Paula Gets Approved

Friday May 8 was a very memorable day for my wife, Paula. First of all she started out the morning by seeing herself mentioned in an online video program, "BTV." It's a short podcast produced as part of a website called "BariatcricTV.com." It's devoted to helping weight loss surgery patients. She was chosen to be acknowledged for her participation in the discussion forums on the website. She set a precedent in that she's the first "pre op" person to be honored on BTV.

Over the past 2 months or so Paul has been actively writing and communicating in the forums. She's made lots of online friends, asked questions and even "publicly" set her weight loss goals by putting them on the site. She even ordered a couple of the "BTV" t-shirts. A shot I took of her wearing the t-shirt contiributed in part to her being chosen to be honored this week. Without her permission I dare not include the picture in this post.

Later Friday morning she found out that our insurance company has approved her for weight loss surgery. YEAH!. She's very excited about it and has anxiously awaited the decision. She won't be able to get her surgery date set until Monday though.

As for me, I got a rejection letter from the same insurance company the other day denying my surgery. The reason stated is that my doctor's medical records did not contain any weight history for 2007. This seemed strange to me until I realized I probably didn't go to my primary doctor in 2007. That's when I was in the midst of gaining back all the weight I lost in 2006 and then some. I was probably embarrassed to go see him.

But I do remember going to the local urgent care facility a couple of times in 2007. I now have those records and they do have a record of my weight history for that year. I will copy and send them to my surgeon's office and have them submit a 3rd application for surgery. This time everything will be the way it's supposed to be and God willing I will be approved.

I will keep you informed once we learn the date of Paula's surgery. Please keep us both in your prayers as we pursue this personal life changing mission as part of becoming the person God wants us to be.