onestepforward

I'm a 51 year old female, 5'3", 320 lbs. If my calculations are correct, with the surgery my weight loss will take me down to around 200 (2/3rd's of excess weight.) I will still be over weight. 135 tops the scales for average weight for my height. I'm reading that for life, I will be eating about 1 1/2 cups of food a day. If I eat more, I'll be sick. I thought I would loose more weight. I was hoping to at least get to 150lbs. With 1 1/2 cups of food a day, how is it that I won't be "very thin"?

I'm in the begining stages of proceeding with the bypass surgery. My doctor talked about having the surgery using a robot. She said she'd have a better view, it would look as if she was inside my body not a 2d picture on a screen. And it showed that studies indicated some patients were experience less pain after the surgery because the doctors weren't using their arm muscles to do the surgery - less jiggling of internal organs. One of my concerns is that she would be offsite during the operation. What would happen if something went wrong?

I think because of our budget problems, medicad won't cover the surgery anymore. So that leaves me with Medicare only. I haven't called them yet, but the doctor didn't seem to indicate that it would be a problem to get approved. I guess my question is if anyone could share their share of costs experience with Medicare. I'm not sure I can afford the surgery because it's so expensive, especially when you include all the preop work that needs to be done. Any infor on how to find extra funding would also be much appreciated.

The fact that insurance might not cover hadn't hit my rader! Thanks. I'm not sure if it's my axiety about surgery or if my doctor and I aren't a great fit. I'm going to Alta Bates in Oakland Ca, which had a excellent reputation, but I'm begining to feel like a number, not a person.

I appreciate everyone's comments. I can tell the support on this site is going to be awesome! I attended the nutrition and excercise class yesterday and learned that my circumstances may limit me to the sleeve bypass surgery. Not really the choice I was looking at. I'll continue to post my journey and seek your support. We may laugh and we may cry, but together we will succeed.