Good Morning. Introduce yourselves LWs!

Hi there. 
I'm Suzanna; live in Ottawa, ON and work in health research. I'm 51 and have been MO for half my life. At this point I haven't had surgery because I'm trying to make up my mind. It would have to be self-pay (and debt) because except for some joint problems, I'm remarkably healthy for my age and weight. My BMI is just over 37 and I'd have to gain 15 lbs to reach a BMI of 40. At the back of my mind I fear my luck will run out one of these days and then I'll be facing high blood pressure (family history) and diabetes.

Two people I know have had lapbands that didn't work for them so I'm thinking RNY. What really appeals to me about this procedure is that my body would no longer being able to digest rich food. I get stress-induced gastric reflux that isn't helped by drugs (I guess the stress is more powerful), and that's about the only time I listen to my body when it comes to food -- when it makes me feel just awful to eat.

DH of 28 years and I have a grown daughter who lives 4 hours away. I'm a rather sedentary person who likes to quilt, read, and garden.

I've been devouring (pardon the pun) OH and am grateful for everyone's contributions

Welcome aboard and good luck getting this figured out. Keep reading and researching.

--gina

I am a lightweight in Ontario- you might ask your gp to refer you to the program -my main co-morbidity is GERD, i have seen some others with joint problems get approved.

Thanks for the advice, Louise. I just assumed I wouldn't qualify, but will inquire. Good luck with your surgery!

Hi, my name is John and I think I'm the first guy to post to this thread!

I'm 34 and married to a wonderful and incredibly supportive wife. We are celebrating 10 years on Wednesday! We have two kids, a fantastic little daughter who is 4 years old, and our newest little addition is a 7 month old son. Both of them keep us extremely busy!

I've struggled with my weight pretty much all my life (as long as I can remember). This past year I hit a 40 BMI and finally said, "Enough!" I also developed my second co-morb in the fall which good or bad, ensured that I would get insurance approval. I started researching WLS about 3-4 years ago after a friend of mine (also technically a LW) got it. At the time I was shocked that someone his weight would qualify (what did I know)... which got me to thinking about maybe I'd qualify too. I went back and forth between RNY and Lap-band for a little while until I had my first intro session with my surgeon group. They pretty much steer most of their people to RNY, so that's where I went.

I just had surgery on 5/24/10 and am still very much a newbie. I have my first follow-up on Monday and really want to get to the bottom of why I'm still light headed every once in a while. Yesterday I felt WONDERFUL, today... bleh...

Cheers,
John

 Hello everyone! I am going through my 3 month / 4 visits... I can't wait until this is over. I read this board everyday... it keeps me motivated. I love to read about the good the bad and the ugly.
my starting BMI is 40 I had to maintain that so I could weigh in for insurance purposes. I am losing weight during this waiting period. My NUT and PCP said it was ok... I thought I had to keep my BMI at 40. They told me only my intital bmi has to be 40. ... has anyone else had this experience or know anyone denied because they lost weight... BCBS IL

Welcome! It's always good to have the most recent loop holes, umm.. "conditions set forth by your insurance company" in writing, but to be honest, I've not heard of anyone lately being denied because they lost a little bit during their pre-op phase. Do try to stay up and over 35 BMI just in case. Just 2 cents worth, you may be just fine losing more.

--gina

Hey friends, just found this board....I'm kind of addicted....my names Jeff and I had the DS because of co-morbidity issues and thankful those issues have cleared up a bit ....diabetes t2, high BP, GERD and apnea however I to am still addicted to my CPAP. Diabetes-gone, high BP under control, GERD-gone, sleep apnea will require a sleep study. I am 5'11 and started out at 285lbs and had a surgery weight of 249lbs. I now weigh about 215lbs at 6 weeks or so. I hope to get to 185lbs. My common channel is 250cm and so I may have to work a bit at keeping weight down. Now my doctor tells me that at 715cm my small bowel was quite long and he uses a formula to decide on length and with my body type I would have problems with malnutrition if it were reduced to shorter than 250cm. I trust Dr. Anthone and he is considered to be tops in his field and has published papers on certain tweaks that can be done for DS to suit different patients needs. Life is Good! We like to boat and see blues bands,ride in the PT cruiser convertible and have coffee with friends. ......Jeff

Hi, Jeff. Welcome aboard! This a nice calm board...usually. We can have a little fun sometimes. lol  It's pretty quite around here today. I think everyone is out livin' it up in the sunshine or curled up with a good book on the couch. Good to see you here.

--gina