Research Phase

[Kalipso2 25]

Hi everyone! My name is Kris and I live near Cleveland, Ohio. I'm 36 years old, single with no kids. I'm still in the research phase and haven't made any decisions yet. I have a seminar to attend next week and the week after I'm meeting with my general physician to talk about all my options before I go to my first consultation.

Growing up I was always the skinny kid in the neighborhood. I was a size 6 until my early 20's. Since then I've steadily gained weight. I've tried every diet out there. Some worked, some didn't. I lost weight only to gain it back plus more. I've done Weight Watchers which is really the only thing that actually worked but once I stopped paying the fee I gained all the weight back.

After reading some of the threads here I have a couple of concerns and/or questions...

I've been in and out of therapy since my late 20's for personal matters not directly related to my weight. About a year ago I had an appointment with my Psychiatrist for a prescription refill appointment and I broke down and told him that I had been using laxatives on and off for the past 6+ years to lose weight. (As much as they say laxatives don't work for weight loss, they lie because it has always worked for me). Since the admission to him I've also had to come "clean" with my regular doctor and my therapist. Early 2007 I had lost about 30 pounds and was up to 15 laxatives a day. I stopped taking them in July and gained all the weight back plus 10. I know laxatives are bad so I'm not looking for any lectures but its a problem that I'm trying really hard to work past. It's almost like an addiction. Every time I eat a bite of food I think about taking a pill. *sigh* anyway....

My question is... will this end up hurting my chances to be approved for the surgery?

Another concern I have is the cost. I called my insurance company and they said the surgery is not covered. Has anyone fought their insurance company and won? If not, how were you able to afford the surgery???

I'm really glad I found this site. I just mentioned to my sister tonight that I was thinking about getting the lap band hoping I'd have her support but all I heard was "how stupid" the idea was!

~kris