Surgery seminar and follow-up

So, last night Torsten and I went to a seminar at a bariatric surgery center of excellence here in Denver. It was very informative. I knew most of the information already from the research I'd done, but it was good to hear it from someone who's been there, and be able to ask questions and do a closer comparison of the two main types of surgery.

It was also very good for Torsten, who is incredibly supportive but hadn't done as much research. We both really liked the sound of everything, and it seems like this may really be a viable option for me. The newer type of surgery, called lap-band, seems to be the option that makes the most sense. It's not malabsorptive, which means that it takes longer to lose the weight because you absorb all of the calories you eat, unlike gastric bypass--but the flip side of that is that you don't have quite as many restrictions on what types of food you can eat, and you don't have to worry about vitamin deficiencies.

The surgery is less invasive and less expensive, and it's reversible if there are any complications, and the long-term weight-loss outlook is the same. It just makes more sense. Of course, I haven't made any final decisions, but that's definitely the direction I'm leaning in.

I've scheduled a consultation with the surgeon for next week. At the same time, I'll meet with a nutritionist and a psychologist, and discuss my insurance plan in more detail with the office.

And oh, speaking of the insurance? I'm a little pissed about this. My company has put an exclusion on weight-loss treatment of any kind on their insurance policy. As in, the insurance would cover it, but the company has opted not to allow it. Which is a little horrifying considering that a big thing that we work on is obesity prevention, and yet we don't even offer our own employees assistance of any kind with losing weight? It's not just the surgery that's not covered--it's any kind of medical weight-loss intervention.

There is an exception to the inclusion, though, and it almost makes it worse. If you have a condition that contributes to your weight problem, THEN the surgery will be covered. In other words, if you can't be BLAMED for being overweight, then they'll help you. But if they think you could just man up and eat less, then no help for you! It's putting weight-loss surgery, and other weight-loss programs, on a level with unnecessary cosmetic surgeries.

However, I shouldn't complain too much about the clause, because it may be my saving grace--my thyroid condition does contribute to my weight, and my endocrinologist is going to write me a letter to that effect, which is what the insurance claims they need. We'll see if they really authorize this after all is said and done, but it's a ray of hope. However, even if they do cover it, it's only at 70%, and there may or may not be a $5,000 deductible before that starts. So, all in all, insurance may help or they may not. But if they don't, while the surgery isn't cheap, it isn't as expensive as some surgeries, and the hospital has a payment plan so you don't have to pay all at once.

Point being, I have options. And we'll see how the consultation goes, but I'm feeling very good about this. And in some ways, even though it's more expensive, it would almost be nice to just pay for the surgery on our own because we could avoid so much stress and red tape with the insurance company.

So, yeah. Moving forward on this, and feeling good. Although I still haven't wrapped my head around the idea that I could have this surgery. And then lose weight, for real, permanently. I'm not there yet, mentally. Which is probably good because it means I won't be as disappointed if something comes up that prevents this from working out.

But still. At the seminar the surgeon was talking about how his patients love him because he enables them to do things they could never do before. One of the examples he gave was wearing a bikini. And I snorted internally, because me? In a bikini? It is seriously inconceivable. SERIOUSLY. I can't ever imagine doing something like that.

You guys, seriously, I've never been thin, or even at a healthy weight. Never. I don't even know what my goal weight should be, because it's not like I can look back and be like, oh yeah, in high school I was at a good weight, I'd like to get back there. I really don't know. I suspect that my goal weight is something I haven't seen since middle school. How crazy is that? That I could ever potentially get down to such a healthy weight? Seriously, inconceivable. But also: SO AWESOME.