I am 5'3 and I way 180 pounds. That puts my BMI at 31. Low for such drastic measures as surgery (or at least that what my mom has told me) but that's not the point. The point is that this is just the beginning. I was involved in a really bad car accident in 1989. I broke my legs, pelvis and shattered my hip socket. I was in traction for 3 months and when I left the hospital I weighed 115 pounds. Life quickly resumed to a normal pace and shockingly I had very little negative effects from the accident.

As the years flew bye I very slowly gained little bits of poundage. When I decided to get married in 1991 I had to go on a diet to get from 130 pounds back down to 120 pounds. I did it and after 6 months of marriage I was up to 140 pounds.

I gained and lost the same 10 pounds maintaining my weight at between 140 and 150 until I became pregnant with my daughter in 1998. I gained 30 pounds with her and blossomed to a lovely 170 pounds. I was able to lose 10 pounds pretty quickly with calorie restriction and exercise but then it stopped. Soon I was stuck at 165 pounds. So I discovered Lindora Weight Loss Center. With there help I was able to lose 30 pounds in 4 months. I restricted my calories to 800 per day, I did yoga three days per week, I joined a bootcamp that I attended every morning for 6 weeks at a time. But I looked good at 140 when I spent a few weeks on the beaches of Barcelona.

That was in 2003. Between July 2003 and February of 2004 I gained back all of the weight plus and additional 10 pounds. Now I had hit my all time high of 180 pounds. Since that time I have done the so many diets and none of them worked.

Cabbage Soup diet - lost 7 pounds gained it all back

Lindora (4 X & $3,000 later) - lost 20 lbs gained it all back

Nutrisytem - the food was to bad to even give it a chance

Medifast - couldn't do liquids only for more than 2 weeks

Jenny Craig - 1 pound per week gained it all back

Weight watchers - slow weight loss and gained it all back.

Cookie Diet - lost 10 pounds in 3 weeks. Gained it all back.

So I've tried it all and now after failure upon failure my hips have decided to fail me. I'm young. I shouldn't have to be considering hip replacement at this age, so instead I found a doctor in Mexico who would preform the surgery and I can't wait. I'm scheduled for December 9th!

This is a preventative measure. Think of the money the insurance company would have to have paid for my new hip and yet I am traveling to Mexico because my insurance company denied me.

I completely understand where you're coming from and I think you'll be very successful. Anyway you look at it, prevention is better than cure.

I really think our bodies have a memory for our weight, and the heavier you get, the higher the weight your body will strive to get back to after you've lost it.

I was a BMI of 27 once upon a time, at age 15 or 16. I was desperate about how disgustingly fat I was, because to a 16 year old, to not be petite and skinny IS a huge issue. I dieted my way over the next 15 years up to a BMI of 30, by which time i really WAS becoming obese. Throw in a couple of babies over the next few years and my BMI was 36. And at no time had I ever stopped trying to "lose" it.

This cycle is so typical for women, dieting not only doesnt work, it actually makes many of us fatter.

With your issues, you cant afford to get heavier and heavier and it seems once you're on the slippery slope, it is inevitable. I think you're very smart to be doing something about it now. No doubt you'll encounter negativity along the way, be prepared to just ignore it and remain committed.

Sub, did you appeal to your insurance company with the info you just shared with us? Maybe they would make an exception?

Thanks for the encouraging words. I did appeal to the insurance company and they explained that they do not cover any bariatric procedures under any circumstances. They told me I could wait until January and then during open enrollment I could switch to Kaiser, but there is not guarantee that Kaiser would approve me and that's a long time to wait and find out you've been denied once again.