Morgan K.

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This pre-op stuff is no joke!  UW without question has one of the most extensive and in-depth pre-op bariatric programs in the country..... my medical bills can prove it!  As of last week, i've completed all the necessary steps: initial consults, follow ups, step A,B,C classes, secondary follow ups... and i'm so pumped to say that the team has given me the green light to submit to surgery!  I will have my 6th and final visit with my nutritionist next week and then we'll have all we need to submit.  Insurance needs a proposed date of surgery, and mine will be August 21st.  seems so far away, could have gone with an earlier date, but would have complicated work.  on the plus side, my mom is off the whole week after my surgery, so will be much easier to have her to send the kiddos off to while i recover.  This JOURNEY has been incredible, and while i was skeptical and thought of myself as a reasonably healthy eater, i have learned so much about myself and what i can do to eat healthier and have a better relationship with food.  The mental transformation already has been jaw dropping.  I guess when it's something you do 4-5x/ every day of your life, it doesn't take long to build up a habit.. this time for good.  I'm 100% caffiene, carbonation, & alcohol free.  i'm drinking a gallon of water a day, and getting 80-100g of protein/day in.  Separating liquids from meals is hard to manage on busy days, but it's become second nature to me by now, as-is chewing my food entirely and eating slowly.

Not to say there haven't been challenges.  Trying to play insurance's game and not drop below 40 bmi has held me back from being totally full speed ahead with eating healthier.  despite all of that, i'm still steadily losing weight and not really feeling like my life and habits are totally restricted.

99% of the boxes are checked!  Right now and moving forward is 100% about FOCUS!  keep your cool, remember what you learned, trust the process.  Next post will come IF?WHEN? i get insurance approval.  peace out loves!

Quick update. I'm about to start month 4/6 of the insurance diet. Initial consult with surgeon was on 3/9. Because of my history of acid reflux, he ordered an EGD, which was done on 3/30. From what I'm told, everything looked ok other than the fact that I have a hiatal hernia. However, I have still not heard any follow-up from my surgeon as to if everything is still a "go" for the sleeve based on the EGD

Not as bleak this week as i was with my last post.  Next month will mark the 3rd month of my 6 month long (gag) insurance required diet, which means..... I CAN FINALLY HAVE MY INITIAL CONSULT!!!  I'm going through UW Health Medical and Surgical Weight Management Program in Madison, WI.  My initial consult will be on 3/9 all day long.  literally, from 9am-3pm.  I'm calling it Bariatric Day Camp :) lol.  I'll go through the whole gammot of their team members: nutritionist, health psych test, surgeon consult (mine is Dr. Luke Funk, MD) and then 2 hours of psychiatric eval.  I'm sooo excited that things are FINALLY happening!  Still terrified i'll go through all of this and still get denied by insurance.  I dont have the highest faith in the nutritionist that's supervising my "diet" as she is anti-bariatric surgery and has never help a patient apply for one before.  She spends our sessions trying to convince me not to have it.  so annoying.  The thing is that I know more about the surgery and post-op life changes than she does.  I'd really rather see someone else, but then I'd have to start all over again.  I've posted on the forum and on Facebook for some advice to make sure she's doing her end of the job correctly and got some wonderful feedback to take to my next meeting with her.  Our meetings together are literally just to go through the motions and meet insurance requirements.  There's nothing new she has to teach me since I'm reasonably educated about nutrition and diets already and I'm unable to lose much weight during this process or else I'll fall below 40 bmi.  

The fact that I can't lose hardly any weight until i'm approved has been and will continue to be my biggest source of frustration.  Even if my intitial consult weight puts me above 40 on the 9th, my case worker has said that my insurance (UMR) is one of the more finicky ones, and they will use it against me if i lose weight during this process.  So, while i'm all on Facebook, OH, IG and YouTube and getting MOTIVATED AF about all of this, I have to force myself to hold back.  Right now, my life consists of running/lifting 3x/week and meals are a combination of keto-themed meals- which I LOVE to share and get inspiration from on IG- and eating whatever the fuck i want.  Kinda messed up lol.  I find myself craving the keto way of life.  Smaller portions, don't miss bread or pasta.... very encouraging.  Not going to lie though, I am focusing on BULKING UP over the next week and a half and doing everything in my power to weigh as much as I possibly can when I step on that scale next Thursday.  I already have a big fat salty Chinese feast planned for the night before so that I'm retaining water like it's nobody's business the next morning.  It's going to drive me nuts to "stay fat" during this summer as i usually drop about 20 pounds each summer just with all the farming activity and cattle shows etc. (just to gain it all back again in the winter)  But it wont be forever and I'll be on that damn loser's bench one way or another!

Have officially gotten a referral from my PCP for a VSG surgery and have filled out the paperwork from the center.... about a month ago...  and haven't heard anything back from them since, despite two phone calls to inquire what happens next.  So very frustrating.  I'm deeply concerned about qualifying with insurance.  Right now, my BMI sits right on a 40.8 and i have none of the first level comorbidities.  So while I'd love to continue on my quest to be healthy and peck away at the 120+lb I have no hope of losing completely on my own, I can't really, because then I'll fall below 40 and be disqualified.  On top of that, what happens if I drop below during the 6 month diet?  I've tried to talk to both the center as well as my insurance about this question and they keep referring me back to the other one like some sadistic game of tennis.  The one lady at the center told me "if you lose weight on the diet and disqualify, it's a good thing, you'll be able to carry on with that".  i wanted to jump through the phone and slap her.  You all know as well as i do that we can get extreme and lose 20-30lb here and there, but it's never something that's sustainable and I know that I'll never achieve the long-term results of losing 120+lb on diet alone.  I feel like i'd be hung out to dry if that happened.  I've read on here that you basically have to "play the game" and more or less stay heavy if you're on the cusp just to get the surgery.  That's such a frustrating and bleak outlook to me right now.  I don't even know how long i'd have to keep that up, especially when i can't even seem to get somebody at the surgery center to call me back.  I'm ready for all this.  Raring to go with high protein, exercise... all the bells and whistles, but I dont even see a true starting line for myself yet since i dont want to fall below 40.  Pretty dark and grumpy month for me right now.  Hopefully i'll hear something back and these wheels can slowly grind into motion.

It's time.  30 years old, 2 kids, and the heaviest weight i've ever been at.  I'm 5'9 and I usually weigh in between 270-280 lb.  I'll start with this, my blood pressure is beautiful, and i have no cholesterol issues.  That i am thankful for.  What i do have is PCOS, acid reflux, and back pain.  I have to ask for a seatbelt extender when i fly.  I can't get excited about black Friday deals because clothes shopping is nightmarish for me.  I have never been thin, though looking back at myself in highschool, i should have realized that i wasn't as fat as i always thought i was.  What i wouldn't do to be lucky enough to be my "fat" highschool self once again.  What scares me is that i'm only 30 years old and i'm just STUCK being this fat person, who is only going to get fatter and more unhealthy as age and metabolism and all of that other crap catches up with me.  I have tried so many times, with some success, to lose weight.  But it's never been more than 30lb, which creep back on because what i had to do to get there was unrealistic for my lifestyle.  Carbs are the enemy i know.  Exercise alone seems to do nothing for me.  Before i came down with a case of walking pneumonia, i was running 2.5 miles three times a week for two months and didn't lose a pound.  

Here i am. Today. 11/22.  276lb and finally to the point where i'm just desparate enough to begin to consider weight loss surgery.  I struggle with the horror stories, the regrets some people have, the health isssues and deficiencies, the people who gain everything back.  I'm right on the verge.  Do i keep plowing right along and try to lose this the old fashioned way?  Or is it really time for me to consider the alternatives?  Life as a "sick" skinny person has to be better than a depressed and tired fat person right?  Would love input/advice from any other women out there in my similar situation, age, weight range.  Cheers to you all!

M