rentheadperson

Hey everyone, I'm new here and this is my first post. And I'm so glad to see people in my same situation. Anyway, here's a little background info about me. I'm 28, diabetic, have severe sleep apnea, thyroid issues, asthma, anemia, and degenerative disc disease in my lower back. I'm 5'2" and weigh 432lbs (I don't look quite that heavy--I've always been way heavier than I look for some reason). I was told that puts my BMI at 79. I was about 230 two years ago when my endocrinologist took me off of Metformin and put me on insulin instead (I'm now on two different kinds of insulin). And all of a sudden I gained a TON of weight, really fast. I also have kind of high cholesterol, and my doctor also initially decided to put me on cholesterol medication. The number one side effect of this medication was muscle pain and weakness, and that exaggerated my back issues to the point where it was agony to walk from my apartment to my car. He took me off the medication when I told him about that, but my back has never been the same since. I've had a bilateral lumbar ablation (I literally had the nerve endings burned off of my lower spine) and several hormone injections into my spine, not to mention MONTHS of physical therapy, to try to get my back better, but it's done almost nothing. I live in constant pain so bad that I don't even want to get out of bed most days. I'm only saying this to help you understand that it's not that I don't want to exercise; for me it's literally near impossible. My back pain is so bad that I basically have no life at all. Anyway, I've tried dieting and doing Weight Watchers and My Fitness Pal. But doing that literally makes me starve myself and frankly I've already severely cut back on my portions. I know I NEED to lose weight because it will help with my health issues and my back pain, but I'm having a hard time doing it on my own. I talked to my PCP and requested a referral to the bariatric surgery department in my health care system. I did the online seminar and requested a consultation, but they called me back and told me that they wouldn't even consider seeing me until I lost 90 pounds. Because of my back issues making it near impossible to exercise, I know I can't lose that kind of weight without help, likely surgical help. At this point, I'm so frustrated and I don't know what to do. I'm not rich by any means. Honestly, even with my employer-provided insurance, which covers my medications under a prescription plan, most of my paycheck still goes to paying for my medicine and CPAP machine. My insurance covers weight loss surgery, but that won't do a darn thing for me if I can't find a doctor who will do the surgery. Any help or advice is welcome at this point. Thanks.