Women

I had been over weight all of my life. When I was in my 30's and again in my 50's I was able to loose around 80 lbs the conventional way. When I got heavy again in my 60's I found it very difficult to do the exercise piece of loosing weight and I felt like there wasn't much I could do to loose the weight. I found my health issue piling up, as I got older. At 64 I found my self with blood pressure, cholesterol, heart arrhythmia, thyroid, asthma, I had one knee replaced and was look at a 2nd knee replacement, sleep apnea, and the final straw was when my doctor told me I has borderline diabetic and we needed to start treating that as well. Well that was not going to happen, I was too cowardly to stick a needle in myself for the rest of my life and I knew I needed to do something about my life. I was worried about the impact that my weight would have on me, as I got older. I was afraid the folks at the care center would have to take me to the car wash to give me a shower. I had even wondered if I was going to have to be cremated because there weren't going to be enough relatives to carry my body to my grave. So I talked to some folks in our town that had been banded. I called a surgeon friend of mine and also go advice and he supported my desire to do the band. I talked to five of them; it had works for four of the five. Some had been banded in Mexico and a couple in Utah. My first plan was to have the operation in Utah. I had letters from my GP and my orthopedic Surgeon telling my insurance company that I needed the operation. They would not pay for it. We appealed the rejection and they would not pay for it in Utah. They were willing to pay $40 thousand for another knee and a lifetime of prescription, but not a lap band.