25yrs old. Down 20lbs pre-op with 7/23/18 surgery date. Looking for advice/thoughts

[Lucas 7]

I’m a 5 foot 11 inch tall 25 year old male who is scheduled for the gastric sleeve surgery on July 23^rd. I had my consultation with the surgeon on February 22^nd and he stated I do not need to lose any weight before surgery. My dietitian said the same thing and to continue the diet I have been on since December. I have lost 20 pounds in the last 3 months by changing my diet to much cleaner foods and walking my dog for roughly 30 minutes a day. I was 278lbs December 19^th 2017 and now on April 2^nd I weigh in at 258lbs. I cut out almost all carbs and artificial sweets in the morning and replaced them when egg white omelets with cut up vegetables and half a cup of oatmeal with honey and raisins. lunch & dinner consist of vegetables, high Protein beans/rice/lentils & lean meats. I try to stay away from sandwiches due to the bread and their favorite sidekick, chips. I have also cut down my dairy intake by about 90% and avoid pastas. I don’t have a sweet tooth so candy and soda consumption have never been an issue for me. I’m more of a greasy burger and cheesesteak with fry’s and ketchup kind of guy. My general practitioner believes this surgery is a bit extreme and unwarranted due to my age and state of health. I do not have diabetes, show signs of pre-diabetes, sleep apnea (never been tested), or constant high blood pressure for it to be an issue. My family background does consist of type 2 diabetes on my mother’s side as recent as my aunt. High blood pressure and cholesterol is evident on my father’s side as well but no diabetes. I have recently graduated from college and am no longer in that unhealthy atmosphere of drinking alcohol and poor eating choices. I want to cement a solid foundation from here on out to live a healthy and happy life and am looking for any advice on my situation with this surgery choice and/or any questions for me that I may have not asked myself. I appreciate your time reading this and hope to hear from anyone out there in regards to their thoughts or recommendations for me.

[wjgo 272]

You seem to be on track.
When they say you done need to loose weight before the surgery, that are talking from an insurance point of view. So excited insurances require a weight loss, or used to. It's best to do your diet, create a habit, and even teadjust your metabolism, the more weight you loose now, should mean a faster path to your personal target weight.
I didn't have to loose weight either before surgery. But I did and that made me 40 lbs closer to my target. Forming habits pre-op can only help. My program is centered around not just surgery, but education, and forming good habits. Some of the education is "duh" but I take it more seriously.

Sent from my XT1609 using BariatricPal mobile app

[aNYCdb 310]

I guess the question I have is a monetary one based on your BMI and lack of co-morbidities it sounds unlikely that insurance would be picking up the tab for this. Does that mean you are planning on paying out of pocket? Not that there is anything wrong with that, but you don't seem to fit the classic definition of "morbidly obese." That said I was also in a similar borderline position and I've found the surgery to be a helpful tool that I can use for my long term health.

Edited April 2, 2018 by aNYCdb

[aNYCdb 310]

whoops.

Edited April 2, 2018 by aNYCdb

[Lucas 7]

Those are my general practitioner's thoughts in regasds to me not fitting the bill of patients that have this procedure done. I do see it as a great tool to maintain a healthy weight and never get back up in the high 200lbs once I get older and health consequences get larger. As for insurance, it would be covered 100% assuming they approve it and my surgeon is confident it will since my BMI was 37 I believe

[aNYCdb 310]

1 hour ago, Lucas said:

Those are my general practitioner's thoughts in regasds to me not fitting the bill of patients that have this procedure done. I do see it as a great tool to maintain a healthy weight and never get back up in the high 200lbs once I get older and health consequences get larger. As for insurance, it would be covered 100% assuming they approve it and my surgeon is confident it will since my BMI was 37 I believe

Every insurance is different, and perhaps you have other co-morbitities that you haven't mentioned here, but usually if your BMI is under 40 they are expecting two or more other comorbidities (Non-Alcohol Fatty Liver Disease, Hypertension, Diabetes, Hyper Lipedimia, sleep apnea, etc...)

[axlr8n 161]

Hey Lucas. When did you gain the weight, and how long have you been overweight? Is 190 your true goal, or just a weight that you think is accomplishable right now (your ideal BMI is around 170 based on your height)?

For me, I started gaining weight in high school and basically spent my entire adult life losing and gaining weight (mostly gaining). Even when I dieted and lost weight, I never got down to an ideal weight and didn't keep it off long. The surgery has allowed me to lose down to a healthy BMI and maintain it now for over 2 years. The biggest change for me is that I'm not hungry all the time anymore (hormones?). Given my history, I can certainly relate to your desire to have a long term tool to help you keep everything under control... but the reality is that you can eat around your surgery if you really want to and it probably gets easier over time to do so.

[Lucas 7]

I was always a husky kid growing up & I would say I ballooned up in middle school. In high school my highest weight was about 295. I graduated in 2012 and have been in the high 270's since. 190 is what i see as accomplishable. My father is about 165 at 5' 8" and to be right above that that just doesn't register in my brain because I never thought that would be achieveable before learning about WLS. During my time in college and late high school I always looked for the biggest plate possible and would want to finish it but now that I'm no longer a student and on a weekly routine I am able to control my tendencies better. At my last dietitian appointment I was told to try to gain a little weight (5-10lbs) to keep my BMI around 37 to not risk my insurance denying approval and it is hard to take a step back and undo some of the pogress I have already made. once again I'm sitting at 257 with a initial weigh in of 274 in February.