Losing too much weight prior to surgery???

[britt3400 0]

Hi all! My name is Brittany. I recently went to my seminar, and my first consultation is in a couple weeks. My insurance is requiring that I complete a 6-month evaluation. I have never had a problem with LOSING weight, but keeping it off is another issues. I have lost over 100lbs and gained it back twice as fast as I lost it.

What I am wondering is, if there is a possibility of losing too much weight in the 6 month period, and possibly not being able to get the surgery because of it. I still don't know how all this works so any information would help me tons. Right now my BMI is around 44, but I'm worried about losing weight and it going under 40 before the surgery. Has anyone else had issues with this? Like I said, any information would help me tons :redface:) :redface:

[Mimilou2004 13]

You do run the risk of losing too much wt to continue to qualify so it would be good to find out exactly what your insurance requirements are.

Good luck,

Mimi

[epix 0]

What insurance do you have?

I just started the process and worried about this myself. I applied back in '04 when I was 19 and was denied when I was at a weight of 425lb. After that I tried to lose what I could by myself and lost 200lbs in about 18 months but have regained pretty much all of it since then. Have tried losing again but it's just a yo-yo with my weight.

Have my first consultation this Friday so we'll see how it goes.

[btrieger 21]

Ditto on losing weight easily and gaining it back with interest.

I specifically have asked the people in my surgeons office which weight they send to the insurance company for approval. I asked them more than a half dozen times and always got the same answer, they send starting weight.

I was approved last week and will be having surgery on March 2.

Check with your surgeon's office and your insurance company.

If you can get a head start, do it. Don't wait around stuffing your face for 6 months like too many do.

[britt3400 0]

My insurance is Aetna, and that's exactly what I've heard from other people.

Most say that the doctor's only send the starting weight so I'm going to start this thing early and hopefully when I go into surgery I will have already lost a lot of weight.

Also, does anyone know whether you get the approval BEFORE or AFTER the 6-month observation period?

[btrieger 21]

Also, does anyone know whether you get the approval BEFORE or AFTER the 6-month observation period?

Your insurance company is not going to even know about the surgery until all or the prerequisites, including the 6 month supervised diet are complete and your surgeon's office sends the approval packet to them.

[Gone23456 0]

My surgeon's office also sends starting weight. By the day of surgery I was down around 60 pounds.

[Daney 0]

I actually went through this same thing, when I started the 6 month program I was at 267 with a BMI of 42 I believe. After two or three months of the program I lost 25 lbs and the doctor told me I was under the required BMI at 39 but since I had back problems it was okay, but that I should be careful losing much more since they may not cover me. So I did the stupid thing and stopped working out and whatnot, I have not gained any back but with the fear of possibly gaining it back and not being able to have the surgery I have simply maintained the weight and lost a few pounds here and there, about a month ago with my current weight of 235 and a BMI of 36 I was approved and tomorrow is my pre-op appointment for surgery this month.

[mngirl0044 0]

My doctor's office used my original weight from my first appointment. I had to go through the entire 6 months before my information was sent to my insurance company. However, my doctor's office had the entire routine down.

Keep in mind that in the eyes of the insurance company 28 days = 1 month, so it's not a true 6 months!!!

Also, I had Blue Cross Blue Shield and I was approved 2 days after they recieved my information!