Progress....Finally!

May 22, 2018

Ok.....Back in October of 2017 I was feeling quite discouraged and was really in a funk after finding out that the insurance that I paid so much money for through my job did not offer coverage for bariatric surgery....I then found out that Maryland Physicians Care, which was my sencondary insurance, did offer coverage!!!! I was so happy! I went to a seminar on October 9th and booked a consultation for October 25. Talk about cloud 9!  I finally felt like I was about to legitimately begin my journey.  Went to my appt on the 25th, met with the surgeon one on one, went to set down with the admimistrator in the office who gets the insurance clearance and BAM..... Hit a roadblock....Eventhough I had insurance through a company that offered bariatric coverage, I  could not use it because it was not my primary insurance.  At this point I just felt like giving up.  I told my family  I wasnt too much worried about it because that particular center had some quirks that made me leery, like a $400 program fee that covered the cost of getting you cleared with your insurance company.  No other bariatric program I researched had any fee like that.  Anyway, I found out in December that my job would be moving to a new location which would extend my commute by 25 mins.  No, its not alot of time but my hours were 5pm to 1am so an extra 25 mins that time of morning after 20-30 min changeover with oncoming staff was enough to sway my decision to look for something closer to home...THIS IS WHERE IT GETS WEIRDLY INTERESTING!!!!  So, being in the mental health field, I begin looking at all of the local OMHCs (Outpatient Mental Health Clinics)  Nothing....nothing at all.  Once again, discouraged and not looking forward to a longer commute, I'm scanning my email for any response from jobs and I see a Postion Alert from the Psych ward at my local hospital.  I had applied for the same position twice in the past but the third time was a charm and I got the job!

The job was only 20mins from my house vs the 65  I was facing when my other job relocated.  It was only a part time position so there were no benefits but I was ready for some sort of change in my life and since I had control over this, I chose to take the job. This was in January  of 2018.  Before leaving my job, I was telling a coworker about no longer having BCBS, eventhough they lack bariatric coverage, they really are a great company.  This wonderful woman pointed out to me that no longer having BCBS would move MD Phys. Care into the role of my primary ins. provider so the opportunity for surgery was back!  Her girlfriend had used University of MD and I decided to check them out.   At the time I am writing this I have just had my third out of 6 required dietary appts!  My first was in March, and my last will be in August!  I am so excited!  For now, I am slated for VSG, however, because I have frequent heartburn, I will be having an Endoscopy in June (camera down the throat) to make sure I dont have any esophageal damage.  If I do, my Dr. will perform the bypass on me instead.  He says its because reflux is common after VSG and he wouldnt want me to suffer the discomfort from it if my esophagus has already began to show signs of GERD( some sort of reflux disorder)  And that heartburn and reflux is less common with bypass.

Anyway, I know I just wrote a book but I really wanted to tell my story and give as much info as possible.  I will begin to add to my blog weekly and maybe even share some of my food diaries.  If anyone has any questions, please ask and good luck to everyone and thanks for reading!!!

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