Nobody said it would be easy. When you are suffering from various serious health issues all at the same time and doctors tell you that losing weight through bariatric surgery could help just about all of the issues, you start doing what needs to be done to get an OK for the surgery.
This is what happened to Clyde Brown, a former wrestler who had gone through many health problems including triple heart bypass surgery, gall bladder surgery, appendix surgery and back and knee surgery. He also had sleep apnea and had to wear an oxygen tube at night so he would keep breathing while sleeping.
All of this left Clyde at a weight of 370 pounds. His doctor suggested bariatric surgery, which reduces the stomach to the size of a small pouch to help an individual lose weight quickly. Clyde and his doctor went to work trying to get Medicare to approve the procedure.
Getting approvals take time, and this approval took Clyde and his doctor four years. This was not necessarily Medicare’s fault. First, a doctor had to approve Clyde for the procedure, which took time. He found a specialist and was eventually approved. In addition, Clyde had to then get Medicare along with his other insurance, to approve the procedure. This also took time. Then came the biggest hurdle – finding a hospital that was approved by Medicare to do this type of surgery. There were two hospitals not too far from Clyde’s home, and they were both willing to have the surgery performed, but they had to be approved, which is a lengthy process.
Finally, in June of this year, everything came together, and on June 23rd Clyde underwent his bariatric surgery at St. Luke’s Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona. The operation was a complete success and his recovery was much faster than expected, as well as free of any complications. A week later Clyde and his wife Joanne celebrated their 31st wedding anniversary.
Clyde has now lost 73 pounds. He hopes to end up weighing about 190 pounds when all is said and done. He no longer has to use oxygen when he sleeps because the sleep apnea is gone. He and Joanne take short walks together – something that was impossible for Clyde to do before the surgery. He says that he can walk to the bathroom without getting out of breath, and he says that the overall health benefits were immediate.
Though Clyde has had to hang in there to win many matches in his career, this one is the most important of all. He hung in long enough – four years – until all the pieces could be put together to give Clyde his life back and a path back to good health.
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