Question:
Does anyone have suggestions what to say in your pre-op

I have my initial consult Monday and my surgeon likes to have a written "bio" of reasons for surgery. Does anyone have suggestions for what to include to help with approval?    — Kewpidoll (posted on November 6, 2002)

November 6, 2002
Whatever you do--do not say that it will change your entire life and things will be much better. Be specific: for instance: I will be able to attend outdoor functions where walking is required, it will reduce my hypertension, or it may alleve me of my diabetes which I see as a profound threat to my future, or cancer runs in my family and I know that obesity has been linked to cancer, or it return my sex life to a greater degree of satisfaction, etc. They like specifics! Hope this helps
   — Debbie H.

November 7, 2002
Kara, I did mine in three sections: Co-morbidities, Prior Weight Loss Attempts, Motive and Support. Under the co-morbidities section I described EVERY physical and emotional problem I have because of my weight. I described diagnosed and undiagnosed problems. My prior weight loss section included every diet, supervised or otherwise that I have ever been on. I made a chart of the weight loss and subsequent gain. I also gave an estimate of how much money I have spent on the effort. The motive section contained the reasons I want to loose weight and my expectations for the surgery. Finally, I included some information about my support structure including my plans to attend support groups and my use of this site. I hope this helps. If you want to see my letter, just send me an email.
   — Amber L.

November 7, 2002
I was pretty well rpepared and impressed my surgeon and his staff. I had a list of all the co-morbidities and problems I have had that were associated with my weight even if they were not officially diagnosed or not. I also made a spreadsheet. Since I am young, I went through my entire medical records from a very young age and wrote my weight and height and my BMI. This showed how long I have been obese. (Lord knows it has been a long time) I also went through and wrote down all of my family medical history. Things my different family members had like hypertension, obesity, heart disease, cancer, and such. Then I wrote down all of the diet attempts I could remeber for at least the last 5 years. I wrote down how long I was on it (estimated dates) and the amount of weight lost and regained. This was all estimated because I never kept that close of record on any of it. Last, but certainly not least, I brought all of my information I had with me and i also made a list of all the questions that I had that were not yet answered. Most of them he answered before I got a chance to ask them, but I just crossed them off and asked the rest. I also had a letter already written to my insurance company to send in with my pre-certification, but they said they didn't need it and they would use it if they had to file and appeal. none of that happened, so it was OK. I hope this gives you some insight, if you have any more questions, please feel free to let me know!
   — sammygirlwpc