New!

thatfatchick · March 20, 2008

Hi everyone. I'm very happy to be here. :wink2: Very excited too, even though I haven't yet been to the information seminar that the hospital I have chosen requires as the first step to getting the lap band surgery.

My name is... well... That Fat Chick, or TFC. For the time being, I prefer to keep things rather anonymous in terms of my choice to have weight loss surgery. Not so much because of choosing weight loss surgery, but other things... I'm sorry, that didn't really explain it well.

Anyway! I am 23 years old, and have been overweight for most of my life. By eighth grade I was 220 lbs., and currently, ten years later, I am 309 lbs.

I have already done the major thing: checked out my insurance company six ways from Sunday to make sure they cover the lap band surgery. As I blogged earlier (on my blog, thatfatchick.com), they do, so long as the surgery is deemed medically necessary. I have a $1500 deductible to meet (only $400 left for this year, whee!), and 10% of surgery costs to cover, and probably some misc. visits that I'm not remembering at the moment. Oh, and the BMI thing: 40 + health problems related to obesity, or 40+. My BMI is currently 49.

Also, the center I chose was labeled a center of excellence by my insurance company (BlueCross), which I've heard is a very good thing in terms of approval.

Anyway, my very first step begins on April 1st, when I attend a seminar/info class at Hershey Medical Center. After that, I will have an appointment scheduled with a nutritionist to go over my weight and goals and insurance and such. Once all that checks out, I then have to follow a six month weight management/nutrition program, and attend two hour meetings once a month. I'll also do the pre-op stuff: blood work, sleep apnea test (if they feel I need one; I don't think I do), psych eval, etc. And then: surgery date! The estimated time is six to nine months from the meeting with the nutritionist. If I can get that done in April, then I'm looking at October or December. :wink2:

Sorry for the rambling... as you can very well imagine, I am very, VERY excited!!!