Viva Nacho Libre.. A Hannibal Update..

So yet another update is upon us..  I think I may need to create a label just for "updates" there have been so many..  Let's take a walk back in time and reminisce, shall we??  We shall....

Friday, June 17.  I'm enjoying an afternoon cuppa Starbucks and writing out my BYOC when the stunning and dreadful news came that my insurance company denied me for Lap Band surgery...  Completely unexpected and devastating, I assure you.  I simply cried - big tears.  All I kept thinking about was the work I've put into this thing. How I researched, travelled (through weather of every kind), pushed, logged, pondered, sweated and agonized over something that wasn't going to happen - an entire year of preparing for a journey, that was NOT going to happen...  It was all for naught.

(insert manhattans in quantity here....)

Saturday and Sunday, June 18 and 19.  I pretty much said "screw it" and spent the weekend golfing with the Hubs - and getting properly and completely "readjusted" by said Hubs - whether I liked it or not!  ("readjustment post - here)

Monday, June 20.  I was informed on Friday that the "reason" for my denial was that my BMI was "too low" (39.9 - the threshold is 40) and my sleep apnea was too "mild" - oxygen anyone??  After going through my records and having them reviewed by the insurance Doctor and a new case nurse, I've been denied a second time..  A Peer to Peer review is scheduled for the next day between my Bariatric Doctor and the insurance Doctor....  Two denials, not much hope...

Tuesday, June 21.   I get a call from the insurance guru from the Bariatric office that my Peer to Peer review had been completed.  I am still in the "denied" catagory.  By the way, I still hadn't gotten anything in writing at this point from my insurance company.  However, the insurance Doctor requested I fill out a questionnaire concerning my sleep apnea.  Time to call in the Hubs - putting him through law school has got to pay off at some point, right??  The sleep apnea questionnaire is faxed to us and the questions are pretty basic and really don't get to the point that I HAVE sleep apnea..  Hubs makes a few suggestions..  1)  Complete the questionnaire on a separate excel file.  OCD kicking in here..  2)  Tell Hannibal to smile and take a picture of ALL my wretched equipment..  Oxygen tanks, tubes, wires, mask.. yadda, yadda..  3)  Take a Nacho Libre photo - a photo of me wearing the horrible Hannibal mask.   The Hubs has "lovingly" called me "Nacho Libre" since the movie came out starring Jack Black.. smart a$$...  So, I take the picture.  It has got to be the absolute worst picture I have ever taken.  Puffy eyes, no makeup, my hair is sporting that bed head look -  utterly and dreadfully awful....  I submit the completed questionnaire and the photos back to my Bariatric Doc who then faxed the whole kit 'n kaboodle to the insurance company... 

Wednesday, June 23.  I get yet another call from the insurance guru at the Bariatric Doc's office...  ready for this??  I'm APPROVED!!  It was the photos that did it - VIVA Nacho Libre!!!  Thanks to Hannibal who is mumbling "Drat!  Foiled again!" as we speak..  He did his best to prevent this surgery from happening and it all backfired on him..   My surgery date is Wednesday, July 13th - I am absolutely stunned, happily so this time, and really can't believe that I am writing this! 

Again, I thank all of you for your prayers, good wishes, support, and tissues when I needed a good cry..  YOU, your support, and most of all your caring got me through this - thank YOU!

Now I'm off to order stuff that I'll be needing for the next few weeks!

For anyone who may wish to catch up on the "Chronicals of Hannibal" you can check them out here:

  Blonde Moment/Old Age, You Decide
  Rain
  As The CRAP (C-PAP) Blows
  With Your Help
  New Episode..  As the CRAP Blows
  PSA - What NOT To Do

Until Next Time!