Katie S.

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January 2013: I called my insurance company (I’m only 23, so I’m still insured through my dad’s employer, so I have good insurance) to see what was required of me to be eligible for weight loss surgery. It turned out, I needed a 6 month diet-and-exercise trial that was monitored by my doctor. I was “enrolled” in such a program at the St. Elizabeth Weight Management Center in Florence, KY, which is like 30 minutes south of Cincinnati, OH

My starting weight was 264 lbs, give or take. I was doing really well, down from my highest of 311 (January 2011). I was working for DHL Express at the time, so I was getting about 5 hours of heavy exercise 4 nights a week, and about 10 hours on Sundays.

July 2013: My diet trial was completed and pre-approval for the surgery was filed with my insurance company. I didn’t hear anything for a couple months.

October 2013: I received a denial letter from my insurance company. They said all was fine and dandy except one minor thing: My weight history wasn’t long enough. They wanted three years (10, 11, 12), but I didn’t see any doctors in 2010 because I wasn’t insured (that was a bunch of baloney with being 19, having had a child, not being in school, and so forth, before the “must be insured until 26” laws). So, the insurance coordinator at the Weight Management Center appealed with five years of weight history (08, 09, 11, 12, 13), but they denied it again, and she said I’d likely get approved if I tried again in the beginning of 2014. So I waited.

January 2014: I left a voicemail for the insurance coordinator at the Weight Management Center on the 2nd. I got a call back a few days later saying I was all filed again and good to go. Now I just had to wait 15-30 business days for the turnaround of the decision.

February 6, 2014: I called and left a disgruntled voicemail, saying I still hadn’t heard from my insurance company, and, barring my irritation from being denied last year for something so stupid, I was upset with the lack of communication and wondered if the coordinator had heard anything.

February 7, 2014: The insurance coordinator called and left a voicemail, saying she had been on maternity leave, and the temp who had been working in January called me, but never actually filed, and she was going to make sure she filed today, no worries, with the appeal letter, and everything was good to go.

February 19, 2014: My dad received my approval letter!

February 26, 2014: I received my approval letter from my dad! It was opened, but I guess that makes sense, since it was addressed to his house in IL instead of to me in KY.

March 5, 2014: After a few more back and forth voicemails, I received a voicemail today from the insurance coordinator saying I was scheduled! I am scheduled for a vertical sleeve gastrectomy with Dr. M. Ryan Moon on March 21. I do pre-admissions stuff on the 11th.

IT’S HAPPENING!!

Hello, everyone! Here's some background on me:

My name is Katie. I'm 22. I have a 3 year old daughter. I'm a student pursuing a B.S. in Psychology, with a minor in Mathematics. I also work night shift for DHL Express at the Cincinnati Airport in North America. (We are the only DHL Hub in the Americas~! Cool, right?)

I have been overweight for a long time. In the fourth grade, I suddenly gained like 60 pounds (for a weight of around 150, if I remember), but my PCP completely ignored it. (Much later, it turned out he had lost his license due to malpractice -- serves him right!)

When I was a freshman in high school, I had anorexia for about 7 months. I lost around 50 pounds from it, but as soon as I got help and started eating again, I gained it all right back. When I started my second year high school, I switched doctors. The damage was done, though. I was 180-200 pounds by then. My new PCP immediately noted that I was pre-diabetic/insulin resistant and placed me on Metformin. I didn't really lose any weight, but I did feel better.

Fast forward to the gap-year between high school and college, and I was pregnant. I was only 230 at 9 months, though, and when I delivered my baby, I dipped back under 200 pounds for the first time in years. But by the time my daughter turned 1 year old, I was at my highest weight yet, 292. To say it was a surprise when my OB/G weighed me and found I was nearly 300 pounds is... quite an understatement. Especially because I had been feeling really proud of myself that I had been exercising and had likely lost 5-10 pounds.

I couldn't believe I was 20 and nearly 300 pounds.

Shortly after that appointment, I started doing Debra Mazda's stepping program every single day, sometimes twice a day, and basically only eating broccoli. I lost 40 pounds in 6 months, but that program and diet was too hard to maintain, and as soon as I stopped, I gained 20 pounds back. I did manage to maintain my weight at about 270 for a year, but then I gained another 10.

And so here I am, 22 years old, and 280 pounds. I am extremely self-conscious. Certain things at work are difficult because of my weight, especially the multiple flights of stairs and climbing onto conveyor belts to un-jam industrial mail bags.

The worst of it is that my daughter calls me fat a lot. It isn't value-laden to her yet. She's just observing that I am fat. But it is value-laden to me and it hurts my feelings. A lot. Probably more than it should, especially since she's not trying to be mean.

But still, I want a body I can be proud of. I want my daughter to tell people I'm skinny like she and daddy are. I want to allow people to take pictures of me during Christmas. I don't want to be the butt of jokes or the recipient of staring. I want to be able to buy cute dresses, not barely fashion acceptable /tents/. I want to be comfortable with eating in public and grocery shopping. Most of all, I want not to feel trapped in my own body anymore. It is time I take charge and get control over my body. I want to be in great health, so that if I ever need to outrun zombies or fight a vampire, I totally can.

I want to be happy.

It's January 27th at the time of this writing. I have my first appointment with the surgeon on January 30th. That's so soon! I just filled out the paperwork and I can't wait to see him on Wednesday. I'll let you know how it goes!!