I, like many across the nation, have been on diet after diet rollercoastering all over the weight charts. My diet wasn’t always good and in combination with necessary medications my weight reached to top 200 lbs. I have learned to eat right and very rarely give in to any kind of temptations, but I just can’t seem to get the weight back off.
Many many many people, I have come to find out, believe that all overweight people eat grease and sugar and that is it. I get sick when I eat to much of either of them so tell me, how did I get over weight? This is a touchy subject for me because I have been battling my weight for 8 years now with no success. It’s not that I eat the wrong things it’s that it takes so much to give me the sensation of being full.
I have been on appetite supressors and they work, they really do, until it’s time to stop taking them. Then I just gain all of that weight back, usually with some extra baggage along with it. I can’t live on appetite supressors the rest of my life and I do eat healthy so what are my options?
Keep on this rollercoaster ride, stay heavy, or get serious and see my doctor! I chose option three.
I started asking questions about Gastric Surgeries. I had heard plenty of things about Gastric Bypass surgery and the whole idea scared me. It is a major surgery that has some major health risk to it. But it was still an open option to me. I being desperate to get my weight and health under control as my doctor just told me I now have high blood pressure as well as my weight issues.
I did my research before I went in to see my doctor and found out about Lap Band Surgery. That was the surgery that I want done. I will be able to continue to eat my healthy meals with the exception of the rice I have been eating and this will reduce the size of the meals that I can intake. This is what I need. Something that permanently reduces the size of my meals. No more appetite supressants. This is a healthy appetite supressant.
I went to the seminar that you must attend to find out about what the benefits and risks are of having these kinds of surgeries. They even passed around one of the Lap Bands so everyone could see it. It was an informative and interesting seminar. By the end I was positive I wanted the Lap Band Surgery and so it begins. I also consulted with the top plastic surgeons in Birmingham. I realized, this is very crucial before undergoing any surgery. You must be able to do some research first and learn about the entire thing so you know what to expect.
I am in the extremely early stages of trying to have my surgery. My doctor wants to do some Diabetes testing on me and I had a sleep test done on me to determine whether or not I have Sleep Apnea, which I do. After the sleep test I filled out a lot of paper work for the surgeon to determine if I am even eligible for the surgery.
To be eligible I must be 100 lbs over weiht or have a BMI ( body mass index ) of 40 or higher, or 35 or higher with a comorbity. Sleep Apnea is one of the comorbities as well as the newly discovered high blood pressure. I also have back pain due to weight issues, asthma, poly cystic ovary disease, and swelling of the legs and feet. I should qualify with a BMI of 38.6.
After mailing in all of my paper work I waited anxiously for a phone call telling me that I was approved for surgery and to find out what to do next. There is always something to do next. About two weeks later I got a phone call from the surgeons office saying that I qualify for surgery but they are being approved for excellence in March and my insurance won’t pay for the surgery until that is done, and because I am not Diabetic I have to pay %20 of the surgery and doctors visits which comes out to roughly $2800.
For most people they get that kind of money back in income tax returns but I am on disability and that kind of money is just not in my reach. I told the lady this and asked her how much of the money needed to be come up wth before the surgery because she said this amount covered all pre op visits, the surgery, and post op visits. She said that by the time surgery date came I would need around $1900. That was a little better.
So now I am waiting and saving. Both I am doing impatiently. I will still see the doctor in April and I will start doing the presurgery things then but instead of the presurgery things taking a few months they are going to take closer to a year or more so that I can save up the money I need. This is my journey starting from the beginning.
