I am a 33 year old mother of four - one of my own and three stepchildren, am very happily married to the love-of-my-life and soulmate (incidentally I met him online...lol), and am a good friend, mother, wife, daughter, etc.

I have been overweight for the last eleven years. After the birth of my little bundle of joy, the weight didn't come off like I expected. As a matter of fact, I gained rather steadily. During that time, I saw various doctors who told me that it was my fault that I had not reached pre-pregnancy size again, because, according to them, I was basically fat and lazy.

Several years and many physicians later, I was finally diagnosed as having hypothyroidism, and several years after that was diagnosed with PCOS, coupled with hypertension, high cholesterol, insulin resistance, and metabolic disorder.   I was told that there was no cure for PCOS and that nothing could be done except to perhaps treat the symptoms. I would have to start watching my carb intake (duh?), and then just have live with it's ill effects. Well, this news was very depressing to me, and after having my own lengthy, personal pitty party, I decided that there had to be something I could do to improve my health. So, for about a year and a half, I considered the possibility of having WLS. It wasn't until about September 15, 2005 that I became serious about this pursuit and started checking into whether or not I could make it a reality. I hadn't had medical coverage for quite awhile (the kickback of not taking the insurance added a nice little cushion to my paycheck) but open enrollment was coming up in October and I thought that, perhaps if the surgery was covered, I could do without the extra fluff. =) But, I would have to work quickly, because my employer was going to change insurances in January.

So, I hurried around and called Barix clinics and got information about WLS and the approval process, badgered my PCP to see if he would provide the needed documentation to get this approved, and contacted my supervisor to ensure that she would be supporting me, allowing me the needed time off, etc. etc. Based on everything I heard, I decided to take the plunge and, on October 1, 2005 I signed up for my insurance benefits. Yay, Me! First big step!

The second big step occurred on October 11, 2005. I went to my initial consultation at the Barix clinic in Holland. My friend Linda went with me (my husband...who is very supportive...was working.) We both thought that the office girls were awesome, Dr. Schram seemed like a very competent doctor in the bariatric field, and overall we enjoyed the consultation. Quite honestly, the information wasn't anything that I didn't know already because once I get a concept or idea stuck in my head I research the heck out of it. But, I was glad to be able to get my initial consult done and over with since that was what I had to do to get the ball rolling.

After the initial consultation, I was charged with obtaining a psychological evaluation, a doctor's note documenting my weight loss attempts/failures, etc., and I also had to have my PCP complete a form for my insurance company having to do with out-of-network referrals. Apparently, part of this surgical process is not in my network???

Well, Thursday, October 14th was the psych eval, and I passed with flying colors, and the doctor's office is now on the **third** version of the "diet" note (since they don't seem to understand my verbal instructions very well...lol.) As for the out of network form(s) my doctor's office will allegedly "get to those" sometime this week. We'll see...and I'll be hounding them every day! Supposedly, once this information is turned in and is correct, approval will take 24 hours. Hallelujah!