I'm not having problems getting it paid for by insurance -- they will pay. But the first doctor that was in network was the one who refused to operate on me (needed to lose 20 lbs first). The second one, who wanted 40K, was out of network -- so while insurance would have paid, I still would have been on the hook for about 30K. The third doctor was also out of network, but I hated him so much for his reaction when. took off my top, (slow whistle, shock) I couldn't imagine letting him do the procedure, and never found out what his cost was. That intuition seems to have turned out to be correct, because I just met someone who underwent a procedure with him, and it didn't turn out well for several reasons.

The good news is that this week I finally met with a fourth doctor, whom I love. This doctor is a woman, (the other three were men) and while in general I hate to use gender as some sort of litmus test, in this case I probably should have realized this was the way to go. Insurance had previously approved it, but that approval expired, so we are starting all over with that rigmarole.

So it's not insurance that's stopped me so far...it's just wanting to find a doctor that also doesn't make me feel terrible. Thankfully, I think I've found that now.