Sumaire

I initially started looking into bariatric surgery about eight years ago, but lack of insurance at that point made it a no-go for me, plus, I was getting a lot of negative family feedback on it that I let bring me down to the point where I just shut up about it.

​Then, two years ago, when I finally had insurance again (I have several pre-existing conditions, and before the ACA, was unable to find insurance I could afford that would insure me, nevermind cover those pre-existing conditions) I began looking into the surgery in earnest.

​I was assigned a particular bariatric surgeon, who I really enjoyed seeing, and I went through all the pre-testing required, and his office submitted a request for surgical authorization at the end of March.

​Unfortunately, due to several ridiculous but apparently insurmountable issues with my then medical group, I had to change to another medical group which, unfortunately, my then-surgeon was not a part of. He got mad that I changed surgeons, and refused to send any of my information on to my new surgeon. His "solution" to all of this was that I come back to him for my surgery.

​It's not like I could make that happen, as he was not a part of the medical group I changed to, but why should THAT make any sense, right? He had immediately gone from someone who seemed helpful and concerned to someone who was simply concerned with his bottom line, even though he'd already been paid for the visits I had had with him. As Brian of Nazareth once said "There's no pleasing some people".
 
Fortunately, I was able to get in contact with the psychiatrist who did my evaluation for the previous surgeon, and the nutritionist who did her thing with me, and they were both glad to send their reports on me on to my new surgeon, which bypassed the former surgeon's asinine behavior. I was very lucky to have their information in the first place, as they had contracts with the previous surgeon, so I didn't have to make appointments with them. They simply called me and we had our respective over the phone.

​Let this be a lesson to you:
 
Always take down names and phone numbers of just about anyone you talk with about something like this. You never know when you might need to speak with them again.
 
The new surgeon to whom I was assigned by my new medical group, sent all of that information on to the new medical group, asking for authorization, and I was approved and now have a surgery date of October 27, 2016!

​As you can well imagine, I'm over the moon about this, and giddy as hell. Yes, there is some nervousness about it, but then, who wouldn't be? Overlaying all of this is knowing that I will have a gold standard tool for helping me to go from my current weight of about 280 down to my goal weight of 125.