OMG I am approved!!
I just got a call from UHC and I am now approved!! I am in shock, I can't believe it happened so quickly after being given the denial yesterday. Apparently the person who was helping me went back to the medical director and pointed out the correct information, and they decided to approve me.
Thanks to everyone for all your support and for listening to me rant.
Now to get a date...
Thanks everybody!! I am waiting for a call back from Scottsdale Bariatric Center... then I'll get to talk to my bosses about when I'll be off. That should be interesting. I am not telling them about the WLS - one of my bosses is a fitness nut, the guy looks 10 years younger than he is, and I just don't want to hear his opinion on this. I'm just going to tell them that I'm having my gall bladder removed. After the surgery I'll probably feel more comfortable about telling them the whole story.
Contratulations!!!! Isn't it a pain that this this surgery still has to be done sometimes under cover of a lie? It's just another one of the indicators of all the social baggage that gets laid on us for having this disease.
I was a social pariah due to the weight in many circles before having this surgery. Now that I've got a 140 pound frame, I'm almost considered a hero in the same circles. And the irony is that neither assessment really fits at all.
I always compare this to heart bypass surgery. The guy that gets the bypass doesn't get blamed for getting himself in that predicament in the first place or praised when he gets a surgery done that gets him back on his feet. And no one would DARE armchair quarterback his decision to get his life saved through surgery, even though the surgery has just as much risk as ours does (probably a little more, actually). It would seem ridiculous in that context and is just as ridiculous in ours. Yet so many people buy in to all the weight loss mythology.
Good luck in navigating the hurdles, anyway. Sounds like you're doing a good job so far and a whole new quality of life truly awaits you. - Stephanie J