Question:
Will insurance approve surgery in 14 year old? And is it advisable?
My daughter will be 14 next month she is about 5'2" and about 240. She is getting ready to start high school next year and my heart breaks for her. She doesn't have any real health problems yet, but many social problems. We have tried many differnt diet plans, but nothing works. I am very worried about her health both physically and emotional. I also worry about the effects of the surgery on her health. I also don't know if insurance will pay for teenager surgery. Anyone have any experience with this? — Tracy B. (posted on June 25, 2003)
June 25, 2003
There are surgeons and insurance companies who work with teens, however it
is very very rare. I have not heard of any surgeon doing a young person
under the age of 16, but perhaps they are out there. There is a hospital
program that did do teenagers in Richmond. They were on TV, CNN? about 6
mos ago.
— M B.
June 25, 2003
You know... I wish this surgery had been around for me when I was her age.
If your surgeon thinks it is a medically sound move, and her physician will
support yours and her decision, then I'd say go for it. BUT... BE SURE she
realizes she will NEVER be able to eat like she has in the past. As a
teenager, she will likely say, "Oh, I know... I know!" and get
aggrivated... but if she honestly wants to change, she MUST realize that
the surgery is a TOOL, not the CURE! There is no CURE for obesity. The
surgeon can only give her a tool to use for the rest of her life. No more
pizza parties with stuffing down a whole pizza AND other snacks. She might
get to the point where she can MAYBE eat a whole slice of pizza, but it
would be at least 12 months after surgery before she should try it. I'd
love to help you more with this... One big piece of GOOD advice... take her
to a psychiatrist and get an MMPI done and a few sessions under her belt
about this surgery. Make sure she has a good/excellent support system. We
are all here for her if you both decide this is a good thing. Which is
worse... getting more and more heavy and unhealthy as time goes on, or
taking control and getting healthy as time goes on? She needs to know that
with or without this surgery, she is going to HAVE to control her eating
habits and she is going to HAVE to exercise even when she doesn't want to.
Good luck and we are here for you!! Hugs!
— Sharon M. B.
June 25, 2003
My niece, age 15, is also morbidly obese. Her mom had thought about
surgery for her at one point too. When my niece came for a month long
visit last month, we had her join Weight Watchers with us plus go to the
gym to swim (I'm pre-op). (We checked with her folks before we did this
and they completley agreed) She really liked the program and it was fairly
easy for her to count points with a little help from us. I also stressed
to her that she didn't need to do rigid exercise routines but what was
important was that she "moved more" doing such things as dancing.
Dancing should could be done in her bedroom if she wanted --- 10 minutes 2
or 3 times a day would be great. It was wonderful to see the changes she
made while she was here in weight loss and self esteem. We didn't stress
weight loss either -- what we stressed was that we were eating healthier,
moving more, and feeling great --- if we lost weigth too that was an added
bonus. I hope she is able to continue now that she is home. She has a
good foundation to build on. I hope you find the answers for your
daughter. Some states (my understanding) do not allow this surgery to be
done on children.
— [Deactivated Member]
June 25, 2003
JMHO here, but I think a person should be at least 18, maybe even 21,
before having weight loss surgery. Mainly because they are still growing
and developing and there are so many nutritional issues for us as full
grown adults, I think it could be more detrimental to a developing young
person. Another thing to consider is, the reason we go through a psych
evaluation, why many doctors or insurers require supervised diets or diet
attempt histories, is that surgery is a major step. Again, JMHO.
— Anna L.
June 25, 2003
This is totally my opinion. You've been warned. :) When I was 14 my mom
had the doctor put me on MediFast, a liquid diet. I felt absolutely
tortured when I was with friends in the cafeteria and couldn't eat what
they did. It was more damaging to my self-esteem to not be able to be
"one of them" than the weight ever was for me. I also know that
even at 16 I'm not sure I would have had the willpower and maturity to do
this. I'm 26 and it's no cup of tea as we all know, so I can't imagine how
it would have been emotionally as a 14 year old. I would also be extremely
concerned about the calcium issue since your bones are still developing and
taking in large amounts of calcium at that age. It's bad enough
maintaining, let alone boosting the calcium levels. Just my 2 cents.
— ladyphy
June 25, 2003
One of the reasons I wanted to have this surgery was so that I would be
able to help my teenage daughters be more healthy. Obviously I had issues
with eating and thought how could I possibly help them when I'm on this
self destructive path? My oldest daughter (15) is not obese, but is in the
overweight catagory. I did not want her to end up like me.
I recently invited my daughters to start playing tennis with me. We aren't
very good and spend most of the time chasing tennis balls around the court.
But, it does my heart good to see my girls out there getting some good
exercise. My oldest even asks, "Are we going to play tennis
tonight?" and is disappointed if we don't.
I guess my point is, as you get healthier, it will encourage your daughter.
If you are active, she will be too.
Hugs, Barb
Open RNY 4/07/03
235/185/125-130 5'2
— Barbara C.
June 25, 2003
I truly feel for your daughter. But, I think it would be so hard on a teen
to have the serious dedication and responsibility that it takes to adhere
to our diet and lifestyle. It is such a drastic change and it will effect
her for the rest of her life. I would seriously consider all of the options
out there before going with surgery.
— hooterzgirl75
June 25, 2003
From what I've read there are surgeons who will perform bypass on teens but
only after they have stopped growing or have reached at least 90% of their
full growth. I'd really discuss this with her doctor.
— [Deactivated Member]
June 25, 2003
http://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/health/info/surgery/faqs.htm
— [Deactivated Member]
June 25, 2003
My surgeon dr philip schauer has talked at support group meetings about WLS
on children. You might contact them Pittsburgh is pretty clse to you.
— bob-haller
June 25, 2003
I am not sure that insurance would pay sometimes it is hard to get them to
pay for someone who it is definately advisable for but I do know that there
are surgeon's out there who will do the surgery on teens. My surgeon
mentioned that he might start doing the gastric banding surgery on teens
since it is reversable and not as invasive and there are no malabsorption
properties to this that would interfer with growth. I would start checking
around for surgeon to talk to about it then go from there. They would have
more experiance with insurance approval for teens and let you know what
procedures that they would do for a teen. Good luck, I too wish that this
had been an option for me when I was a teen.
— S C.
June 26, 2003
FOURTEEN MAY BE TOO YOUNG. BUT ON THE OTHER HAND, WHY PROLONG HER TORTURE?
I DONT KNOW. I WAS ALWAYS OBESE AND I WISH I HAD DONE THE SURGERY SOONER.
I AM 26 NOW. I REMEMBER BEING 14. I REMEMBER THINKING I WOULD RATHER BE
DEAD THAN STUCK IN THE BODY I WAS DEALT. I THINK IT IS PERFECTLY
ACCEPTABLE TO PERFORM THIS SURGERY ON ANYONE WHO HAS FINISHED GROWING AND
THAT COULD MEAN SOMEONE AS YOUNG AS 16. AS FAR AS THE PERSON WHO POSTED
THAT THEY MIGHT FEEL LIKE THEY DONT FIT IN BECAUSE THEY CANT EAT WHAT THE
OTHERS ARE EATING,,,,HELLO!!!!MOST OF US MORBIDY OBESE AND FORMERLY
MORBIDLY OBESE SPENT THEIR ENTIRE CHILDHOOD AND TEENAGE YEARS ON DIETS
PRACTICALLY STARVING OURSELVES WHILE EVERYONE ELSE ATE NORMALLY. AND THE
PERSON WHO POSTED ABOUT THE WEIGHT WATCHERS THING WITH THEIR NIECE,,,,HMMMM
NOW I KNOW DIETING DIDNT WORK FOR ME. YES I LOST WEIGHT, BUT IN THE END IT
WAS A FAILURE. THAT PERSON SAID THEY WERE POST OP. I WONDER IF THEY ARE
TRYING TO HAVE THE SURGERY THEMSELVES. IF THEY THINK WEIGHT WATCHERS IS SO
HOT AND ENJOY COUNTING THOSE POINTS, THEN I DONT THINK THEY NEED SURGERY
EITHER. SORRY, I KNOW PEOPLE ARE JUST GIVING THIER OPINIONS, BUT SOME
SOUND SO REDICULOUS. LIKE JUST BECAUSE THEY HAD TO GO THROUGH YEARS OF
DIETING BEFORE THEY HAD THEIR SURGERY, YOUNG PEOPLE SHOULD ALSO. I
DISAGREE. IF INSURANCE WILL APPROVE IT, GO FOR IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!BE SKINNY,
BE HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
— christina K.
July 26, 2003
Hi, my daughter had a VG with Dr. Wetter in Burlingame, CA. Last August.
She was 13 at the time. Our insurance, Great West PPO paid for it because
she had MANY co-morbidities including heart problems attributed to weight.
She only lost 40 lbs. and is having it revised to a RNY next Thursday and
they are balking at paying for "another" weight loss surgery. I
wish we had done the RNY in the first place. Feel free to email me with
questions if you'd like.
— sandieguy
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