Not waiting on insurance....

I am a 40 yo female, 5'9", 265lbs. BMI 39.4. I tarred the process of going through insurance last November 2016. I have United Healthcare though my employer and my employer does have obesity coverage. I stated down the weight loss surgery path (gastric sleeve) after a recommendation from my endocrinologist. I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's disease in 2014. We tried Contrave, which worked great in the short term, but I regained the weight shortly after stopping. I started the official doctor supervised diet required by my insurance in November 2016. I contacted the insurance coordinator at the hospital affiliated with my endocrinologist and she outlined the steps I would need to complete to meet my insurance requirements. Unfortunately she id not clarify that I needed to see my doctor every calendar month. Because of the way my appointments fell I did not see him in February but I did see him every 30 days as the requirement was explained to me. I was told in March I would have to start the six-month process all over. I used Nutrisystem during this time which was not cheap. I also had to have two visits with a dietitian, a psychological exam, and a visit with an exercise therapist. After reading several posts on RealSelf and other blogs I decided it would be wise to meet with my benefits administrator at work to double check my insurance requirements. It was then that I learned I likely would not qualify for insurance coverage. My insurance was very narrow in that I either had to have a BMI of more than 40 for the preceding three years, or a BMI of 35 or more with one serious comorbid condition caused by being overweight. Sleep apnea did not count unless it was severe AND contributed to another condition. My BMI has not exceeded 40 and I am very fortunate to not have any serious health problems due to my weight. When I recontacted the insurance coordinator at the hospital (which had changed during this ordeal) she admitted that it is often the luck of the draw to get approved depending on whose desk your paperwork lands on at the insurance company, especially if you are in a "gray area" like I was. On top of all this the choices of surgeons in my area went from 4 to 2 and one is off on medical leave for an extended period. The remaining surgeon is at a hospital I am not comfortable with.

Fully expecting to NOT get approved I began looking at Plan B-self pay. The surgeon I contacted in my area quoted me a price of $26k. I was devastated. I was looking so forward to being able get excited again about buying clothes, planning vacations, and taking photos. I believe my weight has held me back in my job (a male dominated profession), has inhibited my relationship with my husband, and kept me from enjoying many aspects of life. I just wanted to feel confident and healthy. I thought I was being forced to decide between going into massive debt and improving my life and longevity. A difficult decision....

Then I began reading about people who were going to Mexico for surgery. While this made me a bit nervous I have family along the Texas/Mexico border and have traveled across many times, though not in the past 8 years. I found a website for Dr. Alvarez in Piedras Negras, MX and was immediately intrigued. I spent at least 20 hours searching reviews, websites, RealSelf etc. and could not find anything but rave reviews. After discussing the pros and cons with my husband we agreed we felt more comfortable going to Mexico. I have had nothing but a 5 star experience since the first one I contacted Dr. Alvarez (Endobariatric). I am scheduled for surgery on 9/15/17 and couldn't that be more excited. I start my 7-day liquid diet on 9/8/17. I will provide updates and info as it gets closer as well as post op. Total cost is $8900 plus travel to San Antonio.

Look forward to sharing my journey and hopefully helping others along the way!

They say the first couple of days are the worst. I am hungry but honestly the difficulty focusing is the hardest part. I've had Premier protein clear (20g protein), water, coffee, and another protein shake that was 10g. The only non-sweet option is beef/chicken/or vegetable broth and one can of fat free creamed soup per day.

Several days ago I received a box from Endobariatric that included all kinds of info and lists I would need to be prepared for before and after surgery. They even included a flash drive with electronic copies of everything. Everything seems very well organized and thought out. It is crazy to think that a week from now I will have just been "sleeved" and on the next leg of this journey!

Strangely I am not nervous about the surgery itself or the recovery. If I have a "worry" it is that I will no longer enjoy food at all, which I know won't be the case.

Yesterday was rough. Mostly because I had a headache from bout 3am until about 5pm. I get migraines about once per month, but this was no migraine. I do not think it was from caffeine withdrawals as I am still allowed to have coffee and tea, which I have been drinking. I think this was more carb withdrawals. I vaguely remember something like this when I did Atkins years so. The main difference was I wasn't hungry because I could eat solid food. I took Midol yesterday and that seemed to help. I also only consumed 650 calories on Day 1 and 750 on Day 2 and I'm supposed to have between 800-1000, so maybe that didn't help. Felt the headache coming back around 5am and took some more Midol. Only issue this morning is my stomach is growling like crazy! I am definitely hungry but have been distracting myself with other things. I forgot to put my stats before so here goes:

HW: 280?
Start of Pre-op diet: 268.5 9/8/17
CW: 263.8 9/10/17