Any suggestions????

Hi my name is Michael and I am 36, I have been big all of my life starting from around the 2nd grade.  I was always the biggest kid in the class and now I weigh about 485 pounds.  I have tried and tried and tried to lose weight and have been successful to a point.  Once I reach that point everything stops and eventually begins to come back.  I am now to the point to were exercise hurts my joints especially in my legs and feet.  I am serious about having WLS but I have a problem, no insurance, no money, and no ideas on how to get the WLS.  I have no idea where to start and who to talk too, and I am hoping that some of you nice people on here who have already gone through the process can give me some help.

I do not have an major health problems right now, but recently I had a doppler run on my heart and the doc said that my left side was slightly enlarged.  I do not have high blood pressure so the excess weight is thought to be causing the problem.  I do not want to die from anything especially a heart related illness.  I was to stop the progression of any further illnesses and would love to be able to exercise without pain.  All I need is some help getting this weight off.  I know that if I have the WLS I will reach my goal.  I want to be small and fit, and I want to get in better shape and health. 

Please help me make this transition, any help, any ideas, anything.....

hi michael, welcome to the forum! i am fairly new here too.
are you disabled? that should make you eligible for medicare and possibly medicaid (diff names in diff states). i'm disabled, on medicare, and had the lapband in alabama, with no problems getting it paid. otherwise, i'm at a loss for ideas to help you. i can't imagine having the money to private pay for any kind of surgery.
glad to meet you, hope you'll stay around. praying that all works out for you soon!
Godlygirl <>< 

Welcome to the Bama Board Michael. I had my surgery so long ago till I am sure many things have changed. I spoke to my regular MD about the surgery and he was in agreement with me that it was something I should consider. I asked around about doctors and finally settled on Dr. Stahl out of Alabaster. At the time, there was not a doctor in Montgomery that was doing the surgery. Dr. Stahl's office sent me the necessary forms to fill out and I mailed them off to Blue Cross and within the next month I was approved and had a date. It was a very simple process for me. I did have to fill out forms stating that I had tried various other means to loose weight. My regular MD was able to sign off on that and I did not have to do any kind of pshych evaluation. I would recommend it to others though.

Hopefully some others will respond to you that have had surgery more recently. Good luck on your venture and God Bless.

DebbieDOo

Michael...First of all, I want to welcome you to the Bama Board.  I think most of us understand exactly what you are speaking of when it comes to weight loss.  I know I do...I tried every diet known to man just about and nothing worked.  I had WLS in 2005 and would do it again and again.  It has totally changed my life.  I do not know how to tell you to go about having the surgery with no insurance or money to pay.  I know that there is a credit line that a couple of my friends have used.  It is some type of medical credit line.  Maybe this would be an option.  I wish I could help you more.  If there is anything at all I can help you with, please let me know.  Again, welcome to the board and please come back often and let us hear of your progress.    I wish you all the best.

Welcome to the Bama Board.  You know what you need to do.  I used Dr. Sherer in Alabaster and he is in that group with Dr Stahl.  I think you check with Care Credit.  Dr. Sherers office had some info in his office on this.  I hope that helps

First let me thank you all for your kind words and I appreciate you all.  It is incredibly nice to have a group of people who have been or are in the exact situation that I find myself.  I hope and pray everyday that I will find the resources necessary to further proceed with my plans for WLS.  I'm sure there are ways of getting things done if I can only find the correct places to look.  I want to thank all of you who provided suggestions and I will further investigate your suggestions to see if there maybe any possible solutions to my current problem.  Again, thank you all.