I'm sooooo confused :'(

[Angel91805]

I agree with Leanng! Pause and take a deep breath, girl. I know you are READY to have it done now, but it won't happen that way. Here's how it went for mine....I went to a free seminar the bariatric center here has and I still had doubts if I wanted to have surgery. But my son was 14, I was 270 lbs, and almost ALL of the pictures from his childhood are of him and his dad, because I didn't want to be photographed.

So, I went to the seminar in May 2013. They explained the difference between the sleeve and by-pass, what to expect, etc etc. Then they set up an appt to see the surgeon (who gave the seminar) and got my insurance info. My appt was the first week of June 2013. My first appt, they had the info from my insurance of what they required before I could have the surgery. In my case it was 3 months of monitoring and classes with the nutritionist. Some insurance companies require a 10% weight loss....or a 6 month supervised diet, etc. So, I started that....lots of testing, phsych evaluation, and three months of visits. My last visit was August 2013, and they bundled up the information and sent it off to the insurance company. I got a call on September 27th that I was approved! They wanted me to go to my family doctor and have a physical, all the yearly crap like pap smear and mammogram, all to verify I was healthy enough for surgery. Well...took 6 weeks to get THAT appointment. So now it's late October....had all the tests and blood work and upper GI ex-ray and mammogram. Mid-November, my family doctor calls that my EKG was abnormal and I needed to go to a cardiologist to get checked out. So I called every cardiologist on my insurance and the soonest I could get in was December 13th! OMG, are you kidding me??? Three month since I was approved for surgery!!! EKG was normal...but I have a family w/ a history of heart disease, so he wanted a stress test. OMG, shoot me now. Got that scheduled the first week of January 2014. All fine and good. Two weeks later, my family doctor has the results and is happy and is ready to give me a surgical clearance....but now all my blood work is 3 months old and has to be done over. So back to the hospital I go for bloodwork. Have an other appt with my family doctor to review the blood work and she grants me the surgical clearance finally, this is February now. Over to the surgeon my packet goes....oh wait! My blood work didn't include the lipid and thyroid test. Angry voicemails and phone calls later to my doctor and I've got to go again for more bloodwork. Let me tell you....by this point I was telling hubby that you know, maybe this is a sign that I shouldn't have surgery! March 7th, we finally have all the documentation and it got put in front of the surgeon and WALLAH, surgery scheduled for 3/18.

So, what should have taken 3 months.....and let me tell you I was READY....took 9. Patience, my friend. Your surgeon will handle all the details and guide you on your next steps. Take a deep breath and begin adopting better habits now. Give up sodas as soon as you can....I didn't.....and it's my worst craving now!

Donna

[girliegirl777]

It sounds like you are taking the right step towards a positive future. A year from now, you will have a whole new perspective on life. Once you start working with a surgeon, they will help you with all of the insurance needs and appointments.

[hotmomaNtraining]

I can't wait... I'm like a kid in a toy store making out my Christmas list in January lol I know I am making the right choice and I'm excited to think how much better my life and my kids life is going to be once I have the right tools I need to help us all to be healthier. They are my biggest supporters and I know they will be my hardest coaches. I am so blessed to have my boys and to have now found this wonderful site.

[Flipflops]

When I went to the info meeting, I gave my insurance info to their office manage and he had all the paperwork done by the time the meeting was over. It did take me about 4 mo. till surgery. I had to take an online test through the hospital, have a EKG, and a treadmill test which took almost 2 mo. to get to that Dr. My Nutritionist/philologist works in the Dr. office and that appointment took another month, a chest x-ray, then a EGD appmt. few weeks later.

[hotmomaNtraining]

Awesome :-) i hope mine goes that well.

[brightnessofhope]

I just came across your post and really connected with the part about the teenage boys in sports and walking out onto the field with them-been there. Hugs! That is a hard thing to bear. Heartfelt well wishes on your journey! And speed

[kenson]

First of all welcome to the forum! Once you meet your surgeon, he and his team will tell you which specialists you need to see. My surgeon worked with a group of specialists so it was easy to just make appointments with them. Your surgeon's insurance coordinator will be able to tell you the guidelines that your insurance requires. Good Luck!

[Shanbie]

Welcome and congrats on this tough decision to improve your health! I wouldn't do any of the psych eval, etc before you find out what you need for your insurance. Most insurances require a doctor supervised diet and other stuff, and some of it won't count if you do it before you begin seeing the weight loss surgeon. The others are right, the bariatric surgeon/program you go through will have an insurance person that contacts your insurance to find out what you need to do to get approved. I had to have my medical records going back five years to prove consistent obesity, so that could be something you could do before hand to save time. Get your medical records with documented weights going back several years, also if you haven't had a pap within the last year, my doc needed results that were within that year, so you could get that done. Hope this helps! Good luck!!