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Surgeon: Dr. Douglas Hess, Bowling Green, Ohio
by Eric:
Diets? Been there - Done that! From 1,000 calories a day to Jenny Craig (Hmmm? J.C.???) Sure I lost some weight on each and then gained back even more! Now - I have very few clothes which really fit! For surgery, I moved to NW Ohio from Denver, CO. Ouch! But, I recently took a week vacation and returned to Denver. It was worth every penny for all the surprised, even shocked faces, compliments, kudos, and amazing "best wishes'" for continued success. Now - mine was a ROUGH Road. Ten days after surgery I ended up back in hospital. Not only did I have a small leak in the intestinal conection... I also had fluid build-up under my left lung but on top of my diaphragm... After a month, yes 30+ days, back in hospital I went home still on liquids and with a chest tube protruding from just below my left shoulder blade... Oy! Unfortunately, I am stilll battling an infection where the chest tube had been and dealing with drainage and bandages. However, I remain focused on the weight I have lost, the remaining weight I will lose, and the NEW ME I will soon experience with work-out at the gym! For the first time in my LIFE, I'll be a "regular - but yet still large" size man. But now, instead of layers of Fat covering my body... I'll have rippling muscles that will be visible! Hehehe... I've always had a "six-pack." It was just WELL insulated before... ;-) I am a professional Operatic Baritone. I sing it, I love it, and I teach too. My Insurance Appeal Letter Below is a letter I prepared to send to United HealthCare of Colorado as they denied approval after my surgeons first letter. They said my plan does not allow obesity surgery... However, I did get it approved after a "Higher-up" person reviewed my companies policy and gave me the green light with the appropriate billing codes from Dr. Hess' office - i.e. Gastric Bypass and RouxEn-Y… My name is Eric Graber, and I am a United HealthCare Choice-Plus member. I'm a 40 year old single opera singer working in the financial industry. I live in Denver, Colorado and life would be pretty good if it weren't for my declining health problems due to super morbid obesity. I have struggled with my excessive weight problems since I was 7 years old. For more than 30 years, I have tried every diet, health plan, eating philosophy, and life change suggested by doctors, books and healthcare professionals. I started many plans, followed them through for a few months, sometimes, more than a year. I would always loose weight, sometimes, large amounts of weight (25-35lbs), but I would reach a point when I would start gaining again. More often than not, I would gain back the weight I lost and more. About 10 years ago, this became a pattern that I could see and I was determined to change the pattern that had haunted me my entire adult life. I ate right, I exercised, I read the books, and I meditated. I lost weight, but never could break the pattern of regaining the weight and more. My motivation to lose the weight was always to get healthy and prevent medical problems. When I was younger and would fail at dieting, it didn't seem too bad and life went on. I always "had time" and would eventually try again. I was going to lose the weight before I was twenty, then thirty, and so on. Now, I am 40 and those health problems are creeping into my life. I have chronic pain in my back, knees, ankles and feet from my excessive weight. Of late, my knees, ankles and feet are always in pain. When I get out of a chair, rise from the commode, and climb stairs, I find myself supporting my weight with my arms until my legs are extended. I have developed varicose veins appearing in my legs (a history of this in my family). I have high blood pressure, high triglycerides, and marginal cholesterol. I have tried to lose weight and get healthy many times, and for as many years. I'm tired of all the ridicule, prejudice, and discrimination I take from society on a daily basis. I have been down the path of feeling shame for being fat. I have overcome most of that by only accepting people into my life who accept me for whom and what I am. Four years ago this May, my Father died from complications of type II Diabetes. He had been on dialysis for over 9 years, lost most of hie eye sight, and had body parts cut off at various times due to the lack of proper healing abilities which goes along with the dreaded disease. One week prior to his death, the doctors determined it necessary to remove his remaining leg. He was only 64 years old. He had been morbidly obese for many years and only lost weight due to body deterioration from his illness. This, in conjunction to family medical history, was my "wake up call." Other family medical history facts to consider are as follows. My father had high blood pressure as well as type II diabetes, his mother had the same, and several of my uncles and aunts suffered from diabetes. My father was #9 of 10 children. My mother's parents suffered from congestive heart failure and my mother's father had diabetes and died far too young. I began to research obesity and began to learn and understand this disease I suffer from. I learned that there are different stages of obesity: obese, morbidly obese, and super morbidly obese. People with a Body Mass Index (BMI) greater than 45 are in a high-risk stage. My BMI is 50 and places me in the Super Morbidly Obese category. (A label which definitely makes me fearful for my life!) Having a high BMI along with a family history of high blood pressure (something for which I am already being treated for), heart disease, and diabetes makes premature death just a matter of time. My risk of heart failure is far greater than a person with an average BMI. These aren't "light weight" complications. These are fatal diseases. I learned that my being Super Morbidly Obese is an immediate threat to my life. I also found through research, that the National Institute of Health (NIH) has recognized that only 2% of people who try to lose weight, will lose it and keep it off for a period longer than five years. The NIH has published that surgery is the only permanent solution to keep weight off and avoid death and disease associated with obesity. This was very hard for me to believe at first, but then the more I researched and educated myself, the more I accepted it as truth. After reviewing my 30-year diet history, surgery is the only permanent solution to prolong my life. The surgery I am requesting is medically necessary to aid in prevention of multiple diseases that would lead to more extreme medical expenses. I need to permanently get this weight off which will greatly reduce the high risk of premature death, and eliminate the co-morbidity's I already have. I have responsibilities and to think I could have a heart attack any moment is frightening to say the least. Death is inevitable. However, I would like to live for more than 2-5 years and in a state of declining health. I would rather have this surgery and enjoy 20-30 years of happier health! Without this surgery, I am looking at the possibility of multiple surgeries. I have had a few surgeries in my life and it's not my favorite activity. I don't like surgery. I don't want surgery, but if I had to choose one surgery or multiple surgeries, I would opt for the one. I have read and been told by my PCP, and my surgeon that this one surgery could improve and eliminate all my co-morbidity's and eliminate the need for other surgeries and medications. It seems much more cost-effective to have this one surgery instead of many. Your approving this surgery will be saving my life, reducing your cost for my medical needs over the coming years, and will be giving me a quality of life that I have never known. Sincerely, Eric
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I have never been thin, skinny, athletic, or even average. I have always, throughout my youth and adult life been the big boy, husky, or more correctly "fatso." I've heard 'em all.