Help Savannah Remove Her Excess Skin

Hi, I'm Savannah and I'm trying to raise money to cover the costs of getting weight loss excess skin removed.

To set this story up, I was born with five heart defects (Tetralogy of Fallot). This required open heart surgery when I was two years old to repair all of the defects. What I was never told was that I would need another surgery as an adult. Growing up, I was limited in the activities I could participate in and with these limitations, I would face an ongoing struggle with my weight. I tried so many of the fad diets, Weight Watchers, and a medically supervised weight loss program to try to lose the weight. I would have short term success, but the weight would return. Nothing was sustainable.

This brings us to 2017. I was meeting with a new cardiologist. This was when I found out I would need an additional surgery to replace the pulmonary valve in my heart. But he couldn't successfully do this surgery with my weight being so high. So he referred me to a bariatric surgeon. March 2018 I started the process to get bariatric surgery. For insurance to cover the procedure, I had to lose 15 pounds in 3 months and regularly meet with a nutritionist. In August of 2018, I had RNY Gastric Bypass surgery. Again, the goal was to lose the weight so I could get the needed heart valve replacement surgery (of which I had in December 2020).

At the one year mark, I had lost 123 pounds. By year two, I had lost a total of 175. At year three, I've maintained my current weight. When I was starting this process in 2018, excess skin was never really a concern. I had been told that my age would be an advantage and shouldn't have to deal with too much excess skin. That ended up not being the case.

In 2021, I had three consultations with plastic surgeons, trying to find one that would accept my insurance. In August, I finally found a surgeon that was within my network and they submitted my case to my insurance company. In October, my request was denied. Per my insurance company, "Medical and surgical services to alter the appearance or physical changes that are the result of any medical or surgical services performed for the treatment of or control of obesity are specifically excluded."

Current estimations are that I'm carrying around 10-15 pounds of excess skin. It's skin that I have to uncomfortably tuck into clothes. It's skin that limits my range of motion while I try to work out. It's skin that causes my lower back to hurt all the time. It's skin that causes nonstop rashes around my bellybutton. It's skin that causes foul odors. Any and all funds raised will go to help me get all of the excess skin removed after such a drastic weight loss.