Good Morning. What were your comorbidities?

Just a poll this morning.  What were your comorbidities that qualified you as a LW for WLS? So many times people think LWs only have WLS for vanity purposes and that's just not right. LWs have to have comorbidities and at least a 35BMI to even qualify in this country. Some have said band and VSG might be available for 30-35BMI but I think that might be still be self-pay...not sure. Also, Mex and Brazil have a lower BMI requirement than the US. Maybe 30-32BMI. Does anyone know that one for sure?

Anyway, mine were sleep apnea, type II "pre" diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, osteo-arthritis, and they also listed my degenerative disc disease. 

What were yours?

--gina

Great question Gina....

Mine were hypertension (diagnosed at age 27!!!...thankfully never had to increase my BP meds though during the 10+ years of diagnosis), PCOS, lipedema, and cholesterol that was getting up there.  I was VERY concerned about my risk for heart attack...PCOS is much better under control, off BP meds within 2 weeks of surgery (Never thought that would happen), lipedema is still there but I have lost weight on my bottom half and the little research out there stated that this was unlikely (went from a size 20 in pants to a size 10).  My BP now runs low.  Feel very blessed....

~~Jennifer

My stats were , 186-189 BMI 33-34.3 . I had no comorbitities , just depression of being fat and unhealthy. Always out of breath trying to do ranch work and the fact that I was only going to get bigger as I aged no matter how hard I tried. Mine was not for vanity , I didn't care what people thought of me, I just wanted to keep up with my 12 year older thn me significant other , hunting , ranching , and life.  I am self pay because my insurance doesn't support or pay for any bi pass. And the medical board association in the US has excepted a 30 BMI as preventative measures , it's the insurance companies that aren't allowing anything under 35. Most surgeons only stick to the insurance method because if anything goes wrong thu can bill insurance and still get paid, especially with long term issues. Insurance is more a guarantee to pay 30,000 than a self pay. 

I had high blood pressure, plantar faciitis and "allergies" that turned out to be mostly GERD due to a Hiatal Hernia.

None of this actually counted toward getting me surgery though. And, even if it did, WLS was excluded from my coverage.

I had WLS due to quality of life issues and while some people consider that "vanity", I consider quality of life to be THE. MOST. IMPORTANT. THING. That's because quality of life *includes* all the health issues because you can't have quality of life without good health but you also can't have quality of life if you can't tie your shoes without having to sit down or ride on roller coasters or sit in an airline seat without spilling over or do your daily chores without getting out of breath 100x a day. Those things all add up until you aren't really living and what's the point of living if you aren't living?

High BP, GERD, Sleep apnea, high cholesteral, osteoarthritis and only when they did may Ac1 (is that correct) diabetes.  never knew that before.

All resolved, well, I still have arthritis.  That isn't going away.  Still do acid inhibitor but that is for WLS surgery, not GERD.

Insulin pump dependent type 2 diabetes.

High cholesterol.

GERD

Sleep apnea.

All resolved altho I had to have jaw surgery to resolve the sleep apnea as it was based on very low oxygen not actually apnea events.

What we didn't bother with listing was my arthritis, and degenerative disc disease but then with the insulin dependent diabetes, I didn't get a squabble out of the Medicare Advantage insurance company about having the surgery...just gave me grief about WHERE I had it.

Mexico and Belgium have lower BMI requirements (I know that for sure).  I imagine that Brazil and Eastern Europe (eg Poland, Czech Republic) probably do too.

High blood pressure, arthritis in a lot of places but caused a lot of pain in my knee's which is gone!

Trish

My original BMI was 38. I had to get it UP to 40 to qualify for DS. So, I did.

I HAD type 2 diabetes. (no insulin since post op day 2)

GERD, High BP, High cholesterol, joint pain, lower back pain.

I was taking 8 oral medications, 2 different types of insulin (4 shots per day). 4 pain pills a day.

Now I take vitamins... and I am only one month out. The only prescription meds I take are Nexium and I am wearing a low dose fentanyl patch for my arthitis. Hoping to be off of it in another month as the weight comes off.

I probably qualified by my weight also since I was a higher BMI, but I also had comorbidities.

I mostly had WLS because of the Diabetes, but I had Sleep apnea, high cholesterol, pain in my feet and knees if I walked very much.  All now resolved!!

Linda