A Few Questions Before My First Appointment

 Hi!  I'm brand new to this forum so bear with me please if I'm not making this post in the right area :)   Quick Intro: I'm 32 years old, 5'7" and 360 pounds.  I've had health complications due to my weight including sleep apnea, high blood pressure, asthma, fatty liver and two fractured ankles.  All of this is pretty well-documented.  I'm on Medicaid insurance and I live in Warren County, NJ.  I finally found a surgeon who takes my insurance :) (HMO is Americhoice/United Healthcare) and I have an appointment with him next month.  I am going to look into gastric bypass but I also want to find out more about my other options.   I have a few questions for you.  One (I just posted about this on the insurance forum in more detail): Could issues with mental illness and addiction be an obstacle, if I can provide documentation that I'm stable and sober?  I have been hospitalized for these issues in the past, so it might be hard to downplay too much.  Two: Does anyone have any experience with Dr. Pirogi out of Saint Barnabus in the Livingston/West Orange area?  And Three: Any experiences or feedback on getting WLS on Medicaid in NJ would be greatly appreciated.   Thank you for any information!  Look forward to reading your stories and inspiration :)   -CW

I can't really answer your questions but if this is something you want you can do it if you are willing to fight for it.

I was 34 when I had my Gastric Bypass and at my highest weight I was about 330 and I am 5'6" so I understand how you are feeling, I almost got turned off by all the medical hoops I had to go thru to get approved but looking back now I am so happy I did and it has been worth all the work.

Good luck!

Stella

CW-

I will try my best to answer some of your questions

(1) As long as your mental illness and/or addiction is under control, and well documented, that should not be an issue. However not knowing what mental illness and/or addiction you have I can't be 100% sure.

(2) No idea about Dr. Pirogi. You can go onto this site and search for Doctors and see what mentioned. The Doctor should have their own section, and with comments from patients. You may want to contact them to see what they think

(3) I have no information concerning Medicaid.

Good luck to you, and know we're here to help in any way we can