BoredFatGirl

Some history: I am a 29-year-old American woman living in Denmark on a residency permit with my husband and his kids. We tried to get pregnant for a while, but after many failed attempts, we decided to bring our concerns to an OB/GYN. I was diagnosed with PCOS and was asked to lose quite a bit of weight before they would help via fertility treatments. It has been a struggle to get any assistance at all in regards to PCOS related symptoms because of my weight, never mind the fertility issues that come along with it. I decided to go for bariatric surgery, as recommended by my GP. Meetings held & requirements so far: A week prior to my meetings, I was required to get an EKG and blood test done. 12/09/2019 (141kg / 310lbs) - I had my first meeting with one of the doctors at the diabetes center. It was basically just the start of a medical journal. He got my starting weight, illnesses, medication, and allergies. I was told that I need to lose 8% of my current weight, which would put me at 129kg / 284lbs. He told me that it looked like I would be offered surgery since I met the requirements (a BMI over 35 with concurrent related diseases, which, for me, is PCOS, sleep apnea, and a history of hypertension), but I would find out on my next visit. The day before I left on vacation (12/17/2019), I weighed 136kg / 299lbs! While I had a great time visiting family, I ate way too much unhealthy food and shot back up to 142kg / 313lbs when I returned home (01/09/2020). Yikes! 😩 I managed to get the weight back off before my next visit though! 01/15/2020 (135kg /297lbs) - This was my second meeting, but this time it was with a senior doctor. He described the pros and cons of each option for surgery. Due to me having a history of occasional acid reflux and heartburn, he suggested that I go with the bypass surgery. However, he told me that I could choose for myself. I have decided to stick with what he recommended. By the end of the conversation, he offered me the surgery (as I figured at this point 😂) and set up an appointment for me to see a dietitian. He also said that my EKG and blood tests came back normal. Within two weeks of the previous meeting, I had to send in a stool sample. Upcoming meetings: 02/18/2020 - My first appointment with a dietitian. 03/06/2020 - Normally, I would be required to attend a patient seminar with other overweight people prior to surgery, but because I do not speak fluent Danish, I will have to participate in a 1-on-1 meeting with the details of how the operation takes place, how to prepare, and how to eat/live after the operation. This is a plus to me, as I am normally uncomfortable in large groups of people. As of today (01/26/2020), I weigh 133kg / 293lbs! With this current rate of weight loss, I imagine I will have met my goal weight for surgery by the time I have my first visit with the dietitian. This both delights and worries me, as I am not sure how they will take this information. I was told during the meeting with the senior doctor, that once I lost the weight, I would simply call up the clinic to tell them and I would get my surgery date some days later via email. However, the emails I received from the clinic prior to these meetings thus far have confused me, as they don't seem to suggest the same thing. Here's the list of requirements that I am still supposed to meet besides the upcoming appointments I have listed above: Lose at least 8%-12% of what I weighed the first time I visited the clinic and maintain that weight loss until the day of surgery. I need to have regular conversations (via meetings with a dietitian at the clinic or telephone) with approx. 4 week intervals to discuss: Agreements and goals for progress and weight loss Dietary changes Exercise Smoking and drinking alcohol Medical diseases Then, it says: after 3-6 months, I am to have a status interview and then a team of specialists will assess whether I can be offered an operation. 🤔 I guess what I am confused about is that I thought I was already offered the operation, but just needed to lose the required weight before I could get a date! Furthermore, if I lose the weight before my first meeting with the dietitian, would I really need to have so many more meetings after that? Eh, I guess I will make that phone call once I reach my goal weight to find out where I go from there. I am hoping it's as easy as the senior doctor said it would be during our meeting! Anyways, that's enough from me for now. I'm Steph! I recently joined the FB group and ended up finding my way onto the website. I look forward to writing with you all more in the future! Good luck, everyone! If anyone else has experienced a similar situation in the Scandinavian countries, I would love to hear what clarification you guys had gotten! And sorry if I sound totally spoiled -- I know the US insurance companies require a lot more in order to cover the operation! 🙈

The title says it all. I joined the website, saw a section in my profile where I could upload photos, and then I went gung-ho on uploading every photo I had that I felt showed my current weight. Turns out, all my photos were actually uploaded to a shared gallery for before and after pictures, which definitely wasn't my intention. I am really hoping to get them removed, even if it's a moderator that may need to make those changes. Thank you.

It was like pulling teeth to get my OB/GYN to prescribe me Metformin, as she said it wasn't meant for use outside of fertility and because of my weight, she couldn't give me the treatment. However, I found a ton of medical studies, kept pestering her, and she ended up caving. She gave me a 3 month supply of Metformin (which runs out next month, so we will have to discuss getting more soon.. Hopefully it won't be so hard for me this time). I assume the Metformin is the reason for such rapid weight loss (besides going on a mostly-keto diet since starting it). However, not too much else has changed -- I haven't even had a period in over 130+ days at this point. Thank you for the recommendations!! I was dancing for 30 mins a day to get my exercise in, but that has stopped since I came back from the states. I need to get back on it. It was a lot of fun and definitely got me to work up a sweat.

Thanks for the reply, @Catwoman7. I know the requirements differ from each insurance provider and country, so I am still not 100% on it. I will give them a call soon, though! It can't hurt to have more meetings about how to live life post-op, though. It's definitely a serious change.

Thank you! They should no longer show up in my activity feed, right?

I imagine that all of our NSVs would be considered 'weird' to those who are already in-shape. 🤭 Nevertheless, here are some weird things that I am looking forward to: Being able to cross my legs femininely. Being able to shop at a store that doesn't carry plus size clothing. Being able to feel confident about myself/body in front of people who aren't family or close friends. Being able to sleep without my CPAP machine (cya later, sleep apnea)! Being able to walk through IKEA (or even stand long enough to do the dishes) without needing a break. Being able to wrap a normal sized towel around my body. Being able to conceive and have a healthy full-term pregnancy. Being able to be more active and have more fun with my stepchildren. I am sure there are a ton more NSVs that I can't wait to achieve, though!