Very new here, very anxious

Hi, I found this site while searching for answers to questions about "low bmi, gastric bypass". 

I'm 4'11 and 182 lbs with a bmi of 36.8, and so far I've attended a new patient seminar and met once with a surgeon. I haven't been to see the nutritionist or psychologist yet, but I just feel like I have a million questions. Every time I start to write an email to the surgeon's office staff I draw a blank. They gave me a patient binder with all kinds of info, and I've read it twice in two weeks! I have my next appointment on February 29, and I'll see the nutritionist and psychologist at that appointment. The whole process seems to be moving so slowly. My insurance company requires a bmi of 35 with at least 1 comorbidity. I have 4. I have to complete a medically supervised weight loss program, including nutritional counseling, for at least 3 months prior to the date of surgery. Also, I have to have a diagnosis of morbid obesity for a period of 2 years prior to surgery. As I mentioned before, I'm 4'11"!! I've been on a diet for the last 10 years just trying to stay below morbid obesity! My primary physician filled out a medical history that documents less than 35 bmi during 2014, so now I'm very anxious, but they seem confident that I'll get approved by my insurance company. 

Did anyone else here have those same concerns or potential problems? Any advice or encouragement or words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated.

Oh, and nice to meet you all!
Lyka

Hi Lyka and welcome. 

I am 4'11" also but was all the way up to 220, I think 213 when I had surgery.  So with my co-morbidities, I had no problem qualifying.  I can tell you this is the very best thing I have ever done for myself.  I was 62 and I got my life back, got rid of all co-morbidities and love my RNY.

The process does move slowly but my DR office knew it well and they could tell me at the information session exactly what my specific insurance would require and what they would approve.  And they were right.  My insurance didn't require a diet, but the WLS dr required 12 learning classes over 6 months so it took about 7 months to get through the whole thing to surgery.  Every group is different in their requirements, their diet phases, etc but they all seem to know how to get you approved because if they don't, they don't have you as a patient. 

Feel free to ask away. There are no silly questions.  We are here to pay it back because there were folks here to help us. 

Welcome to our LW Board!!!!  This is definitely the board you belong on!!  I'm also 4'11" but I weighed 203 with no health problems when I started my 6 month pre surgery diet.  I'm 7+ years out now and I've been on Maintenance and maintaining a normal BMI for the last 5 years.   My Drs. were very knowledgeable when it came to getting me approved.

At the time I thought 6 months was a loooong time but now I feel blessed that I had that time to make some changes, prepare myself emotionally and with the help of this Lightweight board and a few friends who had WLS I was well prepared for my new exciting future. 

During that 6 months I broke my Diet Pepsi (carbonation) habit which was a BIG addiction to me since my hubby worked for Pepsi Cola for 18 years and our fridge was always stocked.  Occasionally, I still miss that burn of carbonation sip right before bed but I know even 1 sip would be a downfall for me and it might turn into an every night occurrence.

It also gave me time to prepare my family.  My DH (darling husband) and 2 of my DDs (darling daughters) were totally against it so this 6 months of preparing was good for them too. I did have the support of our youngest DD which was a a big help to me.  In fact she had wanted me to have it years ago. 

I suppose I'll have to have a little more faith in my surgeon and his team. They really do seem to have it all together. It's my own fault for reading so many horror stories about people being denied again and again for not meeting the criteria 100%. They seem certain, so I shouldn't be worried. 

I also have to convince my husband (not really convince, he's mostly supportive) that this isn't the worst thing I could do to myself. He's completely happy when I'm happy, he says he just wishes I didn't have to go to such extremes to get healthy. I think he's just afraid of the surgery aspect. He thinks 4 hours on the operating table is too extreme for weight loss. I've tried to explain to him that it's not losing the weight I struggle with, it's keeping it off. I just really feel like all of this yo-yo dieting is far worse for me than weight loss surgery. 

I'm working on eliminating coffee, since my surgeon seems to think it's the devil. I've had 2 cups of coffee in the last two weeks, so I'm feeling good about compliance. I think I can finally say I'm done with it. But I do love it so.... :/

Thanks for replying, it's so nice to hear from people who understand where I'm coming from.

We didn't have to give up coffee but did have to decaffeinate.  I slowly switched to decaf over a few weeks and have never gone back.  I still have a little every so often  but drink decaf coffee and herbal teas for the most part.  Luckily, I never had a soft drink addiction.

Welcome to the LW Board Lyka.

I had to do six month of support meetings or visits with a psychologists and six month of a supervised weight loss program.

Most surgeons who do weight loss surgery know the different types of insurance and what it takes to be approved.  I bet they would have told you up front you probably wouldn't get approved if they thought that.

I got me a small note pad and read and studied all I could and wrote out all my questions for the surgeon prior to my appointment.  My husband was not on board as much, so he went with me to the seminar and then to my first few appointments with the surgeon.  Once he met him and had everything explained he was on board with me.

Good luck and keep us updated.

Linda