Question:
How do I prove 5 years of morbid obesity with my yo-yo diets? I have been

morbidly obese for most of my adult life; however, 5 years ago I used starvation as a weight loss tool. I lost over a 100# and have gained it all back in the last 2 years. My insurance requires morbid obesity that has "persisted" for 5 years. I consider the last 2 years as a demonstration of a failure to keep the weight off, but medical records from the last 5 years will show that I was much lighter. My BMI has been 40 for the last 2 years. I don't want to have to stay MO for another 3 years, who knows how many years that will take off of my life! Any hints on how to phrase this so that it justifies the surgery?    — Brenda K. (posted on June 4, 2002)

June 4, 2002
with my Aetna, you I had to give them a weight from at least 5 years ago showing that I was morbidly obese....get a wait from 97, if you are too light in 97....get one from 96....and so on....best of luck to you
   — Jeff B.

June 4, 2002
I used MS Excel and plotted my weight from 1978 (when my weight problems began) until today. I then drew a line that shows the yo-yo and how each time the weight comes up even higher. It was a great visual for myself and the doctor loved it! I bet you could do something like that. Hope that helps.
   — Lily C.

June 5, 2002
Start off with a list of both sides of your family going back at least 2 or 3 generations. List the weights of everyone and what types of problems they encountered like: diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure etc. Start a diet chart showing when you first started dieting, the length of each diet(no matter if it was a diet you found in a magazine or someone told you about it) list the amount of weight you started at, what you lost and what you gained back afterward. If you can't remember exactly( I know I couldn't because I started dieting at 13!)guesstimate. List all of the difficulties you have in day to day life like not being able to walk a flight of stairs without being winded, joint problems etc. If you present the whole history and those of your family, I believe it can say a whole lot about where you will end up. Then include a personal letter detailing your daily struggles and why this surgery is so important to your health. I was lucky enough to have gone thru a program that sent me forms requesting all of the above information. This worked in getting me approved pretty quickly. Lastly, find out who the health care coordinator is for your insurance. Once your information is ready, call that person and talk to them personally. I made sure to do this and explain why I felt the surgery was right for my situation. I had approval within 4 days after speaking to the coordinator. Best of luck
   — Ginger J.