860971

Hello. My surgery is on 01/14/16. I too have been lugging around my "get me to bariatric surgery backpack" literally 20-25 pounds of test results,food logs, seminar papers and everything possible to prove I am in need of the procedure for over 14 years. I came close 3 times however two times I had to care for my ailing parents which both passed. The third was having to have an emergency surgery. My MD suggested waiting 6 months for another surgery since the last one was hard on my body. Once ready the insurance said all pre approval appts and attempts had to be in the last 6 months. I was stuck in a catch22. I had a hard time finding a surgeon that I liked and was comfortable with. Once I found him another roadblock, he came down with a neurological problem and stopped practicing the day he found out. The other problem for me was my weight varied from a BMI of 41.0 to 39.8 when starting the program only to have my BMI go close to 38 and be told I lost "too much weight". I finally found a doctor who said that is a bunch of BS. That is the sole reason most people need the surgery. Most can lose some weight but most gain that back plus more. After calling the insurance to let them know my trials and failures and that the bariatric team wanted me to repeat the program again she was upset. She said that the insurance could have covered the surgery twice over. She called the team and within the hour I had a surgery date. I stood frozen, scared, excited and hopefully. I am on Facebook and have found a person who agreed to privately converse since I too have not announced that I am having this procedure done. I have only told a handful of people, the ones that truly care about me and support my decisions. There were a few I told that I knew were against it and didn't understand but how I approached it was saying "even though I value your opinion, there is something I want to tell you but all I need from you is for you not to judge or criticize me but support me." There was silence after I uttered those words but thankfully everyone I chose to tell but their tongues very well. Those that have gone thru my struggle for years 10+years are excited for me and my new life.