Once you have committed in your mind that you’re going to go for it, the work begins.  You may not even commit until after the first appointment…or the third…or the tenth!  Personally, I had to commit in my mind before I even walked in to the office.  My first appointment (Aug 8, 2016) was a flurry of activity.  I was assigned a caseworker (Kevin, very helpful) and weighed (ugh).  I sat down with Kevin and he presented me with two important documents:  Surgery Estimate and Bariatric Checklist.  The estimate was FABULOUS:

Now, this is not normal.  However, when your sweet husband spends a week in ICU due to double pneumonia, you have certainly met your out of pocket maximum for the year.  Thank you Jesus for health insurance.  Yes, you are seeing that right.  This surgery cost me exactly ZERO dollars.  (Hmm, I guess that should have been on my first post about this!  It was a factor!)

The Bariatric Checklist was the piece of paper that looked the most intimidating.

All those highlights were something I had to do…which meant (to me) something to worry about.  (Let me just pause here and say that my prayer life was being tested and built at this time and I believe it was God’s plan to teach me how important it was!!)  The first thing I heard Kevin say was:  “Okay, your insurance requires four months of weight loss visits – basically four months of us weighing you – before surgery.”  I thought I had NO chance of getting this surgery squeezed into 2016!!  He then told me that this visit would count as my first one…so my window was TIGHT!  I had a ton of things to do in a short amount of time and we began scheduling appointments and making plans!  It was organized chaos and I was up for the challenge.

I met the surgeon and we discussed the types of bariatric surgeries and the pain I was feeling in my left side as well (my aforementioned femoral hernia).  Dr Tyner was very helpful with the tons of questions I had already and gave me some information on apps to use and diets to read up on to get myself ready for this huge change.

When I left the office that day, I cried like a baby knowing that this was going to be hard.  I cried harder out of joy, knowing that I serve a risen Savior who would equip me for this battle.  I literally and figuratively leaned on Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

xoxo