6'1 260lbs High BP Candidate?

[madhattr 5]

Looking for advice or recommendations. 6'1, 260 lbs. I have high blood pressure. No other documented conditions. Never had a sleep study, etc. I have anxiety and moods are up and down daily. Family has a history of being obese. I work a rotating 12 hour schedule which wreaks havoc on an eating regimen. I have tried Keto, low carb/high Protein, exercise. It yoyos. I work in a control room in front of monitors for the whole 12 hours. I know it sounds crazy, but it physically fatigues me. I come home dead tired. Wife had gastric bypass 8 months ago and has done perfect and has lost 80 lbs. Father was 525 lbs and had his a few years back and is 240 lbs. now. I am tired of living to eat and would love to get to the point I eat to live. I'm just not sure if I am a candidate for WLS or am I going to be told to stick with trying different weight loss methods until I find one that works? I am going to an initial weight loss consult next week to hear about different options and not even sure if it's something that insurance would approve. I would even consider self pay in Mexico, if I was a candidate. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[frust8 963]

Lady out. But at your weight you are obese, will you get surgery? In US you're probably need more comorbidities, In Mexico they would probably do it. Ask Dr Illan at BariatricPalMX or Bill Yanez there. They have a National City California # so it's not an international call.

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[madhattr 5]

Weird, all of the BMI calculators I have used online show a little under the 35 mark. That was the reason for my question on being able to qualify. Am I seeing or reading the charts wrong?

[Healthy_life2 8,324]

32 minutes ago, madhattr said:

Looking for advice or recommendations. 6'1, 260 lbs. I have high blood pressure. No other documented conditions. Never had a sleep study, etc. I have anxiety and moods are up and down daily. Family has a history of being obese. I work a rotating 12 hour schedule which wreaks havoc on an eating regimen. I have tried Keto, low carb/high Protein, exercise. It yoyos. I work in a control room in front of monitors for the whole 12 hours. I know it sounds crazy, but it physically fatigues me. I come home dead tired. Wife had gastric bypass 8 months ago and has done perfect and has lost 80 lbs. Father was 525 lbs and had his a few years back and is 240 lbs. now. I am tired of living to eat and would love to get to the point I eat to live. I'm just not sure if I am a candidate for WLS or am I going to be told to stick with trying different weight loss methods until I find one that works? I am going to an initial weight loss consult next week to hear about different options and not even sure if it's something that insurance would approve. I would even consider self pay in Mexico, if I was a candidate. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Best of luck to you. The consult will answer if you are a good candidate for weight loss surgery. You might want to contact your insurance provider to see if you have coverage.

[Todd_196 28]

Your best bet is to go to an information event with a surgeon to see what the real facts are for you. Often they are free.

[madhattr 5]

Ok. I will be attending an information event next week to get further info. Just wasn't sure if I would be wasting mine and their time. Kinda nervous on how they would look at someone with my stats. Thank you.

[defibvt 348]

I, like you had high blood pressure, a family history of obesity, diabetes and both parents with cardiac disease. I did my sleeve in Mexico, as my insurance specifically denied coverage to weight loss surgery. I did this for me, for my future, for my health and as a gift to my future me, who will live a healthy long life! Good luck on your journey!

[frust8 963]

Any updates madhattr on your Weight loss search? Did you go to your information meeting?[emoji6]

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[madhattr 5]

14 hours ago, frust8 said:

Any updates madhattr on your Weight loss search? Did you go to your information meeting?

Sent from my VS880PP using BariatricPal mobile app

I was instantly approved in Mexico with Dr. Illian. Mexico would have to be all self paid so I thought I would inquire locally and have insurance pay 100% and be treated here if anything was to go wrong afterwards. The worst they could say was no. They couldn't take away my birthday or anything. I went to the initial session and turned in all the paperwork required for them to review. They called me less than a week later and said I was approved and my insurance was approved. I go this Friday for my first appointment. They said I was sitting right on the 35 BMI mark. I'm not sure how it will go from here, but I'm optimistic. My insurance requires the six month waiting period. I'm not sure if they will make me lose weight or.....? Losing weight would bring me under the 35 number and I'm not sure how that's viewed. Learn as I go. I'll try to update more as I go along. Thanks for asking!

[frust8 963]

Good,i was afraid your only recourse was going to be the gastric balloon and they are only good for 6 months and probably wouldn't give the results you needed. Full speed ahead to victory- -my friend![emoji12]

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[elforman 234]

53 minutes ago, madhattr said:

Losing weight would bring me under the 35 number and I'm not sure how that's viewed.

The insurance company is only concerned with your starting BMI and your ability to stick to the pre-op diet as proof that you can stick to a difficult regimen. You'll be fine.

[madhattr 5]

17 minutes ago, elforman said:

The insurance company is only concerned with your starting BMI and your ability to stick to the pre-op diet as proof that you can stick to a difficult regimen. You'll be fine.

That's awesome. That relieves me a little. Thanks for the info. It makes me nervous because I have no doubt that I will lose on the pre-op diet. It's the yo-yoing that has happened to me throughout my life that bothers me. As I'm getting older, it's getting harder and harder to lose it. The lowest I've ever got to in over 20 years is 205-210 lbs. and that was being very restrictive, 2 hours in the gym almost daily and a manufacturing job on my feet for 8+ hours daily. I hope I can get back to that regimen one day, but I definitely don't have it now.

Edited March 27, 2018 by madhattr

[ProudGrammy 8,322]

1 hour ago, madhattr said:

worst they could say was no

@madhattr

"Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained" (mom always said that)

good for you that you checked with your insurance - all systems go.

great WLS history with your dad and wife having had surgery. wife

especially can be a good motivator/helper since she is PO few months.

good luck

kathy

[madhattr 5]

48 minutes ago, proudgrammy said:

@madhattr

"Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained" (mom always said that)

good for you that you checked with your insurance - all systems go.

great WLS history with your dad and wife having had surgery. wife

especially can be a good motivator/helper since she is PO few months.

good luck

kathy

Yeah, she's my rock. I've learned tons from watching her journey. She will definitely be my go to. I'm very proud of her. She's lost 83 lbs. so far.

[aNYCdb 310]

On 3/8/2018 at 3:47 PM, madhattr said:

Weird, all of the BMI calculators I have used online show a little under the 35 mark. That was the reason for my question on being able to qualify. Am I seeing or reading the charts wrong?

Well insurance usually only covers you if you are morbidly obese, meaning you have either a BMI of 40+ or a BMI of 35+ with two or more co-morbidities. If you are self paying I think you shouldn't have a problem getting a surgeon to do the surgery (I think they generally expect a BMI of 32+).