Taking the first baby steps!

Hi, I FINALLY got the nerve up to change family physicians and broach the subject of weight loss surgery. Much to my surprise, my new doc didn't bat an eyelash and said she thought I would qualify. All I've done so far is have some preliminary lab work done and have a glucose tolerance test to deal with tomorrow. If anyone can point me in the right direction as to what might come next, I would so appreciate it! I'm in the Traverse City area and would love to hear from anyone close by who has experience to share. Be safe all!

Hi Barb, Congratulations on taking your first steps to a new healthy life. I see that you have BCBS and I do know that they require one year of doctor supervised weight loss attempts, you will want to gather that from what ever you did with your privious pcp. You will also want to get set up for a psyc. eval. You will need documentation of your comorbities. The more info you have going in the quicker the process will go. I am sure I am missing telling you something, but it's been over 2.5 yrs for me. I am sure someone else will chime in and let you know what else you may need. good luck and God Bless----Toni

Great to hear that you are looking into surgery. It all depends on what surgeons office you choose to have the surgery with. Everyone surgeon has different preop testing that patients have to have before they schedule surgey. I had my surgery in Grand Rapids and the program was you were evaluated by a internist and had a psch eval and surgical consult all in the same office plus I needed to have a Endoscopy procedure done to look at my stomach due to a history of ulcers and I had blood work and so forth. I had BC insurance and I did not have to have supervised dieting only shown attempts of dieting failure plus I met the BMI requirements. I live in Traverse city and I am almost 2 years out and would love to talk if you have questions or would like to have coffee anytime I work at Munson so if you are having testing and want to chat let my know. Good luck in your journey. Tricia