Group Health has denied me!

Hi all, I am SO happy to see this board to post. Questions, Questions, Questions... When I first was told (last April) that I HAD to have Bariatric surgery by my doc (I have arthritis in both knees and cannot walk too far) I thought it was a joke. I honestly was one of those snobs who would never consider doing this because I am a strong minded woman who does things for herself! Well, God has given me a lot of humility to deal with over the past 9 months and now I am at an even bigger crossroad. I changed from Premera (state) to Group Health Options (state) because of all the postings on this website of people who had their surgery with GHC. Now I've been denied and am hoping there are people out there who can tell me how to get approved, or what you did after you were denied, and then approved. I was denied because it is an EXCLUSION from my policy. Now, how does Group Health do that? They have two bariatric surgeons on staff in their Redmond Eastside specialty clinic that specialize in this surgery (RNY) but they deny my claim. I have other co-morbidities... arthritis, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, depression, etc. I am going to appeal, but hope someone has some words of wisdom for me. ???? PLEASE! I'm most desperate at this point. I found out two days ago and today is the first day I could actually get out of bed and DEAL with it. Thank you for your help in advance. I love this website. Blessings to all!