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My first day

ripcityrenegade

Entry posted by ripcityrenegade

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Well the first day is here. This is also my first blog. I really don't know where to start. So I guess I 'll start with me. I'm 50 years old and weigh 350#.For years I had no trouble maintaining my weight. To the point that I never even thought about it. I used to be very active with hiking, mountain biking,weight lifting etc. I grew up in the Pacific Northwest which I believe to be the best place in America to live. Anyhoo I usually had jobs that were physical or where I needed to stay in shape to do them.I was a bouncer in Portland for many years. I was a commercial fisherman in Alaska. Casino security in Reno and Vegas. Cook, bartender, and about every job in a restaurant.So I guess these kept me from getting fat because you are always moving about. Now I work at a prison in Wisconsin and contrary to what you see on TV I sit around alot and watch TV or shoot the breeze with my officer's. The best description I can give you about working at a prison is that it is hours of boredom followed by seconds of terror. So I went down the slippery slope, 5lbs here 5lbs there etc.

I first started looking into weight loss surgery about two years ago. It was then I found out that my "CADILLAC" insurance would not pay for anything. It's strange they will pay for treatment of any weight related disease you may get but not prevention. So I went on another diet and lost 45lbs and promptly gained it back plus some. I went to my doctor and she suggested that I go to a seminar on Lap-band surgery. I did go and was given some pretty cool info on the procedure. There was a rep there from my insurance company and I asked her why they would not pay for this. Her reply was this. Are you ready, There is no guarantee that you will lose weight. I told her that there is no guarantee that you can cure diabetes or heart disease, but you'll pay for that. Needlees to say she probably won't be adding me as a friend anytime soon. The cost was over 25,000 and that did not include everything. They wanted me to jump through all these hoops. Psych eval, weight loss therapy etc for 18 months (more greed)before I could even have surgery.Isaid to myself they want me me to do all this and I'm footing the bill KMA to that. With this I got on the net and began exploring my options. Like most of you I found several, but always seemed to come back to Dr. Ortiz. At first I saw they were in Cancun and TJ. Having spent time in Cancun I thought wow surgery, beach, sun, what could be better. I contacted several places and I was very impressed by Dr. Ortiz's credentials. So I got hold of Lori,went to my Dr. who filled out my heath form, got a physical,a stress test,and a home equity line of credit. So here we go.

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Apprehensive

Don't you just love insurance companies? NOT! I had the same response. No, no...no and why do you expect us to pay for this? I told them many reasons why it would be beneficial but still got the NO...NO...NO...Insurance...you first have to prove you don't need it to have it and when you do have it, the reasons for "denied claims" is for previous conditions. Talk about a stacked deck. I would love to see how much the CEO of BlueCross/BlueShield makes. Like you, I probably won't be getting any greeting cards from the insurance companies.

Anyway...I found Dr. Ortiz and his group about the same way you did. It is worth every penny. I had my surgery on the 18th of March 2010 and have absolutely NO regrets going this route. You sound alot like me. I had the loss of 5 lbs, gained 8 lbs...too often. One time I was able to lose quite a bit of weight, felt fantastic but then one thing led to another and there I was in need of help. Then I decided I had to so something. Dr. Ortiz and the entire OCC group will do what you need and are not going to steal every penny they can. Funny how crossing that border makes the price lessen by such a large amount. So, good luck with your journey. Keep us posted as to how you are doing. This site is a great place to get information, and learn from what others have done and have not done.

Best Of Luck!

Appy

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ripcityrenegade

Don't you just love insurance companies? NOT! I had the same response. No, no...no and why do you expect us to pay for this? I told them many reasons why it would be beneficial but still got the NO...NO...NO...Insurance...you first have to prove you don't need it to have it and when you do have it, the reasons for "denied claims" is for previous conditions. Talk about a stacked deck. I would love to see how much the CEO of BlueCross/BlueShield makes. Like you, I probably won't be getting any greeting cards from the insurance companies.

r quest.Anyway...I found Dr. Ortiz and his group about the same way you did. It is worth every penny. I had my surgery on the 18th of March 2010 and have absolutely NO regrets going this route. You sound alot like me. I had the loss of 5 lbs, gained 8 lbs...too often. One time I was able to lose quite a bit of weight, felt fantastic but then one thing led to another and there I was in need of help. Then I decided I had to so something. Dr. Ortiz and the entire OCC group will do what you need and are not going to steal every penny they can. Funny how crossing that border makes the price lessen by such a large amount. So, good luck with your journey. Keep us posted as to how you are doing. This site is a great place to get information, and learn from what others have done and have not done.

Best Of Luck!

Appy

Thanks alot Appy . Good luck to you on your quest.

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