Before surgery I’d have to meet with their psychiatrist.  Next I’d  meet with their Nutritionist.  Both of these are not covered by my insurance.  Then there’s the tests that need to be done that most likely will not be covered by my insurance.    At the very least they’ll have co-pays, and paying co-pays on all the tests would cost more than the entire Gross Nation Product of all third world countries combined.  Here’s a few for examples:

sleep study, ultrasound, upper GI, chest x-rays, EKG, etc.

Some of the many tests that I’m suppose to have, I don’t even know how to pronounce them, much less ever heard of them:

LDH, Ferritin, Hgb A1C, C-Reactive Protein, CBC, Chem 20, PT, PTT, H Pylori Antibody, LE Venous Ulitz.

The lists above are the Reader’s Digest version.  The total number of tests is astronomical.  There’s also the issue of cutting out a huge piece of my stomach and retaching my intestines back to my smaller stomach which gives me the willies.

I still need a way to shed my weight and Maurice could loose a few pounds.  He’s gained here and there since we’ve gotten married, which apparently happens most of the time.  Since I’m required to lose 35 pounds before the surgery anyway, we decided to give Weight Watchers a try.  I’ve been on Weight Watchers for over a year now, but haven’t lost any weight.  In fact, I’ve gained since I started.  It’s no reflection on them since I’m the one who did not follow their program. Maurice is a great cook, however, most of his family are from Louisana.  Eating creole is not part of ANYONES diet plans. 

Maurice told me that he’d like us to go to Weight Watchers together.  Then he’ll understand the points system, etc.  We agreed.  Once I lose 35 pounds I can revisit the surgery idea, but most likely I’ll decide against it.  So now we’ll both understand serving sizes, points values, exercise incentives.  Blah, Blah, Blah

We hope to go this week, but both of us have a lot going on.  The first chance we can go, we will.  And so a new journey begins.