Here is my story about all the hurdles I have jumped to get approved for bariatric surgery.

Persistent people strive to get what we know we want!  I originally had other insurance that excluded the surgery, so I waited a few months for open enrollment and chose another plan that did cover it.  Then, since last March 2007, I spent 6 months going to my PCP for supervised weight loss weigh-ins each month.  But little did I know when I missed July do to not feeling well, I ruined the consecutive 6 mos that my insurance required. 

So, when I went to my former surgeon's program, August 2007,I had to do 6 MORE months of supervised weight loss, nutrition and exercise. Then when I was done, my surgeon left the group and told me I could not get my surgery for 4 more months, no matter whether I followed him to his new group, or stayed with the other surgeon there, who was now WAY too booked up. I was all ready to submit to insurance for approval, and so I did. Optimum Choice denied me because they didn't think I lost enough weight.  (HELLO!!!?? it's one of the criteria that we have serious difficulty losing weight and I have insulin resistance).  While waiting to appeal, I read a lot about the different surgeries and chose to switch surgeries from RNY to DS, and I switched surgeons because the DS is not done by the former surgeons.

Soon afterward I switched FT jobs, and cut my hours to PT at the former FT position.  So, to keep the Op Choice coverage for the surgery, I had cobra for almost a year.  While I was waiting to appeal, I decided it was time to drop the cobra with Op choice and select the Aetna that my new FT job offered at open enrollment in April 2008.  With different insurance there would be no more need to appeal. Now I have the insurance from that FT job, but soon they are changing the plan, so I will have to pay cobra again until the surgery! So, I decided to quit that FT job and resume FT hours where I was doing PT work 8/2008.
 
I started going to Dr Schweitzer in May 2008, and it had been so long that my psych eval was too old and I had to get a new one.  I also had to see Dr. Schweitzer's nutritionist once and then I was ready a month later to submit, in June.  Now it's almost August and I finally am approved by insurance and scheduled for surgery October 2nd.  What a long journey.  If you read this far, then you know I have been REALLY patient and EXTREMELY persistent about this. Waiting until 10/2/08 will not kill me.  I am trying to look ahead and visualize weight loss success and good health! 

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