paigeh93

I have always been a very active person. Throughout high school, I played basketball competitively and was able to keep my weight around 140. I graduated from high school and since I was no longer playing a sport, my weight went up to 158 which is the heaviest I had been in my life thus far.
 
After two semesters of community college, I decided I wanted to go into the Army. I lost 12 pounds before going in and once in Basic Training, I lost 30 pounds altogether. This is probably the healthiest I have ever felt in my life and when I came back, I continued to work out and try to eat as healthy as possible.
 
In November of 2012, I decided to go on Depo Provera, or the shot for birth control. By March, I had gained 50 pounds and by June, I had gone from 150 pounds to 220, the largest and most uncomfortable I have ever been. I was still active and eating generally healthy foods so there was no reason other than this birth control for my weight gain.
 
I have done Weight Watchers twice as well as been on juicing and smoothie diets multiple times. I can never get past 215. My weight just fluctuates between 215 and 227. One week I will weigh myself and be 219 and the next week, I'm 227. It's extremely difficult and really bums you out. I have been to a nutritionist and spoke to my doctor about weight loss which is when they both brought up potentially having WLS. I didn't think my weight was that bad until recently.
 
In August, I began using the Nuva Ring. I had used this for two years in high school with no problems so, I felt like it was a safe option. On September 4th, I went to the ER because I was so short of breath which is when I found out I had bilateral pulmonary embolisms. They were filling the pulmonary arteries and veins in my lungs, causing me to have trouble breathing. After blood tests, the only reason for these embolisms was my Nuva Ring and since I had been able to use them as a teenager when I was slender, my doctors believe that I had them now because of my weight. I am also having trouble getting rid of them which is causing pulmonary hypertension which my weight is also believed to have contributed.
 
I have also recently been diagnosed with asthma and obstructive sleep apnea. I'm not looking into WLS because all of these illnesses seem to be piling up all at once and I'm scared to see what's coming next.
 
I'm insured by Tricare so the only real options I have are Lap Band and RNY. At this point, I am leaning towards RNY. I'm hoping that Tricare will pay since I have a BMI of 38 and have multiple comorbidities.