Riding the lap-band rollercoaster

Thus far I've had my initial information seminar, registered for the
program at Dartmouth Hitchcock in NH, had my comprehensive physical
and had every blood test under the sun except perhaps the PSA test for
the prostate I don't have. *grin* I'm scheduled for a barrage of other
tests, and just have to schedule my two psych evals to complete my
laundry list of to-do's before I can start the required education
seminars.

At my initial seminar, the Insurance Lady told us that Blue Cross
Blue Shield of VT covered bariatric surgery as a guaranteed benefit,
so I should be golden as far as coverage for this was concerned.
Wheeee....up goes the rollercoaster.

I thought I was ducky, so scheduled all of the pre-op testing the
program requires and happily sat in my rollercoaster buggy, feeling
the slow lurching up and forwards on the path I want so very much.
Upon checking my email at work, I find we are changing insurance
companies in October, so I'll then have MVP. The buggy pauses at the
top...

A call is placed to the Insurance Lady, and I left a message
explaining the details and inquiring about MVP coverage for the lap
band. Now its a waiting game, as I work nights and for some odd
reason, the Insurance woman isn't in her office at 3 am. *grin* Go figure.

When she returned my call the next morning, she told me that Blue
Cross DOES cover bariatric surgery, but they won't cover the lap band
since they deem it experimental, this despite FDA approval. She isn't
sure about MVP, but she's left messages with the MVP programme nurse.
EEEeeee...the buggy plummets wildly towards the ground, and my head is
filled with questions, foremost amongst which is "OK,so which of my
children do I sell so I can go to Mexico for banding?" I was pretty
bummed about it since I am only interested in banding, and not the
RNY. Oh well...I'll regroup.

While at my mammogram embracing the blissfully padded steel plates
(yay for mammopads) and mentally checking off another item on my list,
my cellphone rings and its the Insurance Goddess again. It seems that
while BCBS won't cover banding, and I wouldn't be able to complete the
requirements before surgery, not to mention surgery itself, before the
October deadline, MVP does cover the lap band. The buggy whips up the
next hill...better yet, the only hoops they have are the same ones the
programme I am in requires. Hooray...no need to sell a child! The
buggy continues on up the large hill and pauses.

Its been an intense few days!