mark!

So much for that whole...losing weight to find a new, healthier lifestyle eh? I think you would have been much better off not having surgery and keeping food as your drug, but that's just my opinion, which is not very high on illegal drugs or anyone who subjects themselves to them.

Me too. My weight loss spikes on heavy compound days versus lighter accessory days. During meet prep it was always hard for me to go really light the week before, I knew my weight loss would slow quite a bit.

I really like him so far. Him and his staff have been awesome. Very personable, always felt comfortable talking to him and he always has gone out of his way to answer any and all questions.

I've always thought about this in two ways. 1) I can stay morbidly obese. Develop Diabetes, congestive heart failure, kidney trouble, everything else that's run in my family and linked to diabetes, and die a slow, decaying, miserable painful death while living a life of "what might have beens" and false hopes, barely making it, barely surviving and barely able to move when I get older. 2) I can take my 1 in 500 or whatever risk, and get my life to be on track with what I want it to be. After trying every diet known to man, and working my ass off in the gym, I know I have a choice. Live an adventurous fun crazy life, or die slowly.

I'm in Rowlett, will be using Dr. Kim, at Baylor Trophy Center. I've been more than happy with Dr. Kim and his staff so far, I'm stoked about the surgery and starting to do the things I loved to do when I could. My date is Feb 28th.

I'm taking 3 weeks off, but my job is easy as far as physical stress. I'm hoping to be back in the gym within 3-4 weeks doing light stuff, hopefully.

Feb 26th for me, pre op starts Feb 12th, pretty excited.

My wife only worries I'll change and want something different, and each time I just have to take some time and remind her of what we have together and that nothing will ever mean more to me. As far as support, she's been my pillar to lean on through everything it seems. I'm only lucky SOB.

Rowlett TX, surgery date Feb 26th.

I didn't have to send in a letter of medical necessity, but each plan is different, even 2 people on the same plan number could potentially have different coverage.

My wife is actually worried about this, getting more length, or usable length at least. Right now there are times, if not careful, I'll "bottom out" and it causes some pain. Her lady parts are all normal, we've had that checked, and my parts are all normal, so we're a bit curious how things are going to pan out in the future. I do have quite a bit of a fat pouch around my fella, and I know I'll lose some of it, which is the area of concern. For me personally, I'm stoked about more visibility, especially when flaccid. Hopefully, that's where most of the show will be.

Oh crap, I didn't even think about getting one put in, but hopefully I won't have to endure it. I saw my Dad put them in and take them out during his last few weeks due to cancer, but never thought about me having to use one, ha.

My BMI was never under the requirement for surgery, but it was REALLY close one year. I sent in my weight records for 5 years instead of 2, at least that what the sheet I sent to my surgeons office had on it, showing I was well over the BMI for the other 4 years, the 1st being the one that was close. Aetna was really quick about approving my surgery, I really hope they look at everything for you and give you the nod of approval. If not, you can always file again and see if that helps. Good luck.

I have Aetna, and they were a blessing to me versus who I had before. Aetna required a 3 month nutrition/Dr meeting, once a month, a qualifying BMI OR 2 comorbidities, along with 2 years, documented weight showing I've been overweight for that amount of time, I provided a 5 year printout from my PCP showing my weight fluctuating up and down for that period. I'm not sure what the psych will be for surgery, for the fire department I used to work for and the police department I currently work for, it was basically to make sure your mind wasn't scrambled and that you had some form of common sense, and showed no signs of depression, etc. The test took forever, and the Dr was decent, but it wasn't anything crazy or major in my opinion. Nutrition consults for me where 3 months of the nutrionist telling me what we should eat, and what we should do in order to lose weight, basically everything I'd previously tried, with little/no success, to lose weight. There were a few meetings that referenced post surgery diet, those were informative. Aetna approved my claim in 5 business days after getting the paperwork to pay for my surgery, I'll pay a $4750 copay, everything else medically will be paid for $100 since I'd have met my deductible. I have my stomach exam thing left, pre op meeting with the doctor, and pre op meeting with the hospital until my surgery, which will be Feb. 26th. Good luck with everything, and trust the nurses and such at the Drs office for getting the paperwork filled out right and such for the insurance company. I was so stressed about getting approval, and the nurse who did my paperwork was very, very good at working with insurance companies and making sure all our ducks were in a row before submitting the paperwork for approval.

mark996 Hit me up, always looking for friends on there.

Well, apparently I joined here back in June but never posted anything, don't remember that, but here we go. I'm 28, I've been overweight since birth, 12 pound butterball. Played all the typical big boy sports and filled the typical big boy roles throughout my school years. Now, a married father of 3, with aspirations of becoming a patrol officer for the department I currently work for, it was time to jump ship from conventional wisdom and methods as my blood work was getting worse, family history started to bleed over in to my history, thyroid was jacked, metabolism in the crapper, I turned to lap band, and Dr. Kim here in Texas. I've always been active, I work out lifting at least 4 days a week, and do cardio hard at least 1 day, and do some sustained lighter cardio at least 1 day as well. I'm a certified NSCA-TSAC (Tactical Strength and Conditioning) coach, mostly done for my own gain but also to be able to spread knowledge to others regarding physical preparedness. I'm a competitive power lifter, and hold 2 current records in Texas. I'm an outdoors kind of guy, hunting, fishing, off roading in my big ol' truck, camping, etc. At my heaviest I was 464, 2007. At that time, I freaked out. I dieted down to around 320 with the help of a doctor on a liquid diet for a long time, but of course, it all came back. I've tried low carb/high fat (which works to drop body fat for a while and adding muscle for me wonderfully) however the weight, of course, came back. I even tried HCG, which is what my doctor felt possibly screwed my thyroid and metabolism up, but it's not totally sure, blood levels changed quite a bit from before, to after HCG. I went to Dr. Kim and had several consultations and meetings, it was determined gastric sleeve would be the better, more successful route for me, and after reading and collecting my own information, I agreed. So, after a 6 month turned in to a 3 month nutrition class (insurance changed in 2013 with lesser requirements), I was approved 5 days after a submission my Aetna insurance company for a 20,000 lifetime coverage, revisions/emergency treatment not included in that amount. My sleeve date is going to be February 26th at Baylor Trophy Club, TX. Before then of course I have my stomach scope thing, and a pre-op class along with my physical and cardio testing. I'm crazy excited about things, and the pace in which it has moved along so far. Of course I'm nervous, but way more excited versus nervous about the whole thing. My wife and family have been amazingly supportive throughout the entire process. I guess I've ranted long enough, probably too long to actually read, but I'm long winded at times, especially when typing things out. I'm hoping, obviously, for a smooth recovery and surgery experience, but I'm prepared for things to not be so great from time to time. My Dr, and his staff have been amazing, and have gotten great results from past patients, so we'll see how things go. I'll get some before shots up in my profile eventually, I have some trouble areas I'm worried about for loose skin and such, but I think overall things will work out just fine. Thanks for reading.

Thanks so much. I'm really looking forward to growing mentally with the surgery as well as getting the physical problems squared away. It's gonna be a complete make over, haha.

I've heard BCBS has great insurance, I'm hoping that what the nurses say at one of the Dr's I'm looking at are right, and that they get quick approval from UHC. In two weeks I'm gonna be busy, seeing 3 different doctors, will see which I like the best and move forward with them.

Hey everyone, Mark here from Texas. I'm 27, 370 pounds and just started realizing that I can't do this alone. I've gone from 424 to 370 over the past 5 years, up and down, back and forth and haven't been able to maintain weight loss and progress. My first seminar is later tonight, so hopefully all will go well. I'm excited/anxious/nervous at the whole process. I have a few questions though if anyone would be able to help me out. Well, really one question right now. I'm pretty sure I'll have to do the 6 month monitored weight loss program. If during that time I have moderate success, does the insurance company say ok, just keep doing that and go from there and deny the surgery?

I just called my insurance company and everything appears to be going well. I have 2 consultations set up, one will be free since the seminar was cancelled, and I'm also setting one up with Dr. Kim since he's got a very good reputation. I'll have to complete the 6 month diet. What did everyone here use for that? Did ya'll just go to a nutritionalist and work on a diet plan there? I'm working with a certified nutritionalists, and have been for a month now. Do you reckon they would allow that time to be added in to my 6 month requirement?

I too have UHC, we'll just have to see how my company has things set up. My seminar was scheduled for today, but as we were sitting there a nurse came in and said the Dr got tied up, so instead they're going to do one and one consultations for us each, so I'm happy with that. It'll likely be next week before that will take place though.

I checked my BMI after posting this, there's no way I'd be able to get under 40 BMI in 6 months. If you don't mind me asking, why did the insurance turn you down? I'm worried about the whole insurance thing, hopefully it won't be a nightmare like others have described.