Erissel

It's been such a long road, which I started in June. Lost 55 lbs while waiting to fulfill all the requirements. I just met with the surgeon and scheduled my sleeve for 12/9, Friday. In the process, his secretary told me that my insurance apparently gives instant approvals to all bariatric surgery requests because due to their volume, they cannot process them all. Of course I found that out after I spent half a year worrying I would be denied. So, I thought I would post something in case someone has this insurance as well.

I have a Fitbit Alta. I charge it like once a week... and it gives me all the info I need on my wrist.

No, I would not. I've always disliked overweight men. I don't mind a bit of extra weight, or thick-boned guys, but if BMI is close to 30 or over, it's not going to work for me. For whatever reason, I've always been able to attract thin or even athletic partners despite my being overweight/obese (some times more than others) so I see no reason to go for anything but what I'm attracted to. On the other hand, it's not always about weight either... For the reasons other posters have outlined above, as a WLS patient I just wouldn't put myself into the situation of being with someone who doesn't care about their health.

I've been lurking around the forum since June, but I figured it's time I introduce myself and post my story. So, here it goes. I am currently 32 years old, 254 lbs (originally 290), married and mother to a 2.5 year old girl. Like most around here, I have struggled with my weight my entire life. A few years back I successfully managed to literally lose a whole person's worth of weight... I was 165 lbs for a brief time. I eventually got pregnant with my daughter and all the weight came back. By the time I delivered, I was 290 lbs.... three months after delivery, I weighed 264 lbs. Late last year, I became extremely depressed and my weight ballooned to 290 lbs. I eventually got treated for my depression, and in June I realized I had to do something about my weight. And so I did. I joined one of the region's most prestigious bariatric programs and aced all the requirements, dietitian appointments, etc. I dropped 26 lbs by my last mandatory appointment in August, and I have dropped another 10 since then. My goal was to lose 40 lbs by the time I had my surgery, and I am quickly approaching that... 4 lbs to go. However, one last hurdle remains to be cleared before I even get to submit for insurance approval. During the qualifying tests, I was diagnosed with mild sleep apnea and given the option to pursue treatment with a CPAP machine or an oral appliance. I chose the oral appliance because it seemed far less cumbersome than the CPAP, although much more expensive so most people did not go that route. My insurance covered most of the cost without issues, and last week I picked up my custom-made Herbst-style oral appliance. I have now been using it since then and I am glad I made this choice. This is when the problems began. Apparently, my surgeon's office has no idea what to do about my sleep apnea treatment because it is very uncommon for people to be eligible and choose an oral appliance, so they are making it up as they go. They first requested a letter from the dental office where I had the appliance made stating that it had been delivered. Once I gave them that, now they say it may not be enough and we may need to continue treating it and perform follow-up studies to determine if the appliance is effective. I am extremely frustrated about all this. I did everything right, and my progress with the surgery seems to have stalled. I was supposed to be meeting my surgeon this month and scheduling the surgery for Oct, and it doesn't seem like this is going to happen anymore. I barely even had apnea to begin with! Neither my husband nor I were aware because I never stop breathing... it's just a slight restriction on my airflow. I spoke with my surgeon's office yesterday to confirm they received the letter from my dental office, and they said they would get back to me about next steps. Last time they said that, nobody got back to me for 3 weeks until I called them! Feeling so discouraged right now. Has anyone dealt with this type of issue involving an oral appliance? If so, what was the outcome? Any advice or feedback would be appreciated....

Yes, that's correct @@KristenLe The bariatric center doesn't know whether the sleep apnea is adequately treated by the oral appliance. And to top it off, they just told me that I will be forced to use THEIR CPAP machine, whether I like it or not, for the actual surgery. Otherwise, they will not operate. Nobody got back to me today, as expected. I guess I will call them on Friday if I haven't heard anything by then....

I thought of doing that.... however, because they've just covered the oral appliance, they are not willing to cover the CPAP machine. I don't blame them... they covered 80% of nearly 5k. I don't have a couple thousand lying around to buy a CPAP machine out of pocket so I'm stuck waiting on them to figure out whether the oral appliance is "good enough". This really bugs me because they never told me before I got it that it would cause any problems. They just told me to follow whatever recommendations the sleep study place made for treatment, which I did.

Yes. That's how the sleep apnea was diagnosed. Because it was very mild, I was given the option of treating it with CPAP or an oral appliance. The sleep study place pretty much removed themselves from the equation after I told them I did not want a CPAP machine. They referred me to a dentist and told me to go get it done. So, I did. And that's where I am