One Step at a Time

Well….. My mind is swirling (again) with so many thoughts, questions, worries and confusion. I will try to put some order to my thoughts, be patient! So I attended a informational workshop about bariatric surgery. It covered everything from insurance to the three different surgery options with the pros and cons of each, they had a check list that seemed a mile long of things required to do prior to the surgery, phone numbers, contacts, BMI’s, recovery, cost, AHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I must admit I definitely faded in and out “consciousness” . O.K., O.K. so not really, but you know what I mean, that feeling of being overwhelmed and suddenly everything becomes background noise to the thoughts in your head and you really do not hear anything. This is exactly why I had to take a friend with me….. So someone a little more sane could pay attention and then later explain things to me that I missed while having my out of body experience! Despite feeling overwhelmed I will say once the Doctor came and started talking about the actual surgical options I oddly felt a little (stressing… LITTLE) more at ease. I attribute that to him, this Doctor had such a genuine kindness about him and what appeared to be a sincere concern about peoples health AND peoples right to choose, which I appreciated. As I listened to the choices and how this program worked I began to become very impressed as I was hearing things I had not heard before from others who have done bariatric surgery or other programs I knew of…. Hmmmm. After listening to all the information the most significant thing that stood out to me was this is a total program and not just a procedure or surgery. There is a dietician, counselor, support groups, educational components, access to TWO surgeons and a financial consultant. This program includes a pre-surgery portion as well as a large post-surgery portion and actually a lifetime access to services too. They require you meet with their team, one of the Doctors, the dietician, counselor, financial person etc…… This is amazing to me, I fully support this type of program as I have seen far too many people do surgery like this and not address the issues, how they got here, the life style before and after, what to expect after, dangers of not taking care of yourself properly and more. I have also seen people put the weight back on, or have other medical issues as a result of not following doctors orders.

So while I appreciate and respect a full program like this, these requirements are not all covered by insurance so my mind starts to swirl again….. First I am thinking is it inappropriate to have a bake sale to raise money for a weight loss surgery? Then unfortunately I go right to the current status of my court case and the agony and stress endured over the past few years dealing with those medical bills from the last surgery and still dealing with it over three years now…. OH MY…. I do not think I can do that again….. Then I remind myself they have a financial person to help with the insurance and make sure there are no hidden cost and everything is known up front….. I really appreciate that but I do know for sure I am facing a share of cost….. Or perhaps I change my insurance package and have little or no share of cost? IF I switch plans do I have to wait? If I have to wait, can I physically afford to put off this surgery knowing I am doing it so I can take care of my hip surgery? How long will my hip last before I can‘t wait any longer? …..

Oh and there is that part of the program not covered by insurance and they require you participate in it and have it paid for prior to scheduling the surgery… it is $2500.00. Uh oh…… getting overwhelmed again……. BREATHE….. In …. Out ….. In … Out….. I step at a time….. I can not continue being overwhelmed, it makes me sad and frustrated, so I need to focus and take one step at a time or I may not get through this…. So after I give myself a pep talk I try to put all this information a side and just schedule that first appointment with the Doctor for a consultation. So that is what I did and that is now my focus and next step!