I am wondering how long it took everyone from the time you initially talked to your doctor about wanting to get the surgery to how long you had to wait.

I started this journey at the beginning of the year. My first conversation with the surgeon was on January 5th. I did not like her, as she was pretentious and rude. She kept saying, "Someone of your size" cannot get the gastric bypass, so I debated just not doing any of the procedures. I tried to explain to her (as we were doing this as a telehealth visit) that she was misjudging my size by only looking at the numbers. I hold my weight way too well. In high school, I outweighed girls my height and clothing size by 60-80 pounds, but was a state-placing cross country runner. My actual body fat composition was low when tested, versus weight/height ratio. Came to find out that she doesn't like doing bypasses, so she tried to convince all her patients to do the sleeve. After reading up on both, I decided I would actually prefer the sleeve, but not for any of the reasons she gave. I have had three visits with my primary, done the blood tests, and am now waiting on the surgeon's office for my psychology appointment and my final dietician appointment (which is over a month out.) Once I have those, along with an EKG from my primary and getting my paperwork signed off, I then have to wait for insurance to give the final approval. After that, I then wait. So what started on January 5th will take until a minimum of May 15th (final appointment) to even have everything completed... and then two to three weeks for insurance. Then, as my surgeon explained in January, it takes up to 6 weeks for the surgery to scheduled. I am a school teacher with my youngest heading off to college in August, so I am not going to miss taking her. I am majorly concerned that by the time I finally get the surgery, the summer will be over and I won't be able to get time off at the beginning of the school year for this surgery. I am debating talking to my doctor and telling her that I just won't have the surgery because this process is just taking way too long. I have already lost 22 pounds since I first weighed in at the beginning of the year from changing my diet. I am thinking I will be down another 20 by the time I finally get this surgery... or if I can get this surgery.

On 4/19/2023 at 8:41 PM, Misty Marie said:

Sounds like you should be looking for a different job! Working with difficult people is so stressful.

Because I turned 50 a couple of weeks ago, I have to have an EKG before I can do the surgery. The dietician was booked out two months, so I have to have 3 months of a diet/exercise record with my primary before I could do the surgery or even schedule the dietician. I have my last doctor's appointment next week and my psych eval as well, so just waiting... waiting... waiting.

I teach middle school, so I could see my students being in one of two camps... either totally supportive, or nasty about it. Next year, they will see the weight drop, but I am not going to say a word to them. My daughter heads off to college where I just applied to teach as a distance learning professor. I want to move where she is attending so I can get a full-time teaching position at her university. However, at my weight, I am worried they will dismiss me because I am too heavy. I cannot even comfortably sit in a theater chair and do not fly at all, which I would need to be able to do.

I think your students value you for your wisdom and not for your appearance, even if they are in a different camp. And I don't understand how someone can be fired for being too heavy. Moreover, you are struggling with a problem that requires a lot of courage and willpower. I started many times and then stopped many times along the way. I would not say that I love diets. It sucks. But I try to work on myself again because I know that self-development is the key to success. Every person has the right to respect and dignity, regardless of their physical parameters. I am currently studying research papers at https://gradesfixer.com/ in postgraduate because the most popular academic fields are collected here. I specialize in the social sciences and want to protect the interests of those who suffer from social prejudice.

Edited August 8, 20233 yr by Naomi Rowe