apointedpassion
My progress and journey!
Feb 01, 2016
1-4-16... I called this morning and was able to schedule my consult appoinment to the 6th instead of the 21st. I'm excited and nervous at the same time.
I went this morning and had my annual physical with a new Dr since I have new insurance. The dr goes over everything and says "your BMI is 44. You should consider surgical options to help you loose the weight." My response was "I have an appointment later this month with the surgical center." She said "thats good" and changed the topic. It was odd to me but oh well. I will make myself better!
I have my consult appointment on 1-6-16! I have wanted to have the sleeve for almost 10 years and I finally have a job with insurance that says they cover bariatric surgery so here I go! I love to be outdoors and spend most of my days off in the woods, mountains or rivers. I have 3 bird dogs and spend a great deal of time in the fields with them training and looking for birds. I would love to not be obese and be able to enjoy my time outdoors without being winded or feel like I’m slowing everyone down. I want to make they have to keep up with me! Here’s to a new year and hopefully a new healthier life for me!
Update 1-9-16.... I went to my consult with Dr. Houseworth on 1-6-16. He was nice and very quick in our meeting. He asked what surgery I was wanting and I told him the sleeve. He asked how long I have wanted to do this and I told him over 10 years. He asked why I waited so long, I told him that I finally have an insurance that will cover the procedure and he laughed and said yes it can be very expensive to have done. :-) His nurse was very nice and personable. She chatted a little bit and took my vitals before he came in and then after he left she came back to talk to me about my insurance and what we required to continue. I guess my insurance doesn't require a lot to get started and I was given a list of things to do before we can submit for approval. I left his office, went to the nutrition clinic that is in the same building just one floor up and made my appointment then I went to the car and called and tried to make the other appointments. The orders weren’t in the system yet so I had to wait until 2 days later to schedule my labs but luckily they were able to get me in this next Monday the same as my nutrition appointment. :-) I want to get this all done ASAP!
Required by BCBS of TX
*Psychological Clearance - Apt scheduled for 2-4-16
*Pre Surgery Education Class - Apt scheduled for 1-20-16
*Nutrition Consultation - Only 1 class needed - Apt scheduled for 1-11-16
Required by DR
*Fasting Blood work - Apt scheduled for 1-11-16
*Chest X-Ray - Apt scheduled for 1-11-16
*Abdominal Ultrasound - Apt scheduled for 1-11-16
*EKG - Apt scheduled for 1-11-16
*EGD - Not scheduled yet. I guess this is scheduled after everything else but I am going to ask on Monday when I go to the hospital to do the rest of my testing since I will be in the building anyways. :-)
I was happy that I was able to get almost everything scheduled so quickly but was upset that the psychological appointment isn’t until February 4th. I was hoping to have it all done in January but oh well. I shouldn’t be complaining since a lot of other peoples insurance requires 6+ months of supervised diets and nutrition appointments.
Updated 1-14-2016...... I joined a gym! It came with 2 free sessions with a personal trainer and I met with him for the first time today. He was very nice. Said his background was in physical therapy and likes to move people at a slower pace so they will stick to things long term. We went over nutrition and goals. I did not tell him that I am trying to have weight loss surgery but told him I was working with my Dr and nutritionists on losing weight and that they suggested I exercise 6x a week with cardio and start including resistance training also. He said that is great as long as I can get in to the gym and make that commitment.
On the other end of things, I have my EGD, psychologist evaluation and pre-surgery class next week and then I can submit for insurance approval! I have all of my other labs and tests done! I’m ready to schedule my surgery and its getting there!
I did speak with my supervisor yesterday at work. She was asking if I would cover extra shifts this month. I told her that I will take all the extra shifts now because hopefully soon I will have to have a couple of weeks off for a procedure I’m trying to have done. She looked at me kind of funny and asked if I am trying to have bariatric surgery? I told her yes but I don’t want anyone to know. She said that she will not say anything and has had 8 people that she knows go through it with great success. She said that she is too scared to do it but more power to me if I can go through it. She also told me that I should talk with the manager when I get my surgery date scheduled and fill out FMLA paperwork and short term disability forms in case something happens that requires me to miss extra work so it protects my job. I have not heard of this so I am going to look into it today and see what my options are. I am so glad to be in a company that not only provides the insurance that allows me to have the surgery but is also going to work with me on changing my schedule around to be able to take the time off without consequences. :-)
Updated 1-22-16…… This last week has been so crazy busy! I had my Pre-Surgery Nutrition class on 1/20, my EGD on 1/21 and my psych evaluation on 1/22. I am officially done with all of my pre-approval requirements!!!! I called the surgeons office and told them that I am all completed now and they said that someone will call me once they receive approval or denial from my insurance company and schedule my surgery at that time. I was really hoping that I would be able to schedule it today but no such luck. I was most concerned about the EGD since I had never been sedated nor had an IV before. I think it went extremely well. After the procedure I wasn’t nauseous and didn’t feel goofy or tired or bad. I am hoping that I get a call soon to schedule my surgery appointment! I’m ready!
Update 2-1-16… It’s been over a week since I had my psych eval. I called their office and asked if they had sent the report to my surgeons office yet? She told me she would check and call me back. I then emailed my surgeons office and see if they had everything else they needed to submit. She emailed me back and said that they are just waiting on the psych eval and once it is received they will submit for approval. The psych office called me back at 5:10pm and left a message saying that they just got the report back from their typist and they will fax it to my surgeons office tonight! I emailed my surgeons office telling them that so hopefully tomorrow they will have it and be able to submit it to my insurance! The surgeons office did tell me that it can take up to 3 weeks to hear back from the insurance company but my friend said hers only took 3 days and she has the same insurance and works for the same company that I do. I would really like an approval letter before my 30th birthday which is in 10 days! That would be the best birthday present ever!!
Update 2-5-16… I spoke with Amanda at the surgeon’s office and she told me that she submitted my information to BCBS on 2/3 and they have 15 business days to respond. I hope to get a response before next Thursday 2/11 but it probably won’t happen but I can still hope! That would be a great birthday present! :-)
