Several years ago, my doctors discovered the root causes for almost all the severe health problems I have been experiencing throughout my adult life. I was diagnosed with 5 different sleep disorders, which have detrimentally affected my life in many ways. 1. Fibromyalgia - Super-sensitive nerves, widespread constant pain throughout the body & inability to get into a deep sleep which is the sleep stage where your body restores its energy and flushes its tissues of toxins. 2. Obstructive Sleep Apnea - The airway gets closed off from relaxing soft tissues in the throat during sleep which blocks the ability to get air into your lungs. 3. Central Sleep Apnea - Once asleep, the signals from the brain stop making it to the diaphragm. You actually stop trying to breath, which causes your brain to be deprived of oxygen and it wakes you up in order to force you to breath again. 4. Restless Leg Syndrome - Severe uncomfortable sensations in legs (and sometimes other extremities) that cause unconscious movements in an attempt to relieve the sensations. The constant movements prevent you from getting into a restful sleep. 5. Hypersomnolence - Related to Narcolepsy. Makes you feel very tired all the time, no matter how much sleep you get. Feels like your struggling in thick mud or quicksand to make every movement. You fall asleep frequently if sitting still. Because of these sleep disorders, I don't have normal sleep patterns, so my body has gone into "Survival Mode." It is unable to restore its energy and flush toxins naturally, which normally happens while you sleep each night. To survive, my body stopped its metabolism in an attempt to store energy in cells (fat cells). This causes my inability to maintain a healthy body weight because my body is storing everything I eat instead of metabolizing it. Now I find myself living in a "Viscous Cycle." The lack of normal metabolism naturally causes me to gain weight; the extra weight causes a lot of other serious health problems, plus worsening of the sleep disorders. So the viscous cycle just keeps going. I have been treated for over 8 years now with medications, therapies, breathing/cpap/ventilator machines, diets and exercise regimens, but nothing has worked very well, for very long. I also now have to take meds to wake-up, meds to keep me awake so I can drive and work, meds to help me breath, meds to control my subsequent depression, meds to stop muscle spasms that keep me awake at night and meds to try to help me sleep. Like I said; "A Viscous Cycle!" Four different doctors recommended me for weight loss surgery about 3 years ago because they think it is my only option to stop this viscous cycle. They also think that the surgery will significantly improve, if not completely cure all of the health issues that I have developed. Unfortunately my health insurance, through my employer, will not cover any weight loss surgeries, doctor supervised diets or weight loss programs, of any kind. So I am forced to find a way to pay for the surgery that my doctors say is a medical necessity for me. I have tried to purchase a separate insurance policy, but because of my Sleep Apnea, I am not insurable outside of getting insurance through a group policy, such as an employer. The alternative is that I will develop more severe health problems from this continuous viscous cycle, such as Diabetes, Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure, Stroke, etc., until I prematurally die. Which without surgery, it is not a question of "if I will die" - it's a question of "how soon will I die." I find it disheartening that insurance companies will pay for patients with drug addiction and alcoholism to go into detox & rehab programs because they recognize their afflictions as diseases, but so many still will not give a person suffering from obesity any insurance coverage for a life-saving, medically necessary surgical procedure. Obesity (with or without a food addiction) is also a disease. I work full-time, but I don't make a lot of money and I do pay monthly for medications, breathing/ventilation equipment & supplies, along with other health needs, so I cannot afford this surgery without help. The surgery I need costs up to $50,000.00 in other facilities across the nation, so I think I've done well to find a bargain. My 1st objective was to find a good, reputable surgeon/hospital that I can trust for this "major surgery" — I am sure I have done that. I have a beautiful daughter & a loving, handsome grandson who is only 5 years old. I want to live, to help my daughter raise my grandson & watch him grow up to become a caring, responsible, respectful, hard-working, loving, Christian, family man. For me and my doctors, it's not an elective surgery as so many insurance companies say it is, it's a necessity! I need your help, please. If you have an open, understanding and compassionate heart & desire to help me raise the funds I need, there are no words I can use to express my eternal gratitude.