Squishy

Well, I just crossed one big hurdle. I met with my doctor this morning. I had scheduled the appointment to talk about the medications I was on and that I had not only plateaued, but had actually started gaining again. I explained that I had been thinking about a gastric bypass and she surprised me by saying that she had been thinking the same thing. She said that she felt that I was a good candidate for it and that we had pretty much exhausted the medicinal approaches.

I called Blue Cross/Blue shield when I got home and found that the procedure is covered as long as I meet their qualifications. I meet them all, except the one I am not sure of is the year of documented inability to sustain weight loss. It says that the doctors notes are not adequate to support this. I have no idea of what records she kept, so hopefully the records of medications, weight checks, blood pressure checks, and my visits to meet with her will suffice.

Assuming that I will get through all that, that leads me to a few big decisions. What type of procedure should I have? Open surgery or laproscopic? Which Doctor/Hospital?

I also found out today that I tore the cartilidge in my knee and have to have surgery for that. ( A step-aerobics injury. ) While at that clinic I was chatting with the nurse waiting for the doctor and she was talking about the effect of my weight on my knees. I explained the earlier appointment in which I discussed the bypass and she immediately said "Don't get anything but the lap-band." She said it was the least invasive and that if the pouch ever stretched, they could always tighten the belt. That is probably all true, but I got the feeling that I knew as much about it as her, because she seemed to be basing her opinion on one of her friends who got the band.

My doctor said she would refer me wherever I wanted to go but suggested that the doctor she knows who does it, is very good. Another doctor at the clinic went to him to have his done. I called that hospital and found out that he only does open procedures, not laproscopic. I really don't think I want to do the open one, so I am still looking. If it was a one or two time trip, I could go just about anywhere, but it sounds like there are many pre and post appointments, so I probably need to find someplace close.

Now that it appears this could be a reality, my head is spinnig with the details. If you have any recommendations for books, websites, etc to use for research, please let me know.

Thanks again for your support!
-Mike-

As you all have pointed out, I have a lot of research to do now.