I still remember when I found out that I was "obese". I had gone to see an allergist for allergy testing and they had given me a letter to take back to my PCP. I opened the envelope when I got in the car and read:

"Mrs. WDW Luver is an obese female, age 25 presenting with symptoms. . ."

OBESE????? I knew I was pleasantly plump, probably overweight and maybe even fat. But obese??? Not me. I was only about 175 or 180. That can't be obese, can it?

I felt like I had been punched in my (obese!) stomach and all the air left my body. One sentence. One word. And why was it the first thing listed in describing me? That one word hurt and stung and the tears started.:rolleyes2: But then I got angry. I remember thinking a few things.

1. What the hell does my weight have to do with the fact that I am allergic to ragweed, cockroach dung and cats?

2. Why does he find it necessary to let my PCP know that I am obese? Does he think he doesn't notice? Does he think my wonderful PCP that has been taking care of me for several years is going to read that and suddenly realize "OMG! She is FAT and I just never noticed! So glad the Allergist pointed that out to me."

3. That Allergist is a raging jerk and I won't be going back to him!

But now I find out that as I have put on the weight I am Morbidly Obese. Wow. Take a horrible, grotesque and depressing word and add another that is even more awful to describe those of us that have been struggling with our self esteem and weight issues for years. Morbid. That word makes me thing of death. Websters says that it means "characteristic of disease" and lists Grisly and Gruesome as synonyms.

Gruesome Obesity.

We have all seen the looks, stares, pointing, and whispers over our gruesome fatness. Do we really need such gruesome words to describe us? I know someone with cancer, the most grisly and gruesome disease I know of, but wasn't told she had morbid cancer. My grandfather had a stroke that took away most of his capabilities, but it was never described as a morbid stroke. I had a friend in high school that was depressed to the point of being suicidal. He was never diagnosed as being morbidly depressed.

And if all of this wasn't bad enough we have to have comorbidities. Being Morbidly Obese may not be bad enough. Some of us have to have some other horrible condition that our weight is causing to qualify for surgery. Well HA! I may be Morbidly Obese, but I am the healthiest damn fat woman I know! Blood pressure is fine. No diabetes. Cholesterol is great, lipids (whatever those are) are within normal range. I sleep fine with no signs of apnea. I am fit as a fiddle, healthy as a horse and 100%. . .

Except for my feet.

I have a permanent handicapped tag, the DMV told after renewing the temp one 2x that I needed to go permanent. Permanently handicapped. Cause I am fat.

I read about applying for disability and I qualify. Permanently disabled. Cause I am fat.

I am in constant debilitating and excruciating pain. Permanent pain. Cause I am fat.

Excuse me, because I am obese. Actually the reality for me at this very moment is that I am not MORBIDLY obese. Nope! Yea Me! I am 5 pounds or less away from that. Depends on the time of day that I weigh actually. And when I last peed. And, you know, the other. And if I am wearing my Crocs or Tennis Shoes. Unfortunately for me when I went for the Informational Seminar at the local WLC I had an empty stomach. And I was wearing a lightweight skirt and my Crocs. And I had peed (and the other).

BMI of 38.9 Not morbidly obese. Morbidly handicapped. Morbidly disabled. But doesn't qualify for surgery.

So now I am in power training. To GAIN weight. I need 5 pounds by next week. I can weigh in again when I turn in the rest of my paperwork. I needed to get rid of 3 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies in the freezer anyway. And there was some ice cream. And of course there are a ton of "last meals" I need to have. Aunt Flo will be visiting me next week and she always brings water retention and several extra pounds with her. And I have some heavy jeans and a sweatshirt. And hiking boots. And several sets of keys in my pockets.

I have to gain 5 pounds to be approved to lose 100. And that to me is Morbid Stupidity.

I couldn't agree more. I needed to gain aroung 15 and then I woud have to do a six month diet and lose 10 to 15 but stay at BMI 40. So really I would have had to gain at least 25 and I just couldn't do it to myself because in my case it would be to save money. I knew I couldn't guarantee getting insurance approval anyway, and I knew I could afford it so I am self pay. That is one SICK system! Good luck! Cali

The office told me that if I didn't qualify for the insurance requirements then I won't meet their requirements either. So self pay wouldn't even be an option. I am very hopeful I can "make weight" next week!

I just saw the surgeon today and he told me that I may not qualify with Medicare since I only weigh 200 #'s and haven't weighed this much for more than 5 years. I have gone through this program for 9 months now and no one has ever mentioned this before. I have gone to a therapist connected to the program since last October and have attended at least 2 groups a week for the past last 9 months. The surgeon also told me that the majority of lap band patients lose only 50 % of their extra weight which would mean that I would only lose 40 #'s. I have severe diabetes and feel losing weigh will improve this. He also told me that he feels that lap band surgery has been highly overrated and gastric bypass gives the best results. I have to say the meeting today was less than inspiring but probably realistic???? Any reaction to this??

Have you talked to your Primary Care Doc or whoever is helping you manage your diabetes? I know in the Info. Meeting I went to they said that Gastric Bypass is much more effective with Type 2 Diab. I think there probably is better results with GB, but that is because in addition to the restriction you get (like the band) you also don't absorb the fat and calories like you used to , which can be good and bad.

What is your BMI? If you have a BMI over 35 with the diabetes you qualify with most insurers, but I know nothing about Medicare. Can you call them yourself and find out? Check out the Insurance section of this site and see what other Medicare users have experienced. Look online and see if you can find their policy. And talk directly with the person that deals with insurance at the office you are going to and see what they say. They are old hat at this and should be able to really help you with the process.

With any bariatric procedure you are going to get out of it what you put into it. That 50% loss is an AVERAGE. Some lose less, and some lose more! So for those that only lose 10% there are also those that lose 100%. What are YOU willing to put into this to make it work? The lap band is just a tool to help you out. But if you aren't willing to do the work of changing your eating habits and exercising regularly then it won't work and you will be right where you are now, but with a bunch of scars and a useless medical device in your body.

Keep us updated on what you find out.

Thanks so much for your response. My BMI is 37. The surgeon did mention that he didn't think I would qualify for Gastric Bypass. I really couldn't figure out why he had mention this but you're right on about how effective Gastric Bypass is for Type 2 Diab. I guess I need to research this. Didn't really think I would qualify so I know nothing about Gastric Bypass.

I am only going by what I was told in the Seminar, but the Dr. said that they generally see an almost immediate resolution of Type 2 with the Gastric Bypass so if that is what you have then you may want to really look into that. It sounded like with banding it is not as effective on that form of diabetes.

But otherwise if you are at 37 BMI and have Diabetes then I don't understand why they wouldn't pay. You have the comorbidity. Just remember that the Docs don't always know the ins and outs of insurance. Talk to the person that deals with them everyday.

Forgot to mention that age also plays a roll. No idea what your age is, but if you are over 65 then you are less likely to be approved from what I have read.

girl dont trip I think we all remember that day when we were called obease trust I wanted to die I thought this Dr. must be crazy I carry my wieght good I am fine Hello and then I had to deal with reality and I did something about it. I never want to refered to as an obease women and I am doing all in my power to change that. Good luck