New here and looking into surgery

Hello All,  My name is Mike and I am looking to having GBS. I am 39 years old, married and have a 19 month old daughter that means the world to me and I want to see her grow up.   I talked to my personal physician about it and have contacted U of M and will attend a seminar September 15 about it.  They contacted me and had me get started on some things that will need to be done before I even see a doctor.  They had me start a six month doctor assisted diet and I have lost 13 pounds in four weeks.  My starting weight was 450 and a BMI of 54.1 and now I'm down to 437.  Because of my BMI my insurance BCBS said it would wave the six month diet, but U of M requires it.  I have tried several diets and lost 100 pounds four years ago, but put it back on.  Like I said before I haven't even talked to a specialist about this yet so I was wondering if there is anything else I can do to help get accepted down the road.  Also, I have had two hernia surgeries and was wondering if this would be a problem with having the surgery.  I really enjoy reading all of your success stories and hope to talk to you all soon.

Mike

Hi Mike,
I had my RNY at U of M 3 years ago.  I also have BCBSM.  Because BC/BS does not cover "obesity related" doctor visits, my PCP would always talk to me about my weight issues, but not put a lot about it in my chart.  Because of this, it did not look like I had 6 months of supervised weight loss attempts.
The program did let me get a letter written by my doctor that stated I had been talking with her about weight loss and trying different methods to loose.

My advice to you is to document everything, and make sure your PCP is doing the same.  Do some research on what kind of surgery you would like to have.  You will learn a lot more at the info. session, but it's good to have a list of questions about all the surgeries when you go to that.

U of M will probably make you have a sleep study to rule out sleep apnea, and a psych exam with their doctor to prove you are mentally ready to have surgery.  You will be advised by them for those two appointments.

You won't have too much guesswork when it comes to getting approved for surgery.  They will make it all clear and make sure you are doing what you need to so you are ready for what's ahead.

Best of luck to you!

Hi Mike,
I had BCBSPPO and it covered my rny.  I don't believe that hernia surgery will make a difference except in how its performed, in order to get to your stomach etc, they may have to do it Open to avoid scar tissue.  Please bring this up though to your surgeon right away.  but make sure you go to a couple of seminars before you decide on a surgeon.  there are several here that us regulars used, just put a post out there for suggestions.  I recommend either U of M, Barix Clinics, [schram was mine]  (800) 282-0066 and st.john Oakland [dr. katz] (866) 823-4458.  and all provide a free seminar to explain the surgery, recovery time and post op care.  don't forget if you meet with the surgeon one-on-one it will be considered a consultation, not an office visit and you may have to have them code it as an office visit.  if i was you, i would flee from that six month mandatory diet crapola, i mean come on right?  why would they make you do it, unless if its for a safer surgery.  most clinics either require a six wk diet of protein mostly or a two week or with mine NONE, NADA ZILCH ZIP...you get the picture....

hey, and i respect your 100 lb loss four years ago.  you are a strong person to have done that...

BM

Welcome Mike and good luck to you on pursuing your surgery.  I can totally relate to your story.  I have lost more than 100 pounds four different times in my adult life.  This last time (back in 2001) I lost 134 lbs on Adkins.  I was so happy and thin and swore I would never gain it back......well, 5 years later I had gained it all back plus another 30 lbs!  

I had my surgery in March and I feel like it has been the best thing I have ever done for myself.  Now I'm not on maintainance yet and that's the part that scares me because as you can see by my history, I'm pretty darn good at losing when I set my mind to it, it's the maintaining that I can't seem to get under control :-)

Anyways, I wanted to say welcome and good luck to you!!

Nan

Congratulations Mike, on having made this decision.  Actually, your daughter made it for you.  I'm having my first grandson in December, and part of the reason for my decision was to stay healthy to see him graduate from high school and get married.  If you start your doctor assisted diet now, it'll cut into your wait time.  You'll be glad about that!  Just make sure to get all the information you can, on the different WLS available.  RNY, VGS, LapBand, and DS.  This will help you make sure you decide on what will be best for you.  Once you educate yourself, thru reading and seminars, talk it over with the surgeon, and get his opinion.  I went with RNY, the typical gastric by-pass.  I'm not real good about exercising, but do some, so I think it has slowed my weightloss a bit, but I'm still very happy.  People are noticing and I can really notice too.
Good luck with your journey and stay tuned in here.  We're a great bunch of people if I do say so myself!
Jan

Hi Mike!  Glad to meet you.  A lot of insurances are now waving the 6 month diet for BMI's over 50.  Our center, Hurley in Flint, doesn't require it either.  They do require the Phych eval though.  When the DD made her appointment yesterday, they have her waiting over a month.