Getting Caught Up

It's been awhile since this little blog has had some attention so here we go.

So, maybe I should catch y'all up on why I decided to start blogging again... my decision to finally get bariatric surgery. YAY! I've been looking around the web, trying to find blogs, videos, whatever, about how people dealt with the very beginning stages of the process. I couldn't find ANYTHING! It's like they all jumped straight into "the night before surgery" and took it from there. That wasn't helpful to me and I'm sure there are thousands of others that are looking for the same thing. So I want to share my experiences from the VERY BEGINNING. What a concept!

In the the first few days of September, I logged into my Kaiser Permenente account to pay a bill. I saw that they added a cute little feature that would estimate the cost of just about any procedure a person could want and bases the costs on what each person's current benefits are. On a whim, I plugged in gastric bypass. I've wanted one my whole life. My jaw hit floor! I expected no coverage or coverage that paid very little of the final cost, as had been my history for many years. What I got was nearly full coverage and only my out-of-pocket maximum would have to be paid by me, which thankfully, is pretty low considering. WOW! I did a little happy dance. My mind swelled with thoughts of finally... FREAKING FINALLY I may get to let out the skinny me that has been hiding inside for 45 years and release her from my beached whale body.

I sent an email to my doctor, asking her what I needed to do. She looked at my stats again to see if I had everything that Kaiser required:

• 100 lbs over ideal weight? Check!
• BMI over 40? Check!
• At least one of the following:
• High blood pressure? Check! 
• Sleep apnea? Check!
• Arthritis? Check!
• GERD or other acid reflux issues? Check!
• Low back and joint pain? Check, Check!
• Diabetes? not checked but getting close
• Genetically linked to cancer? Check!

She was behind me 100%! YAY! She asked me to send her my diet history so she got put in the referral. I had to prove that I was a completely failure at commercial or  medically supervised diets, like Weight Watchers, Slimfast, Medifast, medications, etc. Uh, yeah... I have a some experience with that... since I was 10 years old. I sent her the list and crossed my fingers.

I didn't hear anything for several days. I started to panic. I started watching the Fat Doctor (BBC) on Hulu. I cried and laughed along with the patients in the show. I panicked some more. Then, I sent another email asking how long it would take to hear back. Her office sent me a long generic message telling me that after the referral board looked my records over they would send me a letter either accepting or denying my request. It scared me a little... especially the part about getting denied and then having them explain the costs of going to Mexico for cheaper, private surgery. No kidding.  I had been telling myself all week that there could be no possible reason why they would deny me and they said in a letter they send to everybody that I may have to go to Mexico. It was weird.

Which brings me to now-ish. Last night, I went on Kaiser's site for the billionth time in a week, reading and re-reading the requirements, FAQs, all the "what to expect after your surgery" and everything I could get my eyes on. I noticed something I had never really paid much attention to before. I'll let my post on Facebook take over from here:

I find a section for my "Personal Action Plan" which for all these years has never had anything in it. Tonight, it's been updated for a cholesterol, blood pressure and BMI tests in the lab. HOLY SHIT! Trying to stay calm, but could this possibly mean than they are truly considering me??? I'm restraining myself from running (waddling) out to the mailbox to check for the letter. USPS delivers the mail twice in one day right? Is it possible to cry, scream, giggle, jump for joy and run around in circles (and then have a heart attack) all in the same moment???
I think I need to start a blog... along with every other bariatric patient out there.

And there you go! My blog has been restarted and my adventure in bariatric surgery begins. Please keep your fingers crossed and send me all the good mojo you can muster to that this process continues and I come a much happier, healthier and lighter person.