Charity for weight loss surgery

I see now where all the bitterness comes from.  Many of you have had WLS and are years out from it and are still spending tons of time on this forum instead of living your lives   You had to jump through hoops to have the surgery and you are so bitter that you want others to have to do the same. Meanwhile you aren't even living your lives. You choose to be mean and hateful to someone on your beloved forum because it makes you feel close to the other bitter ones.  That's just really sad.  To those of you who have been so nice and so supportive I really appreciate you so much! I've found a fb page where people are extremely nice.  I won't be posting anymore here or reading anymore replies. 

I'm not even 4 weeks out from surgery.   But there you go using that bitter word.   We are bitter.   Like a fine cup of espresso with a lemon twist.   Now I want caffeine. 

We have a mixed group of people here.   But most stay on the forum for a long time because it takes continued help and support and care from people who know how it works.   

The "bitterness" is actually coming from you, dear.   You did not get the answer you wanted when you first came on here and immediately jumped on people.  The problem is you're dealing with a bunch of fatties and former fatties who don't really let people attack them anymore.   A kind word and honest questions and you get all the love in the world.   A request for information then you telling the people answering that they are wrong and bitter and all sorts of other stuff and you just get put in your place. 

But hey!   You got the info you came for!   And you provided entertainment for a few.   Hazzah!

Oh, also, the hoops we have to jump through were not put in place by the members of this board.   They are the standard hoops the doctors and insurance companies impose.   They serve a purpose.   You are having surgery to change your guts in order to lose weight.   They need to make sure you are ready to give up and conform. 

LOL. To suggest it was all masterminded by the members here.   You're silly.   We actually are very encouraging for those seeking wls and showing that they are ready! 

You may not read this, but I felt compelled to respond anyway. I think you got off on the wrong foot with this post and then it deteriorated by being so defensive. There's a lot of wisdom to be gained from this site and you're doing yourself a disservice by throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Not all truth is easy to hear, unfortunately, and sometimes advice comes in a "tough love" form.

There's a reason there are so many hoops to jump through - which, invariably, there are unless you are independently wealthy and can easily afford to self-pay - post-op life is NOT easy. Those hoops mean that you have time to seriously contemplate the life-altering procedure you're about to go though and learn all you can about what makes people successful in the long-run.

One thing that is proven to help people be successful is staying in contact with a support system - of which this site is a great example. In the end, those folks that hang around here for years are the ones that have maintained their weight loss and are a fantastic resource for pre-ops and post-ops alike. They are the very ones you SHOULD be listening to. If this was entirely a forum of newbies, it would be relatively useless.  

A problem with "nice and supportive" FB groups and the like are that they often enable poor decision-making. I'm a member of a FB page as well, and I regularly see people giving "support" to all sorts of really bad food choices and there is little moderation of what advice is "good". If that's the kind of support you are looking for, then by all means go for it.

>> You know nothing about me.

>> You guys should remember there is actually a person behind the post.

>> Your opinion doesn't matter to me :)

Works both ways! :-D

since you work full-time, chances are low that you'll qualify for medicaid, although your child/ren may qualify, unless of course they are insured by their father.

your best bet for insurance is obamacare through the exchange. plans are different in each state so you should get started at healthcare.gov. depending on your state and what you can afford, you should find a variety of plans. you'll want to make sure that the plan you choose covers bariatric surgery. 

it's now illegal (illegal is not the right word but i can't think of the right word) to be uninsured and you will get a tax penalty when you file your next taxes. the penalty is relatively modest now, but will go up each year. the open enrollment period for 2015 is now closed but you can still get covered this year without waiting for next year's open enrollment. whether or not you choose to get WLS, i urge you to get medical coverage because of the personal devastation an illness/emergency will cause you and your children, and as your fellow citizen, i don't want to pay for you. 

free surgery sounds like a terrible idea for all of the reasons articulated by the other posters. i don't think its a bad idea to research the possibility of surgery at a teaching hospital, but that's still no reason to be uninsured. as someone who had a fairly serious surgical complication and was in the hospital (much of that time the ICU) for a month following my WLS, i can tell you that the cost can be astronomical and you do not want those bills. if i hadn't had medical insurance i have zero idea how i would have paid for that.

if your job doesn't offer you medical insurance then i'm assuming the vacation/sick time isn't great either. you'll need a minimum of 2 weeks off after surgery not to mention the several days you'll need to get all your pre-op appointments done. the WLS process is much more involved than most new people could have imagined. i know i was pretty unaware of everything it takes until i pursued it for myself. 

and on a parting note, take a deep breath and relax. you're waaayyy too defensive. you are getting a lot of good information which you will not find anywhere else. the stuff my surgeon told me was maybe worth 5% of what i ultimately learned from participating and absorbing on here. don't shoot yourself in the foot. 

Illegal is the right word.  Its why you get penalized for not having it and the govt has, for the first time ever, made it law that we have to purchase something.  BUT that is a whole other discussion.  :)