Really want the surgery.

Hello, I'm new here. I've been researching VSG for about 6 mos or so. I made the first step to call and go for an informational visit to a surgeon and then found out my ins didn't cover it, so I had to "give up that dream".

Now, my husband has a new job that starts the 19th and I'm hoping it's covered. The ins will be BCBS. Anyone have this ins? I know it might depend on your plan.

How long did it take before you were able to have the surgery? I'm hearing 6-12 mos from a lot of people. I think 6 mos is reasonable but 12 would feel discouraging.

I have over 100 lbs to lose. I am 35 years old and have two kids and right now I'm healthy. I have no major issues except for being lethargic and hating how I look. I'm scared the surgery will give me health issues/side effects....or that I'll suffer some kind of complication and die. I can't force out these thoughts but I do know that I want to go through with it.

I guess I'm just posting here for encouragement or success stories. Thanks for listening.

Yes, coverage depends very much on your plan and your specific employer. There are lots of folks who have a BCBS plan that covers WLS, and plenty of others' that exclude it.

I had my first visit with the surgeon in August, and had surgery in December. A lot of insurance plans require a medically-supervised diet, and that's often a big factor in determining how long the process will take; I had 3 months, others have 6 months, others none at all.

Thanks for your response. Yes, I am going to try to choose a plan that covers it so I won't have that worry. The company that DH is working for is a large national hospital conglomerate so I'm hopeful that they provide good plans, I assume they do.

I have spent years of my life on countless failed diets, diet pills, weight loss clinics, weigh****chers, you name it. I'm at the point in my life where I have to take the next step. I am fully aware that this is not the easy way out...BUT it is a way out.

Keeping my fingers crossed for you that your husband's new employer has included WLS as part of the coverage. I've had two different BCBS plans and both required 6-month supervised weight loss periods.

Thank you!! :)

I have BCBS as well and it requires a 6 month waiting period. You must visit your primary care doctor once a month for 6 months, complete a psych eval, have a letter of support from your GP. there are also some guidlines on your BMI and co morbid conditions. You can call the insurance company and ask them if the surgery is covered and ask them to send you the section of the policy so you will know what is required.

The death rate from the surgery is extremely low, I think 0.004 % and it is a less invasive surgery than having your gallbladder removed. Do your research. There are a lot of videos on you tube of people who have had the surgery and they talk about the good, bad and the ugly! I haven't heard anything yet to deter me from wanting to have the surgery.

Yes, I am hoping we can choose a policy that covers it. I have researched it a lot and have read some fairly disturbing things, but the good seems to outweigh the bad. As soon as the ins kicks in (new job so there's a delay) I'll call. I don't have a PCP that I'm super comfortable with so I think I'll start with that now.

One more piece of advice....when you call looking for a PCP, tell them you need to be supervised to receive care before and after for bariatric surgery and ask if that is going to be a problem. The reason I say this is because my PCP refused to supervise me. I told him if he didn't want to, fine, I would find someone else who would so that's what I did. Actually he didn't even have the b** to tell me no; he just refused to provide a letter of support, which was the same thing as saying no. There's a lot of PCP who are not educated about WLS and have the attitude "if you would stop eating less and moving more you would lose weight."

Thank you for that bit of info because I kind of feel like my doctor will feel that way about it and it's part of the reason I want to find a new one. Every time I'm there she tries to give me this Dr. Anne's diet info packet. I wanted phentermine and she was basically like no - follow this diet. It's like a diabetic diet.

anyway phentermine is terrible but I do want someone who is experienced with that.

I have BCBS and it is excluded