A bit of advice :)

[VooDooDoll]

Hi there I am considering WLS in my future. I am 5'2" and around 50 pounds so I know that I qualify. I also have high blood pressure and Type 2 Diabetes. I just had a few questions...

1. How did you know WLS was for you?

2. How did you approach your doctor?

3. Did your insurance give you a hard time? I have Kaiser Permanente.

Thanks in advance

[Lucky21]

Originally Posted by VooDooDoll

Hi there I am considering WLS in my future. I am 5'2" and around 50 pounds so I know that I qualify. I also have high blood pressure and Type 2 Diabetes. I just had a few questions...

1. How did you know WLS was for you?

2. How did you approach your doctor?

3. Did your insurance give you a hard time? I have Kaiser Permanente.

Thanks in advance

Hi VooDooDoll!

1. I had been yo-yoing with my weight for decades (never got lower than obese BMI), decided that I had had enough after I spoke to several people who had WLS done. Remember - it is a TOOL so you still have to work at it, but for the first time in a LONG time I feel there is hope.

2. I researched a few in my state, spoke with their office staff and the docs (I can't stand crappy service so I always speak with the office staff - they handle the billing so it's important that they are on the ball!). The surgeon I went with actually had his office staff contact my PCP and tell her I was doing this. He is the one who supervised my diet for 6 months as required by my insurance co.

3. No, because the office staff did their jobs right! I stayed on top of it with them, but I didn't have to deal with my insurance at all because they took care of it. So refreshing not to have to be caught in the middle of that circus! Yes, my insurance still had hoops I had to jump through, but the office staff gave me the list and set me up with everything (testing, blood work, meeting with psych dr, nutrition classes, support group, documenting supervised diet, etc). It was wonderful!

Hope this helps and best of luck to you!

[mbroda]

1. How did you know WLS was for you? I had actually gone through the process 5 years ago but chickened out at the end. this time I knew I had exhausted all non surgical methods for maintaining weight loss. I have been successful losing before, but have never been able to keep it off for any amount of time.

2. How did you approach your doctor? This was a newer doctor for me. i just went in and said I was unhappy and was considering surgery and he jumped right on board. he had several other patients prior to me that we successful.

3. Did your insurance give you a hard time? I have Kaiser Permanente. --I have different insurance, but my surgeon's office handled everything. I did call myself prior to the initial consultation to see what was and wasn't covered, but from start to surgery date my process was very short--3 months.

Good luck on your journey, only you can determine if and when surgery is right for you. But if you do choose, embrace the process and learn as much as you can beforehand. come on over to our monthly thread and ask any questions, it's a great group.

[Maryposa]

No offense, but at 5'-2" and 238.5 your insurance and your doctor will say that you are more than 50lb overweight... your BMI is greater than 40 (it's 43.6). Anything over 40 you do not need a co-morbidity like high BP. Only for between 30-35 for lapband, and 35-40 for other WLS do you need a co-morbidity. So even if you are otherwise in perfect health, unless you lose down to less than 215 WITHOUT high blood pressure, or less than 195 WITH co-morbidities, you qualify. Again, I don't want to hurt your feelings, and the BMI is really crap anyway, but you are considered morbidly obese and you will qualify for surgery.

1 - I stalled at 270 and couldn't lose any more weight. I literally tried everything... metformin, hormone fixes, low cal/low carb, low fat / low carb, Fat Fast (only thing that worked), NO CARB (meat only), etc etc

2 - I called around to different surgeons, then I talked to my doctor. No biggie.

3- Kaiser is AWESOME because you go to an "Options" class for a few weeks, then you get to pick between the three major surgery types including the sleeve which not all insurances cover! You are lucky!!

[Maryposa]

sorry, I am gonna blame this on the percocet (I just got round 2 of reconstructive surgery done last week!) but I read the line wrong, also think you may have a typo when you said 50, but i now see that you said "I know that I qualify" and I thought you were saying you are only 50lb overweight so you don't know if you qualify. Sorry!!!

[ANGELFIRE80]

1. How did you know WLS was for you? Tried it all, could never (EVER) keep it off. Was just tired. I originally signed up for the band,chickened out (I am grateful that I did-no offense to anyone w/the band but the sleeve works perfectly for me)

2. How did you approach your doctor? I never talked to my pcp about this. I just signed up for the weight loss surgery seminar and they took it from there.

3. Did your insurance give you a hard time? My insurance did not give me any troubles once they actually started covering the sleeve.

Good Luck on your journey!

[greenrn]

Going to call the surgons office and send copies of my insurance to see if I can qualify!!!

[Spinster_Sister]

1. How did you know WLS was for you?

2. How did you approach your doctor?

3. Did your insurance give you a hard time? I have Kaiser Permanente.

---------

I knew it was a viable option because I hit a certain age...where if I didn't do anything about my obesity I was heading for a difficult and possibly shorter old age. I finally accepted that I will not do it on my own. I have a history of gaining/losing weight but I needed a permanent crutch to help me keep it off.

2. I first had a LapBand in 2007 and went directly to the surgeon's office and because I met the minimum for surgery didn't need to get pre-approval from my personal doctor.

3. I had Kaiser for my revision and you won't have trouble with KP. I love KP. You will have to go to the "OPTIONS" class track and then you see their surgeon and then they schedule you. If you feel the need to talk to your physician, don't be shy..no need for it. Tell him/her that you need to take permanent control of your health and have been thinking of weight loss surgery and then tell him/her that you want a referral to the bariatric program. They will do it!

Just know that the sleeve will not work if you overendulge on sweets/carbs...cookies/cakes etc go through easy and if that is your issue you may want to look at a bypass or even duodeunal switch.

[Monkee]

FEEL FREE TO JOIN US ON THE MONTHLY THREADS.
All are welcomed.