The angels listened...I'm approved.

Sep 21, 2011

Yesterday I took a deep breath, braced myself for more bad news, and dialed my insurance company.  After the obligatory preambles and button-pushing, I finally got a human and explained what I wanted to do:  check the status of my appeal.  After a few more minutes of waiting (yes, it seemed like an eternity) she said she found a resolution letter.  I waited while she pulled it up on the screen and read it to me:  "...reversal of the previous denial, you are approved for gastric sleeve surgery." 

One cool thing about it?  Her name was "Faith." 

I couldn't believe what I was hearing:  approved.  I asked her, to make sure; yes, this means you're approved.  I started to cry.  To her credit, Faith was cool, calm, and collected.  My guess is she's been through this a few times before.  She will never know how much pressure she was able to lift off of my shoulders.  About an hour later I got a call from my surgeon's office confirming that I'd been approved.

So now the journey to my healing really begins.  Oh, I have pre-op appointments and clearances that I have to go through first, to make sure I'm suitable for anesthesia and the actual surgery itself.  But for so long I've felt like I was just spinning my wheels in the mud -- I could see where I wanted to be, but I couldn't get there.  And now...now, I'm starting to move.  I can't describe how good that feels.

Yet I'm  a little sad for the folks on this site who are still battling.  This has been one of the most frustrating times in my life, and the most painful.  All I can say is, "Persevere."  That's all that got me through this: perseverence and faith that things would get better.  Plus, of course, the support of folks on various OH forums.  Use every life line you've got, and keep going.  Don't give up.  (Yes, I must have listened to the "Calling All Angels" song a million times this summer: I won't give up, if you don't give up...).

The same perseverence and faith will get me through the speed bumps in the road ahead:  pain, nausea, nerves, wondering what-the-heck-have-I-done... I'm going to focus on my goals, like getting healthy enough to run again, to play tennis or racquetball, to hike, to have energy that I haven't had in years.  That's where I'm headed, and that's what's going to be in my mind.  Then of course, there's the fact that I'm single again for the first time in 18 years; I do believe the dating game will now be a whole new ball game!

That's another posting...

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