OMG I scheduled an appointment with a surgeon

I'm really doing this! I made an appointment with a surgeon/program here in Chicagoland, and I'm going to be meeting with the surgeon on 9/12. I'm excited and nervous to be taking this first step in the my journey. According to the coordinator I talked to my current insurance (Aetna) will require 6 months of dietary counseling. My current BMI is "only" 41.2 so I asked her if I lost weight in the 6 months leading up to it if I would still qualify for the surgery. She said yes. She said that they look at your starting levels and like to see you improve over those 6 months. So hopefully my BMI will be in the 30s by the time I have surgery. I figure the worse thing that happens here is that I get 6 months of nutritional counseling, right? I'm going to start thinking about May 2013 as perhaps the first day of the rest of my life. Hooray! (I really am proud of me for making the call!)

Congratulations the time will go by faster than you expect and you can use this time to make changes in eating and excercise habits that will help you down the road after surgery.  

Congrats!

 I made a appointment today also. I go on the 8 


Dianba

Congrats on taking the first step.  I would like to inform you that during those 6 months you can lose weight.  However, its a catch 22 on how much weight loss.  My surgeon told me that I could lose some weight pre-op but insurance told me that if I lost more than 20 lbs that I would not be eligible for the surgery.  The insurance companies are basically trying to verify that you did everything in your power to get that weight off, and should you not through doctors supervision then you definitely need the surgery.  So be careful how much u lose, I would hate for you to miss this life changing opportunity.  Bringing your BMI down to 30 is a guaranteed denied, because if you can do that in 6 months, they wonder what you can do in a year under doctors supervision.  Why pay for you to have surgery when they can pay just for you to see a nutrionalist?  I hope I made since, good luck to you.

I hear ya. Honestly I can't imagine getting down to a 30 BMI. The lowest t's ever been since I've been an adult is 33, and that was a tag-and-gone situation. But I appreciate the words of caution... it was on my mind too which is why I asked. I mean with 6-months supervised and sure I can lose some weight. I'm sure I can. I've done it before. It just doesn't stay off. Thanks for your thoughts!

I made my appt for september 18th! its the first step to a healthy happy me. :] cant believe i didnt do this sooner!