so get the information yourself.

As far as your other fears......for me the portion control is the best thing about this surgery. That was where my issues were. I had my surgery on 5/16/16 a little less than 6 months ago and I've lost 89 pounds so far....only 13 more to go!! Before surgery I ate pretty healthy foods, but I ate way too much of it!!! Now with the restriction I get from my surgery my portion sizes are controlled.........Don't get me wrong it is very easy to "eat around your sleeve".....as they call it. I could easily gain weight by eating junk food and or grazing....It is a huge life changing surgery and you have to be committed to making the changes in your eating habits in order to let the surgery work for you.....To me that's one of the good reasons for the time it takes to actually get the surgery scheduled. Use this time to research, plan and sole search in order to determine if surgery is right for you.......it's not magic and still takes a lot of work from you.

Good luck in what ever you do!!!

It's true that you might regain some of the weight you lose. What's also true is that statistically, your odds of maintaining a significant weight loss without surgery are somewhere between zero and five percent. Your odds of doing that with surgery are more like 70-90 percent, depending on how you define significant weight loss.

Why wouldn't you want to give yourself the best odds?

The fact that you are aware that you need to make lifelong changes and that they may be tedious shows me that you have a better starting point than a lot of people.

All of us were where you are now at one point -- struggling with a long term or lifelong disease of obesity, and wondering if we had not been successful in putting it into remission before, how could surgery possibly fix what we saw as our major problem: willpower, grit, determination? But obesity is a medical problem, not a failure of willpower. Medical solutions work best for most medical problems. I had been morbidly obese for pretty much my entire life, I won the prize for "biggest tummy" at a toddler fair when I was 2! I had lost significant amounts of weight at certain times in my life (never got close to a normal BMI though) but always regained and then some. I started out with a BMI well above yours. I've lost 200+ lbs, hit my goal weight, and maintained successfully for over a year. There is absolutely no way I could have done this without surgery. It has not been easy. It will not be easy going forward. In fact, at times it is tedious and frustrating. But above all it is possible now and it wasn't before. Good luck to you!

@@Bufflehead @@kmorri thank you so much for your encouragement! The few friends I have told are supportive, as well as my husband, but it's so great to hear from the people who have lived it and walked in my shoes.

I did have to watch an informational video on the surgeon's website before hey even sent me the new patient application (after my PCP referred me). 'm definitely going to call my ins. co in the am to get the prereq info- thanks for the suggestion!

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@@kmorri ^^

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App