Got Bad News

[KimTriesRNY 1,853]

31 minutes ago, Jelly Belly said:

If I do not have Bariatric Surgery I will die. I guess you are correct. It is elective surgery. I can elect not to have it and die. I am sure there are many others like me who have illnesses that require this surgery or they will die.

We do not decide what surgical procedures are considered elective or not, that is decided by people far above my pay grade. My surgery date was moved twice because it was considered elective. On the day of my surgery my time was moved by two hours in order for a more urgent surgery to go first.

Each surgeon and each insurance company has their own process to qualify for these procedures. Not every surgeon requires you to lose weight preoperatively, not every insurance company requires six months medical weight loss. People elect to have surgery in Mexico when insurance won’t cover it. Until bariatric surgery is not considered an elective surgery and they start performing emergency gastric bypasses and sleeves on the obese all of us will have to follow the program guidelines preoperatively.

If there are medical reasons that program requirements cannot reasonably be met as far as weight gain due to actual medical diagnoses it would seem that proper documentation from a primary care physician would suffice if submitted to the insurance company.

[Creekimp13 5,838]

This might come as a shock to a few people here, but there are quite a few of us in the bariatric patient community who are ALSO part of the medical community:)

Doctors, nurses, surgeons, physical therapists, nurse practitioners, physician's assistants, etc. etc......suffer from obesity, too:) Who knew?

And yes, some of us are sympathetic and EXTREMELY GRATEFUL for the work bariatric surgeons do, and the sacrifices they make to help people with obesity.

[dreamynow 136]

Actually, my personal reason for gaining weight is that I am a 9/11 First Responder who is on massive amounts of medications and recently had an increase in steroids which increased my weight which was verified with my Pulmonary Doctor.

That being said, Addicts are prone to relapses. Because somebody has a relapse does not mean they don't want to stay clean. The worse thing one can do, is insult and addict. If a person who falls off the wagon and somebody degrades them, chances are they won't try again. Statistics prove that 60 percent of people relapse. It has nothing to do with them not to want to stay away from their chosen addiction.

I am a food addict. However, an increase of medication caused me to hold Water weight which no amount of dieting would get off. I have two issues. Gaining 4 lbs when in the past 6 months I have been losing does not (in my case) mean I am not serious. One has to look at the reason for the weight gain. And yes. If a person over ate doesn't mean they aren't ready for the surgery. Addicts relape. A good doctor would find out why. [emoji6]

Good luck to you! And thank you - you are a hero. I can tell you that I always had a hard time losing weight. Been dieting since I was 10 yrs old. But... my little tummy has made dieting so much easier. Some days I eat more than others for whatever reason but it’s much much less than I was pre surgery. Other days I’m not that hungry and I’m quite good with my food choices. I’ve lost 64 since aug 22. You can do it. Don’t worry about your doctor. They don’t understand how it feels to be us. I have found that hot water and lemon helps with water retention as well as pure cranberry concentrate mixed with water- from whole foods. Good luck!


HW. 289
SW. 284
Height. 5’8

[dreamynow 136]

Were you in the room? Did you hear what he said? Just curious. Tell me. What did he say? You must know. After all. You have stated he was concerned regarding a safety issue. Tell me. Do you consider calling a patient a fat pig a safety issue?

Wait. Your doctor called you a fat pig ?[emoji51][emoji26]


HW. 289
SW. 284
Height. 5’8

[Walter.Sobchak 978]

This thread made my head hurt. Yes, pre op and surgery were actually the easy part. Life after surgery is waaaaaay harder than I thought it would be. I also relapsed after 9 years of continuous sobriety, 3 months after WLS.
Sober again today, but almost died from my relapse.

[DaleAnn 16]

Wow quite a turn here. I did not gain weight but I didn't lose enough for the nurses. The Dr said it was fine but no the nurses weren't happy. So I had to lose 5 lbs in one week or surgery wouldn't be approved. Huh, I had lost 30 lbs overall. It was very frustrating. If ANYONE in that office had called me any names I would have reported it immediately. Also they weren't in a position to call anyone anything. Town of them had bypasses and clearly need to lose a lot more and their surgeries were years ago. Nope I didn't care for the nurses but the surgeon was great.

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[BigViffer 3,544]

12 hours ago, Jelly Belly said:

I have Metabolic Syndrome. My Cushing's Syndrome makes it almost impossible to loose weight, especially with the steroids I take daily. If I do not have Bariatric Surgery I will die.

I have some bad news for you. No bariatric surgery will cure your medical issues. All it will do is force you to eat less for about a year. Sure, there may be some palette changes, or maybe dairy will suddenly become difficult to digest causing lactose intolerance, or you may develop gerd; but for the most part the surgery doesn't change a person medically speaking. Only the medical conditions brought on by poor diet will be affected by bariatric surgery. (e.g. High BP, diabetes, cholesterol, etc...)

Unless there is a medical condition with the stomach itself, there is nothing that bariatric surgery will cure that diet alone could not as well. The surgery and subsequent honeymoon phase help cement new food habits.

Edited January 31, 2018 by BigViffer
spelling

[kakatlady612 1,053]

Big Viffer isn't Diabetes a medical condition? I've seen quite a few posters claim their medications have greatly diminished or been eliminated post WLS surgery.

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[BigViffer 3,544]

katkatlady612 - Good question. Yes diabetes is a medical condition; and I am one of those people who no longer has to take medication for my blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol. Most obese Type II diabetics will benefit from the surgery because diet has such a huge influence on it. If you were insulin dependent, you may step down to metformin, if you were on metformin you might come off completely. However, if you are a Type I diabetic pre-op, you will still be one post op.

Bariatric surgery does not cure these conditions, but it does make managing them much easier.

[Maggie1955 158]

Today I went to my final Pre Op appointment (my surgery is 2/19). I gained weight. The doctor said I had to go on my liquid diet NOW and loose weight. He also wants to see me again (on 2/9) for a weigh in. My surgery depends on this... so a month liquid diet here I come. He was also nasty about it. Yeah I did wrong. Don't need to be hit over the head with it.

You can do this! I gained pre-op too. At my first visit I weighed 209, then pre-surgery visit I was 229 and had to be on a liquid diet over the holidays for almost three weeks! I dropped 20 pounds in those 3 weeks. Good luck to you!

[Mattymatt 491]

On 1/31/2018 at 10:39 AM, BigViffer said:

katkatlady612 - Good question. Yes diabetes is a medical condition; and I am one of those people who no longer has to take medication for my blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol. Most obese Type II diabetics will benefit from the surgery because diet has such a huge influence on it. If you were insulin dependent, you may step down to metformin, if you were on metformin you might come off completely. However, if you are a Type I diabetic pre-op, you will still be one post op.

Bariatric surgery does not cure these conditions, but it does make managing them much easier.

Type 2 Diabetes, as I understand it, is insulin resistance. If it is caught and treated early enough, it can be reversed. Type 2 Diabetes is what brought me to the information session on bariatric surgery last September. I realized that I am not going to win the battle by remaining stuck in the cycle that I am in: I could get progressively worse. The doctors tell me that I will most likely not need my diabetes meds after surgery. I actually have a small glimmer of hope for a healthier life.

Edited February 2, 2018 by Mattymatt

[kakatlady612 1,053]

And I believe in you and your commitment.

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[BigViffer 3,544]

1 hour ago, Mattymatt said:

Type 2 Diabetes, as I understand it, is insulin resistance.

ehh.... well... kinda sorta. Insulin resistance can lead to Type 2 diabetes, but not all Type 2 diabetics are insulin resistant. With a person that is resistant to insulin, the pancreas tries to keep up by producing more insulin so that the liver, muscles, and fat can absorb the glucose from the bloodstream. As long as it can produce enough insulin to overcome the resistance, blood glucose levels stay in the healthy range. In an obese person, there are a lot more cells that need insulin and it falls short leading to increased blood glucose levels.

A type 2 diabetic who just doesn't produce enough insulin for a 40 BMI will be given metformin or something like that. After gastric surgery, the BMI can go down to a level that the amount of insulin produced is sufficient to metabolized the glucose in the bloodstream. However, that does not mean their pancreas will continue to produce enough the rest of their life. They may return to metformin at a later date. Hence they are not "cured" of diabetes.

Here is a pretty good link to describe it better than I:

https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/diabetes/overview/what-is-diabetes/prediabetes-insulin-resistance

[trying4me 56]

As for steroids, you Dr. will probably take this into account. I have been on and off them for years due to autoimmune disorders. My surgeon could trend my weight with my steroids. However, you cannot be on them before/after surgery. It will impair your ability to heal.

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[Clementine Sky 707]

4 hours ago, trying4me said:

As for steroids, you Dr. will probably take this into account. I have been on and off them for years due to autoimmune disorders. My surgeon could trend my weight with my steroids. However, you cannot be on them before/after surgery. It will impair your ability to heal.

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It depends on the steroids and the reason for taking them, and whether they are imperative. I am dependent on steroids because my body does not naturally produce them due to Addison's disease, and even missing a single day's dosage can be catastrophic. My endocrinologist actually increased my dosage before and after surgery to compensate for the additional stress. Steroids definitely make weight loss far more difficult, but having the VSG was enormously beneficial to me. I'll still be ravenous at times, but can be satiated with far less food than prior having the surgery. I wouldn't ever advise taking steroids long-term unless it was crucial, because they are horrid in so many ways, but if you do not have the luxury of going off them, you don't have to despair.