Hey! I'm 28, from NJ, and a single mom. Recently found out that I'm pre-diabetic and may have thyroid issues. I have GERD and take meds for that and mild depression. Since I started on meds, I gained a lot of weight and simply can't lose it. I'm at 214 now, and my HW is 220. I know that most sleevers usually start out with higher weights. Any thoughts or advice? I have Oxford Insurance. Will I get approved? I did the gastric balloon with Dr. Ren at NYU last July, and it barely helped. I'm just so torn....

Hey Bee7... found your post while researching Oxford responses and saw that nobody replied to it yet. I have Oxford too and am going through the approval (or denial, we'll see) process right now.

Your BMI with 5'5" and 220 doesn't seem to be high enough unless you have a co-morbidity and pre-diabetics doesn't qualify as far as I know. Best check for you particular plan though. Do you have a surgeon picked already? If you have and if their insurance coordinators are halfway decent they should also be able to give you info.

On 8/7/2017 at 5:12 PM, Bee7 said:

Hey! I'm 28, from NJ, and a single mom. Recently found out that I'm pre-diabetic and may have thyroid issues. I have GERD and take meds for that and mild depression. Since I started on meds, I gained a lot of weight and simply can't lose it. I'm at 214 now, and my HW is 220. I know that most sleevers usually start out with higher weights. Any thoughts or advice? I have Oxford Insurance. Will I get approved? I did the gastric balloon with Dr. Ren at NYU last July, and it barely helped. I'm just so torn....

If you have bad GERD and are on medication for it I'm sure surgeons will encourage you to do the bypass instead. The sleeve is statistically likely to make GERD worse while the bypass improves it significantly.

The balloon is a gimmick. Get tested for hypertension sleep apnea and diabetes, otherwise it'll be a struggle to qualify

I have had GERD for years, and have been on Nexium forever.

My surgeon recommended the bypass.

My gastroenterologist is ecstatic because drugs like Nexium etc. have recently been proven to be bad for you in other ways. Do a google search about them.

Hey! I'm 28, from NJ, and a single mom. Recently found out that I'm pre-diabetic and may have thyroid issues. I have GERD and take meds for that and mild depression. Since I started on meds, I gained a lot of weight and simply can't lose it. I'm at 214 now, and my HW is 220. I know that most sleevers usually start out with higher weights. Any thoughts or advice? I have Oxford Insurance. Will I get approved? I did the gastric balloon with Dr. Ren at NYU last July, and it barely helped. I'm just so torn....

Hi...i am 41 and also live in NJ. I also weighed in at 220 at the time of surgery on 8/28. I also have severe GERD for which I was medicated for over a year now. I have decided to discontinue my medication for the GERD as I feel it is weight related. I also had a hiatal hernia which was repaired at the time of surgery. I also am prediabetic, inhale arthritis in my knees amd have high cholesterol and mild sleep apnea. I had no trouble getting approved for the surgery. I do not; however, have the same insurance. Now, I could be wrong but it seems like the requirements to be approved are pretty much the same across the board as far as BMI and/Or comorbidities. The nutrition requirements vary a bit.

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