My dream is so close to reality...

I'm not unlike most of the people on this forum. I've struggled with obesity my entire life. About 5 years ago I considered having gastric bypass, but didn't have enough paperwork in order for insurance approval. I gave up on my dream of having bypass surgery until January of this year. This time I have ALL the insurance requirements in place. In 5 weeks I will have completed the medically supervised weightloss and my surgeon will be able to submit my request to the insurance company. My surgeon also requires that you lose 10% of your body weight before surgery...only 10 more pounds to go. I meet ALL of the requirements for approval, but I'm still a little nervous about the determination. This forum has been a really great outlet for me over the last few months. I rarely post anything, but reading about everyone else's experiences helps me so much. I get pretty emotional when I think about the insurance denying me, so I haven't told most people that I'm trying to have bypass surgery. In fact, only two people know besides you guys. I just don't think I can deal with the heart ache of explaining things if the insurance does deny the claim. I'm prepared to fight them if necessary. I just don't want to put myself on display to everyone else. Anyway.... Being so close to this dream brings feelings of reflection, gratitude and happiness that I cannot describe.

Hi Alison, Congratulations on your follow through!! The determination that really matters is the personal determination to not give up on this journey that you've already given to yourself... This is what will continue your success on your wt loss journey. The surgery is monumental in your future permanent recovery from morbid obesity, but like my surgeon tells us, it's only that, the real grit is what we do with it afterwards... He says the surgery is the easy part, he can change our lives in an hour, the challenge is changing our thinking within ourselves to resolve to stick to what we have to do to remain determined in our resolve to lose the wt. Sounds like you've come far in your personal journey. Hopefully this insurance determination will return quickly and you'll get excellent news. My surgeon is Dr. Paul Wizman, MD. Margate, FL. www.drwizman.com Stay well, Kim Boca Raton, FL

Congratulations, Alison... it sounds like you really want this - and that will take you far. If you need help with insurance issues please let me know and I will try to help. I lead a support group in Orlando for pre- and post-op bariatric patients and have had a few members go through the ups and downs of insurance rejection. I may have a couple of resources you may find useful. But let's keep our fingers crossed that you won't need them!! Best wishes to you!... ~ Monica