In the beginning

In October, 2007, my General Practitioner wrote our first letter to the insurance company to apply for approval for the lapband surgery. It was denied, of course because even though I had a BMI of 49, I did not have any co-morbidity. As far as I was concerned that is a blessing, but the denial was disappointing. The insurance company wanted me to go through one full year of Weight Watchers before approval. We continued to pursue the insurance procedures and finally, on February 23, I testified before a review board of 3 physicians and tried to convey my needs. I am 61 years old and have struggled with weight all of my adult life. I have tried Weight Watchers, Optifast, NutriSystem, hypnosis, counting calories, etc. Two and a half years ago I made a genuine commitment to change my lifestyle. I began to exercise with a personal trainer. He, too, had tried various things to assist me with weight loss. On February 25th, I received a letter from the insurance with a real compromise in my opinion. I had to continue to exercise at least 3 times a week, see a nutritionist twice a month, have a psychiatric evaluation, and get approval from my endocrinologist and surgeon. All of this had to transpire over the next 6 months.