In 2009 I did my 6 month diet only to be turned down by the insurance company because they didnt include bariatric surgery in their coverage.

In 2010 My insurance changed and now covered surgery.l I didnt find this out until August.

In July I applied for a new job in my home town in CA and really wanted to move back home. I do hospital IT and jobs just dont come up very often. I interviewed and was turned down because they felt I didnt have enough experience.

I have surgery in October (they used my 2009 diet so I didnt have to do it over).

Fast forward to January. I sent email saying that I was still interested as the position had not been filled (it was posted in 4/10) and would be in town and would like to meet with them again. Interview at 9am, job offer at 11am. Seems I was the only candidate to apply.

New insurance does not cover bariatric surgery!

If I had been offered the job in July I would not have been able to have surgery, or would have had to pay for it myself.

I am a firm believer that things have a way of happening for a reason!

Are you familar with Healthcare Flexible Spending Accounts? They are offered by most employers (Esp 100 employees or more). The way they work is that you decide how much money you want to put aside for medical expense in a year that your insurance will not cover. This money is taken out of your check PRETAX; and goes into this account. Today most programs give you a Visa/Mastercard that you use to pay for medical care of supplies not covered by insurance. It's important to calculate how much money you will need because once the money is put into this account you can't take it back! Since it is pretax they won't refund it to you. You should be able to use this account to pay for visits to a Bariactric Doctor or fills etc; and would save you whatever you tax burden in at least 25%.

That's fantastic! So at the end of the day, you were patient and you ended up with your band paid for AND the job you wanted back in CA!!! Life is good! How exciting for you...a fresh new start! Congrats!