Bariatric surgery-Tests complete

I met with the nurse practitioner at the Bariatric surgeon's office Monday.   I was only down 6 of my 12 lbs required (5%) in order to schedule surgery.  Obviously I have never been through this process before so I wasn't sure what to expect.  Before she came in I heard the nurse giving her a quick "recap" about me.  I almost fell over when I heard her say that my required tests were all done and that "she isn't that big so 6 lbs should be good enough weight loss to schedule her".  I have to say that I do hide my weight well but I was still surprised to hear that.  On me, 250 lbs is a size 20 and I carry most of it in the front of me, instead of being wide.  But nonetheless, my 250 lbs puts me at a BMI of 43.  Anything over 40 is considered class III obesity, also known as MORBID OBESITY.  So when she came in she reviewed my chart and told me I was ready to be scheduled for surgery. 

All of a sudden it felt real.  All of the hoops have been jumped through.  The EKG, the Psych clearance, 2 sleep studies, letter of med necessity, blood work, etc. I felt a bit nervous.  And excited.  So now I wait.  My first visit with the surgeon was January 21(the info session was January 7).  My second was Feb 17. Things had moved much more quickly than I anticipated.  This might be the part that takes the longest.  Apparently what happens is my chart goes to the scheduler/insurance approval department.  So I am guessing she will write up my letter to the insurance and if/when it comes back with approval I will get a surgery date scheduled.  From what I got from my insurance it can take 30 days but is almost always approved within 10 days.  But who knows how long the surgeons office will take to send out for approval and then call me with a date.

I was under the impression my recovery time out of work would be about a week.  I think that's what the Dr said at the info session. The NP yesterday told me to plan for at least 2 weeks but that I could take up to 6 if I needed it.  I am so very glad that I was told about the statistic for morbidly obese people.  I keep reminding myself of it.  "Once a person reaches morbid obesity, there is a 5% chance of losing the weight and keeping it off".  The stats are 80% for those who have bariatric surgery.  My weight is something I will always have to battle.  But it will be nice to have a much better chance because of the surgery.