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I've been jumping through hoops for 6 month now too. Unfortunately as someone with heart disease I also know that a stress test is the only way for them to rule out a heart irregularity. It's a pass/fail test. Just get on that treadmill and pass it and they'll leave you alone. 7 years ago I failed mine and went through a series of other tests that ultimately led to a surgery that saved my life. Good luck.

I like the sleeve better too but knowing some people who have done well years after having the bypass makes me comfortable with it. I always feel have the smallest surgery you can for the biggest effect which is how I ended up choosing the sleeve. However if for example insurance didn't cover the sleeve, I'd be okay with RNY. if anything with diabetes it does have some quicker positive effects than the sleeve. I don't have your migraine issues which is obviously a different situation. My point in all this is to say that worse comes to worse you still have options. What's most important is being able to lose the weight and you can still do that. Don't stress and get sick over this because it will work out.

Why not get the bypass since you have that condition? At best aren't you going to have serious acid reflux issues? It's good that you have another option for surgery. My sister in law had RNY 3 years ago and a good friend had RNY now almost 6 years ago. Both have done great. If something came up and I wasn't able to get the sleeve I would have no problem switching to RNY instead. The band though I would avoid. Good luck in whatever you decide

Mine ends tomorrow and then we submit to Oxford/UHC. I don't care what anyone says, 6 months is a long time. Can't wait until it's over.

I know what you mean. Tough to eat that way when you have a mouth full of teeth. I have a feeling that hard boiled eggs will be on the menu a lot

That's incredible. 85 pounds in 3 months is amazing. Great job

Fitbit is the way to go. They're coming out with a cheaper version that I think is going to be $60. The full featured one is $100. I've been using it for the past 4 months and it's really worth it.

Since your goal is to build muscle why not start with yoga instead of the elliptical? Yoga should be done on an empty stomach anyway. It will get your breathing in a good place and build muscle. Do that for a month and then take another shot at the elliptical.

That's awesome! Now that you did your first you have a time to beat for your second. Congrats

Good luck. All those things they currently are spending money on are reasons to be optimistic.

Extreme fatigue and sleepiness can be a sign of high blood sugar. At dangerous blood sugar levels it's possible to slip into a coma. That's really extreme though so don't worry about that. What you really need to worry about is what Catracks posted. High blood sugar kills blood vessels starting with the smaller ones which is why toes and eyes and your organs are vulnerable. You need to protect yourself by listening to your doctors who will find a way to get your sugar under control. Obviously this surgery is going to help but you can't just rely on it. You need to be aware and work harder than a non-diabetic obese person would. Okay, preachy time is over and the soapbox is put away. Good luck and get ready to work your butt off to beat this. I know you will

I know you're looking for comorbidities for your insurance but diabetes isn't something you want to celebrate. If you've had for a while and it wasn't diagnosed you could have some serious damage that losing weight might not fix. I'd see an Endocrinologist if I were you and really get checked out.

Those are awesome numbers! I also talk 2000 mg of metformin daily plus victoza plus other things. I'm getting the sleeve for those kind of results. Thanks for sharing.

Pregnancy which is often planned doesn't fall into it either. Nothing is black and white which is why insurance companies do cover these procedures as long as that insurance is paid for. These are big public companies. Anyone can look up their financials and see how they're doing. In general health insurance has been a pretty good business to be in. Even if they do have to cover some major surgeries they are more than making up for it with the healthy people enrolled. The family on my plan that just goes for an annual physical each year still pays the insurance company the same $1500 a month in premiums that I do.

Not per person. It would have saved us $200 for the year for 25 employees. The employees only get 2/3 of the single premium so the cost to our firm is less than it would be to a company who pays more of the benefit premium. The cost to the employee who pick up a 1/3 of their single premium and all of their dependents premium would be higher but we are instructed to only look at the cost to the firm. Even with that though the benefit is nowhere near $35 to $90 per month per person. Maybe it's different in different states?

What's sad is that the employer barely saves any money with this exclusion. I work for a small company and coordinate the health insurance for my firm. The money we would have saved for 25 people with the exclusion was under $200 for the year. We lose a lot more than that from weight related health issue absences. Even for a large company I doubt the exclusion is worth it if they ran the numbers.

Nice job! That's very inspiring

That's great to hear for all of us looking for those same results after our surgeries. Thanks for sharing

Sounds like you have a lot of first hand experience with obesity and weight loss surgery. Whatever you decide will be the right decision. Only you though can make that decision.

There are millions of people around the world who can't even get basic healthcare so all in all it's not so bad.

I have visit 5 of 6 for my medically supervised weight loss on Monday. This whole process has been endless. I already finished every test I needed to do. This 6 month insurance required delay has been very annoying. I'm one of those people who likes to do something once I decide to do it. I am not good at waiting for it to happen.

That is excellent advice. Everyone needs to responsible for their own health. Keep asking questions and look for answers in multiple places.

That number is from Metformin, Victoza and Onglyza with 40 minutes of cardio 6 days a week. Honestly I don't know where I would be if it was just Metformin. Diabetes is my primary reason for having this procedure. I'm so tired of dealing with it and the complications that come from all this medication. I'm trusting my doctors that I will eventually end up in the same place that I would of with the bypass.

My surgeon told me that most of his diabetic patients do get off their diabetes meds but it takes longer than the bypass patients. Instead of 2 days it's 2 to 3 months. I can wait 2 to 3 months if that means I don't have to get things rerouted and face more serious malabsorption issues. I'm sure it depends on how serious your diabetes is. Mine is controlled using a lot of medicine, no insulin. My A1C is usually between 6 and 6.3. That might be why my surgeon and endochrinoligist feel that the sleeve should knock the diabetes out.

I want to take more than a week but I also want to keep my job. I'm not telling them that I'm having this procedure either. To miss this much time for something that is technically voluntary wouldn't go over too well. I saw my pregnant wife get fired from the law firm she worked at once they found out she was pregnant 3 years ago. All of a sudden there performance issues that we never there before. Despite all the laws and protections they can still get rid of you if they want to. You can sue but when you work for a small business there is usually very little to sue for. I'll hire a taxi if I can't drive but I will be at work a week after I get this done.