Just curious, are they requiring you to lose X amount of weight before you are approved for surgery. My sister had to lose close to 80lbs before she could get a surgery date. This was about 15yrs ago, and she told me it was about the hardest thing she ever had to do.
Welcome to the group. Good luck on your journey.
I know you're not asking me, but its such a good question, I hope others share.
Just curious, are they requiring you to lose X amount of weight before you are approved for surgery. My sister had to lose close to 80lbs before she could get a surgery date. This was about 15yrs ago, and she told me it was about the hardest thing she ever had to do.
Welcome to the group. Good luck on your journey.
in 2007 my doctor told me the requirement insurances listed was that a patient be 100 pounds overweight.
Nowadays, from reading dozens of posts here, I see that different insurance companies won't approve the surgery without a certain weight loss, based on their own calculations. to be honest a lot of them seem unnecessarily stringent.
I think it's best just to develop an eating plan you find satisfying and make certain purges, like sugar or fat or carbs. If you show you're losing weight, i think most surgeons will be willing to do the surgery.
one other thing: it's a lot easier on the surgeon if you lose weight that results in folds of skin cascading down, for instance, your abdomen. at any rate they want to feel assured you're capable of achieving the results the surgery offers. otherwise, a doctor could be tagged as a fat farmer who just wants the money and really doesn't help effect a permanent change.
in my case, i was followed up by a university study as well as my surgeon's office, which made it easy. the support group i went to was beyond worthless. if you were skinny from surgery, all the presurgical candidates just blatantly stared at you, not hearing a word the facilitator was saying. finding this group was a blessing beyond belief. i lost a total of 115 pounds in 14 months and have kept most of it off for 15 years.
I just found out today that the YMCA offers free memberships to anyone over 65 in the Puget Sound area. i'm extremely excited to sign up and get busy. Not being overweight is great, but im 70 years old and need some tone in my muscles and skin, which is what i'll get at the Y
(if I get all my appointments in by next month). Best of luck to you!
