Lots of News - Only some of it good

So, after calling them several times and getting various, incorrect, estimates as to when I would finally hear back from Kaiser regarding what the committee said, they finally call to tell me that they are holding firm on the "must remove 500 g per breast" rule and since I don't have 500g worth of right breast, they won't cover my surgery. They gave me an quote in the $6800 range if I want to pay for it myself. Of course, none of the studies that support that decision were done on women with inverted sternums (which I have) and they don't take into account the fact that my rib cage is 29" around.

In the meantime, the pulled or strained muscle in my upper left chest (which was partially related my oversized-for-my-frame breasts in the first place) is getting worse, not better, because my breast pulls on it in a way that further irritates it.

The good news is I got my mammogram results and it's clean.

The expensive, but exciting, news is that I've decided that breast reduction is an investment in my future health and well being that I need to make and I'm going to pay for surgery myself. I am now surgeon shopping. It's a very different process when you are paying for the surgery yourself rather than going through insurance - you are actually treated like a customer. I believe I said earlier that plan B was to go to Thailand, but I've decided to have the surgery locally. That way I can do it with less time off work. Also, I remembered that last time I had surgery, afterwards all I wanted was to get home and into my own bed. Also, if I need a revision, if I got the surgery done in Thailand, I'd have to go back to Thailand for the revision - which removes any money savings. Plus, I really like the idea of recovering in my own bed - in fact, I have an appointment with a surgeon who is associated with the hospital that is literally 1 house away from mine. He actually does the surgery in a surgical suite in his office at the furthest medical office building from my house, but that's still close enough that I may even be able to walk home after surgery. Can't get much closer from recovery room to my own bed than that. And I like his credentials. If I like him, I'll probably schedule surgery with him.