Lipedema and Me Poll and Scroll for September 10th!
Lymphatic exercises, hiring an expert for preauthorization, and a nut bread recipe!
Happy Sunday, Everyone!
Last Friday was the first anniversary of my first Lipedema surgery. I was primarily chairbound, swollen, and in pain when I had my surgery last year.
I remember my preop in my surgeon’s office as they drew lines on my legs and belly, explaining each step. Coming back the next day, I couldn’t believe I’d made it to that point because it was an emotional rollercoaster ride to get there, and I was hopeful that I’d come out feeling better than I’d felt beforehand.
I’d worked so hard on getting my surgery approved. My insurance had no coverage policy and zero reimbursement for any provider not in my physician network. I did all my conservative care and got my FCE, LMNs, and all the other documentation I needed the previous year. I asked my insurance to be assigned an RN case manager, so I had a point person in my insurance to work with.
I sent in my preauthorization request in March last year, which was initially denied. I’d expected that since there was no coverage policy. My surgeon was also denied because he wasn’t in-network.
After that, I fought to get my approval. I was on the phone at least a couple of times a week for the next four months, working through my insurance’s phone tree, trying to find the right person to talk to, gathering additional information, responding to their insistence on getting into a surgeon who was in-network (a Lipedema surgeon did not exist in my plan’s network). I spent months jumping through hoops and persisting in my case.
There were points when I’d given up hope of getting my surgeries. Even when I gave up hope, I still persisted. I wasn’t going down without exhausting everything I had in me.
That’s what makes me good at my job as a case manager; I am tenacious and persist until I have done everything I can, and I mean EVERYTHING, to get my way.
That’s right. I said it. I won’t stop until I get my way.
That July, my case manager called and told me my surgery, surgeon, and SCA were all approved.
Since then, I started putting myself out there on socials, writing this newsletter, and talking to anyone I could about Lipedema and getting preauthorized because I know how alone I felt through the entire process.
Working with Lipedema women in the past year has taught me that y’all are a bunch of badasses! You’re going through what I went through, with all the same doubt and tears and momentarily giving up hope, only to keep moving forward. I am in awe every time I talk with one of you.
As much as I can help Lipedema women with the preauth process, I’ve found insurance companies keep moving the goalpost, working the system to make it even harder to get authorization, OON exception, and an SCA with lipedema surgeons. The only way to stop them is to fight and become a movement for change.
I hope we can be that movement.
If you plan to get liposurgery, could you take the poll below? Thanks!
Here’s a link to a YouTube video: Lipedema: An Undiagnosed Cause of Weight Loss Resistance - Aylah Clark, ND
For those who’d like to implement a gentle, low-impact, seated exercise routine (always talk to your medical team about the safety of implementing any new routine):
At my local Farmer’s Market recently, I found a small company that makes a gluten-free seed bread called NOT BREAD. This bread is delicious! I bought two premade loaves and a seed loaf mix.
I thought about making this myself and found this recipe that comes closest to NOT BREAD:
Adventure Bread: Gluten-Free Nut and Seed Bread
Dry Ingredients
2 1/4 cups rolled oats
1 cup roasted sunflower seeds, salted or unsalted
1/2 cup roasted pepitas (hulled pumpkin seeds), salted or unsalted
3/4 cup roasted almonds , coarsely chopped
3/4 cup flax seeds
1/3 cup psyllium seed husks (see notes)
3 tablespoons chia seeds
2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
Wet Ingredients
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 1/2 cups water
Instructions
Lightly grease 3 small loaf pans (about 5 3/4 x 3 1/4-inch) or one 8- or 9 x 4-inch loaf pan.
Put the dry ingredients into a large bowl and mix well.
Add the wet ingredients and use your hands or a sturdy spoon to mix the ingredients thoroughly. Be aggressive here, smashing everything together well.
Transfer the mixture to the 3 small (or 1 large) bread pans, patting it firmly into the pans and smoothing the top so it's even.
Cover the pans with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, up to overnight.
When ready to bake, pull the pans from the fridge and remove the plastic wrap. Put a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees.
When the oven is hot, bake the bread until firm and just beginning to brown around the edges (about 45 minutes for the small loaves and 1 hour for the large loaf).
Let cool for at least 2 hours. Don’t rush it; this bread is quite dense
Cut into thin (1/3-inch or so) slices and toast well.
Wrap in plastic and store in the fridge, where it will keep for about a week, or wrap and store in a resealable bag in the freezer.
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Take care,
Michelle