DylanRae

Quick update on me.. Now after several phone calls an all sorts of other miscommunication. I should be denied or approved by the end of the week... My tummy is in knots. it totally sucks!

So.... When is your date??! Is everything going smoothly? How about your pre op diet? And did they suggest a protein powder for you?

It's true, I am. The past three years I have been learning about WLS. The past three months I have been trying to get approved for WLS. I can feel the windows of opportunity close as I exhaust every plan if action. I'm feeling defeated.

Thanks. I know that I'm a good advocate for myself, and if there is even the slightest chance Of me getting it I will.. But it still fucking sucks! Not to mention that when I told my grandfather about my choices his first sentence was "yeah or you could just get healthy, may I pray for you?" Sure.. Grandpa whatever you say. Let me inform those of you who don't know, my grand mother died because she was overweight and severely diabetic. His daughter is on the fast track to the same grave. And now his granddaughter is using every resource she can think of in order to live past 59 years old. (Yes that is how old my gran mother was when she died) I really appreciate the kind words. Keep them coming.. I still have a bunch of time until I can feel healthy. And if anyone else wants to grumble with me, please join me. I appreciate it! Dylan

I absolutely love the Seahawks! I was born and raised in the 206. There has never been a team that I have been more connected to in my life. Not to mention that I am not even into football.. Or any sport for that matter. But I will always root my home team! I and I excited and happy about the Super Bowl. I love that nearly a million people came out to support the team today down on 4th ave. I simply wish I was not one of them. Yes again I love love love the Seahawks!!! But I absolutely hate crowds. I was so stupid to think that I could push my way through from 5th to 3rd to get to a bus stop that would get me home. Anxiety attack from hell. I got downtown at 12:20. And finally on a bus home at 3. And yes I was at a bus stop the whole time. I love you seattle but never again.

Hey ladies and jents... I have been trolling around all the threads that catch my attention, and every once in a while I catch someone referring them-self as on the losers bench because they have had WLS... What is up with that!? I'm not sure I Like this sort of nick name. As overweight people, we where always picked on and left out of things. We where the plague in school and all we could do was go home and cry about it... Or whatever it was we did to make ourselves feel better. But now we are calling ourselves losers?? I understand the whole owning our oppression stuffs. But it still is not healthy to be constantly putting negative language into our bodies when we are trying so hard to be healthy. It sounds counterproductive to me. Please someone explain how we got this name and why. Is there something I am missing?

Thanks for clearing that up for me. Heh.

Oh!!!! That makes more sense!!! Wow, can't believe I didn't see that on my own.. I feel smart.

My boyfriend... Was apprehensive to say the least. I had already been debating on WLS for years before we met. My girlfriend was concerned but also supportive her main concern was the years fallowing surgery and keeping up with the weight loss. My best friend was worried but supportive after she met another person who has a successful WLS story. I was extremely nervous to tell my family about it but I finally did during a holiday family gathering. Once I fully told everyone my decision, I got the overwhelming reaction of "we just want you to be healthy and happy." I cried with tears of relief. A friend of mine had surgery several years ago and she decided to keep it a secret. Which is fine. I personally am such a loud person that keeping this big of a secret would be impossible for me. I also decided to yell it out loud, because the more I hide it the more shame and disapproval I am feeding to the beast so to speak. The more out I am about it the less room others have to be against me, and the more room for others to be for me. Yes, not everyone is educated on the stuff but that is when you find a trusted source that has an article about WLS and share it on their Facebook. Anyway, personal choices, we all have them. Being out and proud is the way I was raised, and the way I will continue to live.

Great! That's a lot of great information. Thanks.

Woohoo!!! I have foun out that My insurance has changed... So it's inly a matter of time before I am approved! Woot! Are you excited,. Or nurvous.. What are you feeling.

Hey shey! How goes it????

I'm curious.... I have not had surgery, not even approved... YET! But I notice you guys talking about how much trouble you have with the Water intake... I was curious what exactly is the water intake... Because other than an occasional fruit drink once a week at most, I only drink water and lots of it...

I am ashamed to admit it, But I am clearly self sabotaging. A little back story. For the last three years I have been educating myself about all the W.L.S. options out there. I have now decided that the sleeve is for me. So in December I contact my doctor. My doctor sends a referral out to the barbaric clinic. I find out that I don't qualify because I do not have some sort of weight dependent disorder/disease/diagnosis. But before I am officially denied, I learn that I am "pre-Diabetes". Along with this, my joint problems have only gotten worse, and there is more and more symptoms leading us to believe that I am on the fast track to sleep apnea. Also, now that I am "Pre-Diabetes" There is this more focused thought about how to keep me from actually getting diabetes. Frankly I am surprised I don't already have it. All the women on my mom's side of the family have it, and have had it since their late teens. I am 22, almost 23. I am 5'3" at 265 pounds, with a BMI of about 46.... My symptoms are getting worse, and all I want to do is have the surgery so that I can truly do what every doctor I have ever had has told me to do... "lose weight". Now along with all of this, of course I have unsuccessfully attempted several types of diets. But more so, in the last three years I have completely changed my normal food intake.. I don't like to call it a diet, because it is more then that. I literally changed everything I did about eating. I have not had a soda, or any kind of carbonated drink in over 2 years. I have only eaten the most expensive, all natural and organic fruits, veggies, AND meats. I have not had bread or any sort of wheat product in over a year. I have forgotten what ice cream and other desert like foods taste like. I rarely have any sort of dairy at all. And when ever I am hungry, I drink a full Water bottle.. (of filtered water), before deciding to have a snack or meal. I have not only changed my eating habits, but I have changed other intake habits as well. I stopped smoking cigarettes over two years ago, and weed even longer then that. Binge drinking or drinking till I am tipsy is a thing of the past, I have spent the last two new years 100% sober and LOVE IT! If I drink now, it is sharing an Angry Orchard with my dinner mate. Yes, all of this and I am still not losing any weight. And yet I still get a Kidney stone last winter because I have to much OR not enough Calcium, my doctor does not know which. Yes I needed surgery to get it removed. Need I remind you that I am 22 years old. On top of this, I have a medium case of PCOS. I don't ever have periods, and I need to take tweezers to my chin at least once a week. I completely shave my bellybutton in the shower. My current form of birth control is the Implinon... the little match stick thing that they stick in your arm. I have had this for about three months now. Before that I had an IUD, I had that for a whole two years until it completely disappeared. Yes x-rays, cat scans and all sorts of different ultrasounds where done to confirm that this IUD was for sure MIA. Before that I had the Nuva Ring, which I really liked because I could control when I had a period very precisely. But since I was smoking at the time, they advices me to take something that has less of a risk of blood clots. So here I am, now waiting for my appeal to my denial, be approved. I got a letter in the mail last week telling me that they needed an additional 30 days to consider my case. After talking with several nurses and doctors, literally the only thing holding back an automatic yes, is the fact that I am not diabetic. Apparently pre-diabetic does not count. This is where the shame and self sabotage comes in. In the last two weeks, since my appeal was sent in, I have been eating things I know I should not eat, things that I have not eaten in years, and eating LARGE amounts of it. If I am really that close to being diabetic, why not take the next month to tear the shit out of my body, so that I can get this stupid approval and then be on the road to a healthy happy life?? The biggest downside.. is that as I eat the half gallon of ice cream, I remember all the "pleasure" it use to give me. This is bad. As I eat a turkey sandwich on White .99 cent bread, I am anticipating making and eating two more. I am simply just so angry that I am trying to do everything I can to save my own life. To avoid losing my eye sight and 6 toes like my grand mother, and take action now, and the doctors are still fighting me with this! Its another case of, "just loose the weight" If only it where that easy!!!! GRRRRRRR!! Am I in the wrong for wanting to push my health for the worst just to be approved for surgery? What can I do instead to help my chances of being approved? Have you found yourself in a similar situation???

Thanks Everyone! At the very least this allows me to take a breath and really have ownership for my choices lately. I have lead a very angry life up until recently and it is hard for me to be ok with letting myself become that angry again. I do understand that anger is often enough momentum for us to push through. I am hesitant to say that it is the route I should take. Working the system is something I happen to be very good at. Skills you acquire many different ways, I happened to acquire that skill from being in the foster care system most of my teen years. One thing that I have learned when working "the system" is getting angry will only hinder your efforts. If you have ever gone into the DMV and yelled at the state worker for spelling your name wrong, or charging you thousands of dollars for a reprint of your ID, chances are that, you also only experienced a longer more frustrating time there at the DMV. I have come to learn that this is the case in nearly any and ALL large offices of business. Weather it is banks, Post office, Collage or any school administration AND Financial office. This happens even at the customer service desk at your grocery when your check bounces.. ALL of these places and more, getting angry only hurts your chances at getting what you want in a timely manor. And for me, being angry is just a lot of work that ends up backfiring on me anyway. I love your kind words, and advice. I appreciate where your words are coming from. I am also glad that I am not the only one who has ever felt this way. But I am not satisfied with simply getting angry as a solution to getting better. Mostly because Anger then feeds all sorts of other emotions that are just as negative. And to me, getting angry and using that anger as fuel for my behavior is the same as getting sad allowing those emotions fuel my bad eating habits. Either way it is unhealthy, and going the opposite direction, long term then staying logical, and continuing to jump through the hoops of the system.. :/ I don't know, maybe I am all wrong and twisted up about it. All I know is that, I have been angry before, all it did was give me several medical bills and suicide attempts.. That is not a road I am willing to go down again. :/

I am currently working on my undergrad.. Still Undeclared.. And I have yet to be approved for surgery, let alone worry about recovery time. I am on average taking 15 credits every quarter, and have a solid 3.5 GPA.. Staying on track with my grades and my education in general is extremely important to me. But my weight and my potential for W.L.S. is also very important to me.. I did not realize that it took most of you a month and a half to recover... I was only expecting a week or two, simply because its generally a one day sugary appointment. As in you are home the same day of your surgery. If surgery is that "easy", then why would recovery be much different? Anyway, this gives me a lot to think about. I am definitely curious on seeing if I could wait to do surgery, or time it out perfectly between breaks. (even though I do not have a break that is a month and a half long.) If I had my way, I would have surgery ASAP, and then continue to attend class as I could, with the negotiation with my teachers. For example, Do all home work, turn it in every week, and show up to classes where tests are being taken, at the very least. If there are days I am feeling particularly better then expected, then go to school. Its really easy for me to commute back and forth. IDK if that would actually work or not.. but it would be cool if it did.

It is covered but under strict rules, most of which I am covered on. It's a close but no cigar sorta situation. The one thing I don't have is the one thing I'm trying to avoid by using the surgery as a tool. Very annoying. Still waiting to hear back.

Thanks! Yeah I know that it is covered under my plan, but I will still have to pay co-pays and that sort of thing. It comes out to be about 500$. I got a letter the other day saying that the appeal team or who ever they are have requested an extra 30 calendar days on top of their basic 2 weeks. They said in the letter that if they need more time then they can have a total of 15 days with written consent from me. I'm freaking out a little, is the fact that they need more time to look it over a good thing? Because they are not just shooting me down as quickly. Or am I going to end up just as disappointed at the en of this anyway. I feel like if I could get someone on the phone who had any weight on the decision then I would have a running chance. I don't sound very good on paper. Anyway, I'm glad I'm not the only GH person. Thanks.

Hello, Ok, I have a problem. I am fighting tooth and nail with my insurance, like most people I see on here do. I have Group Health insurance.. so I am lucky in the sense that I don't have to worry about my insurance miscommunicating with my doctors.. They all are the same people.. At the same time I am unlucky because this means I am restricted to all of Group Health's rules and whatever else. Ok here is my story see if you can offer any assistance. In mid December, I asked my doctor to send in a referral to the bariatric clinic for me to have Weight Loss Surgery. For the following 2 and a half weeks I called in seeing what the process was, and where they where on approving me. I had little doubt that I would not be approved, but was anxious anyway. According to my insurance, you have to have a BMI higher then 40. I do I have 42, and slowly growing. You have to have tried at least 2 different weight loss programs in the past. I have, Vision Quest 'Biggest loser', and Jenny Craig. Not to mention, I have been on the Beyond Diet, all with very little success. And last, *this is where I get a little lost* I have to have one or more of the following diagnosis.. (off the top of my head) Diabetes, High blood pressure, sleep apnea, Hypertension, arthritis.. and a few others. The reason I am confused: some nurses have told me that I do not need this qualification if my BMI is higher then 40 which it is. I only need it if I am below 39... and other nurses saying that, I absolutely have to have all the requirements listed above. I do not have any of the diagnosis they list. But more then half of them are things that are on my doctor's radar. For example, all the woman on my mom's side of the family have diabetes. It is a mixture of type one and two.. (part of that might be misdiagnosis simply because my great grandmother did not have the same doctor resources that I do) I am now diagnosed with what they call PRE-diabetes.. which apparently does not count enough. Second, I have (in the last year) been under careful watch for sleep apnea. That also runs in my family, and my symptoms are only getting worse. There are several others. All of them, I am close but not close enough, according to the list of diagnosis I have to have to qualify. So, back to the waiting.. I finally get a letter saying that I am denied. And spend hours on the phone trying to find out who I can talk to to get this changed. Or at least will tell me what I need to do in order to get this request approved. After several round about conversations, I finally send in a second request, with my appeal. In my appeal I explain in detail how, my life will benefit from this surgery, and after care. I talk about how the whole reason why I am pushing for it so hard is because I do not want to get the listed diagnosis... when there is proven medical record in the last year alone, that my symptoms are getting worse, and possible causing other issues. It is now the end of week one, after sending in that letter, and I am feeling less hopeful this time. What sort of things can I use in my advantage to get this approval happening?!?! Please any advice is helpful. Dylan

Hi, I'm Dylan... Seattle, Wa. I am in the waiting for approval phase. Looking for someone who had struggles with getting their sleeve approved, but finally did get it approved. I have already been denied once, and have sent in an appeal. I am now waiting to hear the verdict on the appeal. I am noticing some bad habits forming on my end.. and wondering if they are reasonable or not.. :/

Agreed. If you don't already, talk to a counselor who is experienced with food disorders. Not saying you have one, but getting another member on board with getting you heathy can only make things better. I would fear that if this feeling of guilt continues after you have lost a good portion of your goal, then this could quickly turn dangerous. Of course we all are here and can be as supportive as we can be, but again, I think it is a great idea to go and seek out professional council. Hope you take this as a friendly suggestion. Dylan