So, there I was, sitting in my friend Cs kitchen, as she tells me how much better she is feeling just 2 weeks post surgery. It hits me. I'm wasting time continuing to try what has never worked in the past. I am the definition of insanity, "Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results". After talking with my husband I decide to call the Dr. What the office staff tells me, sends me to tears. I have waited and struggled with this decision for 4 years, watching friend after friend go through this, and when I finally decide I'm ready, I'm told that before I can see the Dr. I must go to an informational meeting and the first one with a open space is 6 weeks away. I know that after the meeting there is paperwork to fill out along with a fee (which I thought was only $50) and after the office reviews the paperwork they will call with a date to see the Dr. which is usually another 6-8 week wait. So I know I am facing minimum 3 months till I can see the Dr and START the whole process. Then you have to begin doing some of the behavior modifications that will be necessary for post op success, lose 5% of your body weight, and start an exercise program. All of which must wait until you see the Dr or it doesn't count!
March comes and I go to the informational meeting. When I get the paper work I find out that the fee has been TRIPLED! Now, I have to figure out how to squeeze $150 out of a very tight budget.... can't be done before August. Again with the tears.
I hear of another surgeon in the area that also does the surgery. I call his office. When I get off the phone I am in shock. I have an appointment for not only their informational meeting but to see the surgeon the very same day! I call my friend C. She's concerned about the surgeon. She of course recommends the one she went to that we had both worked with and know. I explain all that I had gone through to try to get into Dr. Simon and my disappointment. Since I no longer work at the hospital with him, my only way in is through his office staff and the hoops that have been set up to aid them in weeding out the patients who are not really ready for this. She says she'll see what she can do.
Two days later I get a message from C. She talked to Dr Simon and asked his opinion of my new surgeon, not high. He told her I needed to come see him. C told him I had been trying since January and it was now May. C also told him that right now the biggest deterrent was the non refundable fee. He offered to waive the fee! :)
That was on a thursday. On Friday C asked if I had heard from Howie, no. C and her kids came over for Memorial Day that following Monday and she promised she would bug Dr. Simon until he called me. I got a call just after noon on Tuesday. He told me to come in to the office the next day at 2. It's great to have friends in the right places! Now, my journey can actually begin and I get my first choice for a surgeon!
