Need help

My husband wants to have gastric bypass. He wanted mini-gastric but I understand you have to pay for the operation upfront then the insurance reimburses you. So we did not like that option. So we are looking for somewhere close to the Raleigh area. I looked at the guidelines for Duke University for the RNY. They want documentation for trying to lose weight which he does not have. They also want his records for the past 5 years. Which he also does not have. He is currently unemployed but he does have insurance BCBS PPO. Is there anyway we can go somewhere, where they don't require this. He is morbidly obese. He weighs 425lb. And I am afraid if he does not find help,the future looks grim. Please help...

Most of the doctors requirments regarding prior documentation stem from the insurance requirements. I know that BCBS required me to provide proof of being over 40 BMI for 5 years. I did not have to show any sort of supervised diet history though. If your husband has been seen by any doctors in the past 5 years, he likely will be able to meet the 5 year requirements. Good luck with your search.

Hi Tanya. Call any doctor he's seen in the last five years. They take records from anywhere, the ER, your primary care physician, anything. I bet it's there if you look hard enough. Good luck with the search and keep us posted. Take Care. ~Ellen

BCBS PPO required documentation for 5 years of weight history... they need just 1 record each year from any Dr/Drs to show he has had BMI of 35+ for at least 4 of the 5 years. If the BMI is between 35-40 they also need recs of co-morbs... even over 40 it helps to have that. I had to turn in documentation of my weight loss attempts as well - this consisted of me writing down what I tried and how it worked... there isnt much written you can provide unless you did something like Weigh****chers/Jenny Craig etc. I had listed things like Atkins Diet, Diet Pills etc. If you cannot get 5 years of records you can possibly skate by on 4 years of records but they will at least require that much. It took me almost 5 months to get my records together but I hunted down every last Dr I saw to make sure I had 1 weight for each year. Good luck!

Hi, I I had my surgery done with DUKE and I did not have 5 years exactly for my weight history....I had 4 years...records from my PCP, ER, anythime I had to do a physical with a doctor. There is also doctor Paul Enochs he is raleigh...almost by Wake Forest.

i have to agree with everyone else. as long as he can show his weight for the past 5yrs..and its only 1 weight a year. As far as diets you can write those down. I mean who hasnt tried some sort of diet. It doesnt always have to be doctor diets...and Dr. Enochs out of Raleigh is ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL. I had my surgery 3yrs ago with him and he was out of this world. I drove over 3 hours just to have my surgery with him....Good luck in getting your husband back on track

Try vocational rehabilitation