Barrier? I hardly know her.

Well, a lot, and yet not a lot, has transpired since my last blog.

Good news is that I've lost 14 pounds on the "supervised" diet they make you follow for months before they will wave their magic wand and grant you permission to pay them 15 grand for the surgery you need.

The bad news, which really isn't news, is that I found out my insurance company doesn't even REQUIRE a supervised diet at all.  That kind of pissed me off.
I'm in a moderate amount of pain every day from my hip.  It's gotten progressively worse, especially in the last few weeks.  Walking is hard.  Stairs make me wanna cry.  I need a hip replacement.  I cannot get a hip replacement until I go through the VSG (Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy) surgery.  A person in pain is not a patient person, indeed.  I'm tired of the barriers.




Out of curiosity, I contacted Franciscan Bariatric, and found out they have no such requirement for the supervised diet.  I have an appointment with them on Aug 9th.  I will ask them if they will accept any of the blood work, psychologist's data, and dietician records I've acquired so far.  They should at least accept the blood work, as it was done at Quest Labs, which is an independent lab.  That, and they've taken so much blood I'd probably just hiss if they tried to take any more.

If I am able to switch over to Franciscan, I may be able to get this ball rolling.  I am looking forward to less pain.  Daily pain is...well....a pain.

When I met with the psychologist, she asked about my family history, whether I'd ever been abused, neglected, whether I've suffered from depression, anxiety...etc.
Nope.  Great childhood.  Never abused.  No depression (except temporary post-partum), no anxiety, nothing.

Then she asked if I'd ever considered suicide.  I was about to answer a quick "no", but made her clarify.  She said, "I mean, have you even had a fleeting thought about it".
Well, I had to answer "yes" on that.
"When was that?", she asked.
I had to answer, "When my pain gets bad, and I still have to work, and it goes on for days without going back down, I do think about a permanent way to stop all the pain".  I let her extract what she wanted from that.
I don't know if I'd ever actually do it, but that's not what she'd asked.

I've waited 17 years to get insurance that would cover VSG.  I have it now.  They require no barriers.  I'm hurting, tired, and READY.

Let's get this f*cking show on the road, and stop unnecessarily causing delays.

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