Has anyone done this? I am like 10 lbs shy of my insurance covering it. I don't have co-morbities that will cover it, and I think waiting around for them is not a good idea. I have pre-diabetes and moderatly high bp, pcos and some others, but nothing that they consider a reason.

Has anyone tried to gain weight to get it approved? You can PM me if you don't want to post it pubically. Thanks :thumbs_up:

There was a thread about this very thing yesterday or the day before....

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending I guess !) I weighed enough that it wasn't an issue for me. However, you can bet that if I only needed to gain 10 pounds to "qualify" for the surgery, I'd have done that in a heartbeat. Many feel the same way; others do things like wearing weights, heavy clothes, quarters in their pockets, etc.

Haha oh, i should have done a search :thumbs_up: I wanted to make sure I wasn't the only one, to make sure I was'nt corupt or something :thumbup: LOL

I confess I had to gain 3 lbs to qualify. I did have the health issues that were needed and I wore my heaviest out fit and considered putting a role of quarters in my pocket. My scale at home is acutally higher than the doctors and I was worried. The doctors office told me that they would go by the weight on my first weigh in so it is OK to loose weight before surgery and my doctor expected me too. I was able to loose almost 10 lbs before surgery. Good luck getting approved

Depends on your insurance. Some need up to a five year history of obesity in order to approve the surgery, so check that before you put more weight on.

Ok.... just found out they can get me in tomorrow for my consult. LOL i better figure something out fast!

This is just a thought, but if you think you can get away with it, how about wearing ankle weights to your weigh-in? That way you will meet your weight requirement, but your body won't have to suffer the burden of the additional weight.

I put on 15 lbs. to qualify. I felt like Morgan Spurlock in that film Supersize Me afterward though. Blah. Fifteen is what I've lost so far, too. Wouldn't that be ironic if that was all I managed to lose?

I stopped trying to maintain any sanity and quickly put on 15 pounds to qualify. This is a big deal for some insurance policy's, a deal breaker. I would check before you go to an appointment. Oh and I lost the weight...it will come off .

I had to gain like 8 pounds to "qualify." Now, I'm trying to lose while I'm on my supervised diet before my surgery. Strange, isn't it?

Read HERE for my gain tatics.

Be careful with ankle weights. My doctor's office made us take off our shoes and sock to weigh, so they could see if there was anything wrapped around your ankle.

My insurance company provided me with a case manager nurse. She stated very clearly that if I lost weight below a BMI of 40 that I would not get approved for surgery. (I had no co-morbid issues. I was like a 41 or 42. I was border line. So I never lost weight during the 6-month supervised diet and if I did lose weight it was only a couple of pounds. I was terrified to go below the 40BMI.

To be honest, had I gone below a BMI of 40, I would have gained weight to qualify for the surgery.

So, a roll of quarters in each pocket wouldn't have worked? I don't have insurance and my BMI was showing below 40, so I wondered.

My friend used a full water bottle in each of his pants pockets! We were talking about it at a work meeting, and decided he should have used rocks instead of water bottles.

Don't make it too obvious but when they take your height, bend your knees slightly. I'm 6'0" and when my height was taken to determine my BMI I was 5'11". This will increase your BMI a few points and will significantly increase your chance of meeting the appropriate BMI without having to put on the extra pounds.

Edited January 10, 200917 yr by Jack Pine Savage

I was in the same boat. I went to one doctor and was denied because I didn't have any comorbidities and my BMI was not high enough. I had some real problems with this doctor's office so I changed to another doctor. In the interim, I ate everything I could get my hands on, to the point I couldn't eat any more. I drank a huge drink before going ... and my BMI was close, 39.5. I guess that was close enough because I was approved within 24 hours. I now have a date for 2/6/09!