Light Weight problem

It just occured to me that I am losing wt ever so little and that I am dangeroulsy close to falling below the majic BMI number of 35, I haven't met with my surgeon yet, just got through the Phsyc eval yesterday. Some one told me that teetering up and down is a good indication of trying to loose wt on your own, and I my DW suggests that I gain some weight befor meeting with the surgeon. I am stumped, If I can't have surgery, then that just puts me that much further back. They say you should loose some weight before having the operation. Help Help Help

I had to gain 20 lbs to qualify. Milk shakes with icecream and whole milk get the weight on fast. Don't drop below the 35 BMI or insurance won't pay. My friend had dropped to 34.9 and was turned down.

Hi again Nilie, How is everything going?  I have Cigna and am going to Dr Liberman, like you did in Naples.(about 150 miles away) My bmi is low for WLS also....I am barely a 36 BMI.   I have been documenting the 6month dr. diet, but it is tedious and of course I realize it's neccesary.   Do you think I'll still get approved if I don't loose much weight?  All it would take is around 5 pounds lost, and Cigna would probably deny me.  Any suggestions? thanks

Okay, I am going to sound like the bad guy here, but isn't the point of our journey to lead a healthy life?  I am a bit perplexed why someone would choose to gain weight by eating all types of foods that are clearly bad for our health just to get the insurance company to pay for the procedure. The BMI thresholds that many insurance companies use to determine approval or denial for this type of surgery are not an arbitrary number that we should be trying to reach in order to have them approve the surgery.  When a person's BMI is so high, there are increased risks for severe health issues.  If we don't meet that threshold, why in the world would we want to put on weight quickly to get to that point? From the tenor of the discussions that I have seen thus far, it seems that many people view the surgery at the quietus as opposed to a tool to help us lead a healthy life.  I am thankful that my medical group put me through a years worth of education before deciding on operating on me.  I have learned to eat in a healthy fashion.  I have learned to get out there and exercise.  I have learned to weigh and moderate the food going into my mouth.  Overall, the medical group has taught me to me to make conscious decisions to lead a healthy life, not to just get thin.  As a result, I have lost 40 pounds.  When I have my surgery on March 8, 2007, I will be armed with the tools to continue on the path of success. In regards to losing weight in preparation for surgery, the more that you lose, the better it is for the surgeon.  You want to start on a healthy path now so that you will be able to continue it after the surgery.  If you don't have healthy habits now, you will run the risk of gaining the weight back and fighting or suing your insurance company for revisions that you could have prevented had you implemented healthy habits pre-operatively.

Don't be so quick to criticize. Please understand that many of us have tried "healthy" lifestyles, diets, etc. We lose, but often regain. We have co-morbidities such as high blood pressure, diabetes, high colesterol and other issues such as arthritis, etc. that are not going to get better with a loss of 20 or even 50 lbs. To make the difference, we still need to lose 100 lbs. Don't throw stones. I had 110 lbs to take off. I am down 67 now. My blood pressure meds are gone. My colesterol is normal, I can now walk without a cane even though I have arthritic knees.  Gaining the 20 lbs was the best thing I could do. I could not afford to pay for the surgery without insurance and I am so much healthier already and have a much better life with greater mobility, etc. Again, don't throw stones. We are all here for the same reason -- which is to lose weight and get it paid for by insurance. 

It is unfortunate that you feel that I am throwing stones. However, the questions that I asked were legitimate from a health standpoint and an insurance standpoint. If you say taking off 20 to 50 pounds will not do anything to help with co-morbidities, then what exactly do you think putting on 20 to 30 pounds just to be approved by the health insurance company will do to one's health? Also, what type of precedent does that set for after the surgery when one will be required to lead a healthy lifestyle in order to keep the weight off? Furthermore, I don't know of any medical professional who would suggest those of us who are overweight to gain weight to improve our situation. From a personal standpoint, the goal for me is to not just drop pounds and get them off any way that I can (e.g. crash diets, starving myself, etc.) I am looking to lead a healthy life and to set myself up for success after my surgery. From an insurance standpoint, they are looking for the same. Weight-loss surgery is simply a tool, not the goal. That's why most insurance companies have medically supervised diet requirements, a certain number of co-morbidities requirements, etc. They want to ensure that when they are paying out their money for your surgery, they are going to get an appropriate return on their investment. If you were to call them and tell them that you wanted to be approved for weight-loss surgery and you were going to gain weight just to do it, they would deny your claim and precertification request from one end to the next. Of course, you would not do that; you would tell them something, perhaps anything, to get them to approve it at all costs. From your statements, it seems that you regard the surgery as a goal to end all your problems, but without the education to go along with the surgery, everything will be for naught. The weight will simply come back if we don't learn to moderate our carb intake, look at the sugars we consume, etc. We'll simply be thin with diabetes. Thus, it has nothing to do with throwing stones. Regardless, no medical doctor would tell you to gain weight to have weight-loss surgery because it's illogical, ludicrous, and dangerous. Thank you for your response.