maclynn

I have been obese most of my life since childhood. After years of dieting, I finally gave up and figured I'd always be overweight. This was in my 30's. Then when I was 38, my sister introduced me to the Atkins diet. I lost 60 pounds and kept it off for about seven years. Then I slowly saw the weight creep back. When I recieved a bad cholesterol test back, I finally asked my PCP if I was a lap band candidate since I didn't have 100lbs to lose. She did the calculations and said yes, my BMI was over 40 and I had high blood pressure and cholesterol. She referred me to the Sinai Bariatric center. After calling them, I found that I had to attend a seminar, which I immediately signed up for. I also contacted my insurance company and was thrilled to find that they covered bariatric surgery. I was not so thrilled with the 6 month required physician supervised diet and exercise program required before they would cover it. So while I attended the seminar in July '08, they could not submit the documentation for approval until February '09. It was approved within two weeks and I had my surgery set for May '09.