It's Everywhere!

Ya know, before I started to consider WLS, I heard about it here and there in a news article or something, but now that I'm in the process, holy crap, it's everywhere!  Part of it, I'm sure is my own heightened sense of awareness about it, as apparently before, I lived under a rock and had never heard of Meme Roth who is the president and founder and possibly the only member of the National Action Against Obesity organization.  Now, I'm all for being aware, but then there is over the top.  I know that this happened last May, but being under that rock and all, I am just now seeing it and am appalled. 

Apparently, Meme had decided that Jordin Sparks should maybe not be the next American Idol because that would be promoting that it is okay to have some extra weight and what kind of message would that be sending out to the young girls in our country.  She states "When I look at Jordin, I see diabetes, heart disease, I see high cholesterol ... She’s the vision of unhealth. "

Really?  Wow.  So I guess when she looks at a woman in a short skirt, she sees a prostitute and when she sees a white SUV she sees a murderer.  Jordin was 17 years old for crying out loud and though she is not a stick figure, the girl is beautiful.  And what kind of message does it send out to the young girls of the world that Jordin is an unhealthy girl waiting to die of diabetes and heart disease?  And we wonder why so many ten year old girls are on diets or on their way to anorexia?  No, extra pounds are not healthy but they aren't necessarily a death sentence either in many people.  Then this crazy woman also last spring, attacked a table at a YMCA and tried to throw out ice cream toppings and ice cream that the Y had set up for their members that day.  Hypocritical of the YMCA.  Okay, sure, I'll bite on that one, but it isn't like they do this every day or even often for that matter.  But the Y had to call the police on this crazy lady to have her removed.  C'mon, is there not a more constructive way to help rid the world of obesity other than getting your inner crazy on?  I just discovered her today and already I think she's a loon, where if she were approaching things from an educational standpoint, I would have some respect for her.

Then today, Dr. Phil had on a 700 plus pound man that just made me want to weep uncontrollably.  Like Allen on Big Medicine, I just want to hug these people and tell them I understand.  No, I am not that large but there for the grace of God go I.  Kudos to Phil McGraw today too, for making the statement at the beginning of his show that WLS is not the easy way out.

In personal news, the surgeon's office almost has everything they need from us, though I did spend some time today chasing paperwork from the offices that had not yet faxed their stuff into the surgeon's secretary, Alice.  I asked Alice about a time frame once she had everything (If you remember, my insurance company told me a few weeks ago that they generally turned around an answer in 48 hours) and she told me once they had it, they opened a file for me and got it all to the insurance company and from there it could take 4-6 WEEKS for an answer!  Now, is that just standard for the insurance companies that might take that long so that the surgeon's office isn't being bombarded with daily phone calls?  Is my insurance company lying to me?  Is all my paperwork submitted to the insurance company by turtle?  What's up with that?

Lastly, ahem, Meg and Lace...an update perhaps?  How are you girls doing?  And Kim, how goes things for you today?