Will They Deny Me?

[Failure 32]

Would I get denied a surgery from having mental issues if I am paying out of pocket?

[lovealways 22]

Mental issues in terms of what diagnosis? If you elaborate more, I can help

[Failure 32]

Borderline personality disorder. If I am paying out of pocket, do I even have to mention something like that? Is it wrong not to if they don't ask (though I'm sure they would, unless they don't require psych eval)?

[chitowngirl 886]

A lot of doctors require psych evaluations because that is what insurance companies require. You may be able to skip that part. I have a friend who had a gastric bypass, the psychologist wanted him to have additional sessions before she would clear him. He was so anxious that he just went to Mexico and paid to have the procedure out of pocket. I feel he lost the opportunity to learn positive new coping mechanisms, as now that he is 6 years out he has gained about 70% of his weight back.

[Failure 32]

I certainly plan on having a therapist or someone to talk to just before and regularly afterwards. I am going to be seeing if maybe I can find someone who might have experience with talking to people who have had WLS. So I do plan on keeping in check in that department but I was just wondering of they had the potential to deny me the surgery for a mental issue.

I am usually pretty good with setting goals and sticking to them. Just obviously as us all have, weight loss isn't one of the successful ones I go through. Ha. But I mean I set out for college and came out with 2 degrees in honors, which was a #1 for me since both my father and older sister are poor examples for school related things. So its not like my BPD is as limiting as it may sound when it comes to success. I am never too proud to admit when its a good idea to talk to a professional and I fully intend to for this.

[lovealways 22]

You should be fine as long as your BPD is stabilized with either meds or therapy. I think any type of mental illness can increase in severity after this surgery if not kept in check before and after. Since you are self-pay, I don't think you should have too much of a problem. Good luck

[LaBelle509 326]

I am self pay as well and the eval did not get in the way. But I do need to learn new coping skills. Since you are in North Fort Myers, I live in Naples, look into: Therapy For Women LLC Her name is Brenda R. Deere, she's is a coach in weight loss for women. Including WLS, obesity, coping skills, eating disorders, binge eating, anxiety, depression and much more. I am set to see her on Friday. Check back with me, I'll be happy to share my meeting with you. You can also check her website.

[Failure 32]

LaBelle509 thanks so much! Would you mind my asking if it is very expensive to talk to her? I do not have insurance so I do have a budget on what I can afford to pay with saving up for pre-op testing. I would love to hear how it goes so I will definitely be checking in.

@FutureSleeved To be honest the way I have gotten over a lot of the hurdles and common symptoms of BPD has been self help. Around 19 I was seeing a therapist and she was great at listening and suggesting things to try for coping but I couldn't afford to see her for a while and had to do it on my own, so I started purchasing a few books by some specialists on self help for BPD and fully understanding about myself and the disorder and very important steps for coping. It turns out that all along I have been doing a coping method that they use as one of their first to try in dealing with the noisy thoughts and I didn't even know it. I've just always done it. And I have read in some places although I'm not sure on the accuracy but I've read that BPD is not a chemically induced disorder but more a learned behavioral reaction to young childhood trauma. So it has been known for people as they age older up into their 30's and so forth to totally come out of the behavior and live somewhat normal lives. I don't know the truth in this but either way I feel that I am mostly in check. I made a very long blog post the other day about my obstacles and overcoming a lot of things that I haven't done in many years now and don't find myself having any itches to do those things at all. I'm pretty proud of myself.

Maybe finding this forum about VSG came at the right time in my life where I am truly mentally capable of handling something like this, not necessarily on my own of course but I mean in general. I do still plan on talking to someone before and after.

[joyful noise 101]

I am being treated for bi-polar. The psych evaluation went smoothly. She said if I was stable on my meds, it was ok with her, but to make sure the psychiatrist adjusts the dosage as I lose weight.

[Failure 32]

I'm not on any medications at this time. But when I had my consultation they actually didn't require any psych eval. They strongly encouraged me to talk to someone before and after the surgery but they did not "require" it.