I really need advice-please help

Well I had my appointment with the nut. and pysch. today, and was approved by both. Heres the drawback though. I am a college student, and both of them told me to either postpone my surgery or to take a semester off of school. Financially it would be really hard for me to postpone school because I just quit my job and will have to be living off financial aid for a while, plus my apartment is student housing. Now on the other hand I have Cobra coverage and that will run out soon so I have to have the surgery done before I lose my insurance. Please help!!!!!!! I welcome anyones suggestions.

1) where are you in school? 2) why the hell did they tell you to take off?

I'm curious about this...and i may have some expert advice to offer, as I was a university administrator and am now a professor.

I'm sorry you're in such a rough spot.  Here are a couple of things to think about... - What surgery do you plan on having?  The recovery time for lap band is much less than the recovery for RNY.  That is something to consider, though I don't think it should be the deciding factor because you have to live with whichever surgery you choose forever.  Personally I had RNY on 11/16/2005 and didn't get back to school until the next semester stared at the end of January 2006.  But the reason I was out so long had more to do with complications from another procedure I had done about the same time than it did with my bypass.  Usually most RNY post-ops that I have spoken with are back to work/school at about 2-3 weeks post-op (in my opinion you NEED at least 2 weeks of recovery before even thinking about going back to school), so depending on how much walking you have to do and how demanding your work load is you might be able to swing it if your surgery date is ASAP.  If you are worried about it contact your professors and explain your situation - they should be able to work with you if you need to be out for the first couple of weeks (I mean seriously, how much do we ever actually do in the first 2 weeks anyway?) - If your cobra can last long enough, try to get a date for winter break.  That way you could have a few months to maybe get a part time job and build up some savings so things won't be so tight and you'll have more time to recover before needing to go back in the spring depending on how long your break is. - Personally, I don't think it is a good idea to have surgery if you don't have stable insurance coverage.  If your insurance coverage ends shortly after your surgery you could have a nightmare on your hands should complications arrise AND if there is more than a 62 day waiting period from the time your cobra ends to the time you are picked up by another insurance company your new insurance company won't have to cover any bypass related expenses because it would be considered a "pre-existing conditon" (if it is less than 62 days you will have something from your previous insurer called a "certificate of credible coverage" that says you were covered by insurance when you had bypass and not much time elapsed between your coverage and that forces the new insurer to pick up where the first one left off).  If they won't cover your surgery-related after care that means YOU will have to pay out of pocket for all your after care (labs, any complications that might arrise and there is no way the new insurance company will even consider covering your plastics should you need/decide to have them) and that gets expensive in a hurry.  BUT that does not mean you shouldn't have surgery now.  Is there any type of student insurance offered by your college?  I know the University of Wisconsin schools (where I attend college) have insurance plans for students at a discoutned rate.  Look into these programs if there are any at your college to see if you would qualify and how much they would cost.  That way you can go ahead and have bypass with the insurance company you have now (I assume you know if they would cover your surgery) just as long as you make sure you'll have your new insurance coverage less than 62 days after your cobra ends (don't ask me why 62 days is the magic number, I just know it is because I had to deal with this when I went from being under my mom's insurance to being under my husband's insurance). I hope things work out for you and that some of this info helps!

I know how you feel I have been debating with this topic myself.  I just sent my information to the insurance for approval.  School starts for me on the 30th, there is no way I could get approved have surgery and be 100% before school starts.  I just plan to be honest with teachers and let them know whats coming after I am approved, and work with them, I will try to do some of my homework and stuff for atleast the first 2 weeks after surgery from home our school does a lot of distance learning on the net so I will hopefully be able to use that to turn in homework till I am able to go back to campus for the hours that I have class

I don't know how great my advice is but I think you can do it. I would try to get the surgery while you have insurance that will pay for it. Just make sure you secure some other insurance for post-op follow ups or any complications - even small ones can get expensive without insurance....As for school, I would try to stick to no more then 12 credits this semester or less if they will let you - and take as many easy courses or distance ed courses you can take. If everything goes well you ought to be able to get by missing only a week of class which shouldn't kill you especially if you pre-plan. How is getting around at your campus - is it huge, small? I remember when I was at Arizona State having to walk for a mile or more from where they let me park at the footbal stadium lot to my classes, although when it was really hot I would wait for the shuttle bus....Even if you do run in to a little trouble with the school, having to take a class or two over next semester would be cheaper then having to pay for the surgery yourself right? They won't take your financial aid away until you've flopped for two semesters straight - you get a semester of probation - just be careful not to get F's or WF's to drag your GPA down...p.s. - I was a complete failure at college so maybe I'm not the best person to take advice from, although my wife is the director of student services / academic counseling for a college here...

I am a college student as well.  I have a very rigorous degree plan as a biology major, but I need to get healthy.  I also CANNOT drop out of school because I am on my dad's insurance and if I take time off - no insurance. I fully intend to have surgery this upcoming fall semester.  I plan I being upfront with my professors, telling them I am having surgery (I find no need to be specific on the type of surgery - just that I am, indeed, having a major surgical operation) and will need to take time off from their classes for a couple weeks but will try and keep up as best I can.  Furthermore, I'm taking a light load, 12-13 hours only and 3-6 of those hours are going to be filled with the easiest electives I could possibly find. Take off a semester from school?  What a joke.  I've never heard of anyone telling someone to take off 3-4 months from work, so school shouldn't be any different.  Just keep plugging along and make the necessary arrangements with your professors.  If your professors are being rigid about make up work, get your dean involved, or a non-academic school adviser.  They are there to help arrange things so that non-academic matters don't destroy your GPA.

I honestly did not think the healing was bad at all. It was a breeze. The figuring out what to eat took alot more work. just my opinion.