Nicole H.
My name is Nicole and I am 27 years old. My entire life I have suffered from being over weight. I honestly cannot tell you how many different diets and exercise programs I have tried over the years to help loose weight and keep it off. There were many times in my life that I didn't accomplish the things I set out to complete because of my weight and the perception that I wasn't motivated or I was lazy when in all actuality I am one of the hardest working people I know.
At the age of 22 I met the man of my dreams and for the 1st time I saw myself having a family with this person and growing our life together. He is my rock and my motivation; always by my side through all my yo-yo dieting and pushing me to be the best I can be.
In 2012 I was rushed to the emergency room for excruciating abdominal pains and was diagnosed with PCOS. During my exam at the emergency room the doctors discovered a basketball sized cyst growing on my ovaries and Fallopian tubes. Months later I had surgery to remove the large cyst that left me with only 1 Fallopian tube. After that surgery I again started more diets to control me weight. I was able to lose around 15 lbs but 10 of it was from the cyst being removed.
In late 2013 I want to see a fertility doctor just to get some education about conceiving a child with 1 Fallopian tube. He said that it is still possible and since I am so young that I should have no problems. Knowing that I have PCOS I asked him to do an ultra sound to check everything out. That's when the 2nd cyst was discovered. Talk about heart breaking!! This cyst was smaller but still required surgery to remove.
May 2014 I went and had my 2nd surgery. I decided it was time for a total life change. After I was healed and back to my normal routine I started to do some research about different weight loss surgeries and talked close friends and a family member about their success. At that moment I decided that VSG was the perfect surgery for me. It took about a while to find a doctor that I was comfortable with and everything fell into place. I went for my nutritional counseling, I had my psych evaluation, sleep study and all additional testing. As the results came in I was diagnosed with morbid obesity and mild sleep apnea. My doctor submitted all of the necessary paper work to my insurance company only to be denied. I broke down and cried. I called the insurance company and was told my employer has Bariatric surgery listed as an exclusion and even if the surgery is medically necessary it will not be covered. I felt defeated and was unable to appeal their decision. A few months later my employer went through another open-enrollment period, I was hoping at this time they would change their mind to have Bariatric surgery as covered..but nope; still an exclusion.
I was referred to another surgeon 2 hours away who was willing to help fight my insurance company with me. I had an entire team who was there to help me succeed; I felt like this was my shot. I went to my primary care doctor, who was also going to be a reference for my appeal, to let him know my plans. He diagnosed me with DMII. Again another heart break. I am now currently on a once a week injection(Trulicity) and taking Metformin to control my blood sugar levels. My patient care team submitted an appeal to my insurance company with my updated diabetes diagnosis and I was denied,again.
This is when I decided to look into financing the surgery on my own.The surgeon in North Jersey was going to cost me $30,000! I do not have that kind of cash laying around. I then researched some other options and I found NJ Bariatrics in Princeton NJ. After speaking with the staff my surgery was going to cost $15,000..I thought to myself " this is something I can handle". My family and my bfs family has been involved in this process from the beginning and through a lot of hard work and "promises" they have decided to fund my surgery!!!!
I am now waiting for a call back from Dr. Brolin's office to set up a consultation.
