Hello, Im new to the group :)

[Guest guest]

Hello all,

My name is Hanni, and I just started considering surgery fairly

recently. But I have been reading/devouring online information about

it (www.obesityhelp.com is great) and feel fairly well informed about

generalities. What I don't know is much about how Kaiser (Bay area)

does it (I mean the process) and I know they do it a bit differently

then most health insurers. I am at the very beginning of the process,

as I JUST yesterday brought up the subject with my OB/GYN who has been

overseeing my weight issues due to my PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian

Syndrome) with Insulin Resistance. She seemed to support the idea, and

booked me for a session for " Bariatric surgery Overview " which is

scheduled for me for April 26 and also said that I needed to enroll in

the " Weight Management and Lifestyles " 10 week course, which I plan to

do so today. That is as much as she knew about what I should do. She

said that the surgery and requirements would be explained in the

overview class. Has anyone done this " Bariatric overview " class? (I'm

in Novato, CA and the class in San ) I would love to know what

this class is going to cover and from there what happens?

A little about me:

I am 30 year old, married with 1 boy. I'm 5'10' and weigh 280 so a BMI

of 40. With my Pcos, I started gaining weight when I hit puberty, and

its been slowly rising ever since. I am about 110 pounds overweight

from what my BMI ideal should be. I am large framed, so I am going to

" play it by ear " and see what my ideal weight ends up being. Can

anyone share with me what co-morbidities are required for a BMI of 40?

I have seen different lists of co-morbids but not one specific to what

Kaiser says they are. I am hoping that I have enough to be considered

for surgery.

My other concern is the diet history. I haven't ever " officially " done

any diets. I have read books and followed certain diet plans for a

little bit, but found them unstainable for long periods. Mainly i have

always just tried to eat really healthy. I haven't ever taken diet

pills or been on a doctor restricted diet, as well as not ever done any

of the " fad " diets ie grapefruit, etc. becuase I knew they wouldn't

work long term and I wasn't going to compromise my health to be skinny.

I haven't tried Slimfast or any of the other programs due to not

having the money to do that. I am not sure how I would go about

explaining THAT, do you think that is an issue?? And I have never kept

track of *when* I have done anything....its been kinda trial and error

as far as book diets.

Sorry, this is a long post, well, thats all that I can think of for now

LOL. I would love to hear any insight. I know this *can be* a long

process, but I want to have all my ducks in a row, so the process

doesn't get prolonged any longer then need be. (I hate waiting!!!

LOL!!!)

Hugs,

Hanni