My Stats, and Timeline so far.

Name: Ashley
Age: 15
Height: 5'3"
Weight:248
Highest Weight:276
Bmi: 43.9
Skin: Super Pale.
Hair: Dirty/Strawberry Blonde
Eyes: they change.. usually they're a greenish/teal.

My BMI when i first applied for wls was almost 49. Ive dropped 30 pounds this year on my own with a durastic medicine change.. but its slowed down and im still getting the surgery as of now.

I first looked into it in january 2011.. Did some research, talked to my parents, and my grandpa.. Looked over soem of my health records..

Heres the thing: I've been battling IR (insulin resistance) my whole life.. I was diagnosed aruond the time i was 7.. I showed symptoms of it though many years before that.. My parents say they noticed around the time i was 3. When the doctor who origionally diagnosed me and treated me moved away, the new doctor that 'replaced' him (I use that term lightly.. he doesnt do nearly the job my former doctor did, and isnt technically certified to have the job in my opinion..), didnt do much other than continue to perscribe my glucophauge and have a weigh in every 3 months..

I brught it up with my Primary Care Doctor with my mom and they were hesitant.. Just because im 15 and they werent sure if i was emotionally stable enough to go through with it.. I have Depression. Technically my diagnosis is Dysthymia i believe. But we already had set up an appointment with an endocrinoligist, so we figured wed bring itu p with her and see what she thought, because my family doctor didnt feeel comfortable making a referal.

Lets just say, the endocrin was more than enthusiastic that I knew what i was takling about, did my research, and understood things about it and was more than happy to send a referall.. She had looked over my records and pervious attempts.. and knows the program im going through very well. She has had other kids go through the surgery and do great. So she sent the referral.

Within a week or two I had recieved a package in the mail with information to fill out. so I did. it was basically paperwork regarding health stuff, and you had to answer essay questions to send in.. and mail copies of insurance card(s) to check for pre-approval. So i did as it said. In the packet, was included a folder that I still have.. giving me information about weight loss surgery and their program.

Within another week we got a call saying One of the two insurances im covered by, had approved me. for the consultations, anyway. and they set that day for april 5th.

I was kinda bummed, I had Ke$ha concert tickets for that night. And they said it'd be an all day thing, and the place is a little over an our away.. So i had to sell the tickets.. But I was super excited i was getting the consultation.

[I'll talk more in debth in other posts about what the consultation and different appointments consisted of. This is pretty much just a timeline.]

So at the consultation, it wasnt just me. other kids were there with their parents aswell. we werent in the same room or anything but i met one family. The guy was pretty nice (: But anyway, so they saw more than just me that day. It was a nurse, the surgerion, a medical doctor person, dietician, and psychologist.

They told me on thursday they were having a meeting to review all of us kids and talk about who they thought would be a good canidate for surgery. and so they did.. i gota  call on friday (they left a message..) saying to call them back.. But by the time my dad got home from work it was too late to call back, so we had to wait till monday :(.

First thing monday morning I made him call, to find out that i was in fact approved. They thought i was a great canidate for WLS. I can honestly say i dont think ive ever smiled so big in my life.

They scheduled the next appointment for May 10th, at one. So since its about an hour away, I just stayed home from school that day and me and my mom got lunch (Panera, my favorite. <3) and we left on our hour long drive to the hospital.

Basically it was just another meeting with similar people.. The same nurse as before, same dietician, and a Social worker.. no surgeon or psychologist this time. The social worker was on maternity leave last time, so i didnt get to meet her. So I caught her up and everything went smoothly.they told me about tests they were gonna schedule.

They called just another day or so ago to schedule some tests, but already scheduled the next pre-op appointment on June.. 16th? i think? don't hodl me to it. sometime in june.

They're gonna do an endoscopy, ekg, eko, some more bloodwork and a sleep study to check for sleep apnea. my endocrin ordered another glucose tolerance test, anddd I think i have to visit a cardiolosit..


The way my insurance is (they're very familiar with the program the hospital has set up for teen bariatrics), you have to visit them three times before surgery. then after the three apointments and arrangments have been made, someone has to write to the insurance company for a final approval. After they respond (which ive been told happens very quickly, with the particular insurance i have..) they schedule surgery.. theres not much back up.. They said theyd be able to have it happen pretty quickly, if everything with pre-op and insurance and the testing goes smoothly.

So I'm pretty much off the hook untill school lets out.. Where I will have a bunch of tests.. I'm gonna be living at hospitals. Im volunteering at my local childrens hospital this summer, every monday. That on top of all the tests and stuff? geesh. haha.

but yeahh. Thats pretty much how it happened. the process started mid january 2011, and its mid-may now. I hear all these stories about how people have to wait years for insurance companies and testing and such.. Im SO happy everythigns moving so quickly and smoothly. <3