ObesityHelp

I have per my insurance company done my psychological evaluation, medical clearance and my nutritional evaluation. I have the approval of those physicians. I have found me a surgeon, I am going to use Dr. Adam Naaman.

However, we are now waiting on the insurance company. It is like hurry up and wait..

3-9-04 I saw Dr. Naaman and did my h.pylori test. It was negative. I really like the whole staff. I was told to start walking and to take Flintstone's chewable vitamins twice a day.

3-15-04 Called the office to see if the stuff was sent over and they said it was sent to the insurance company on the 12th. Hurry up and wait.


3-19-04 Called the insurance company and they didn't really tell me anything.

3-23-04 Called the insurance company again and they said I was third in line for a review.

3-24-04 Called the insurance company again and they said that it is in physician reveiw and they are waiting to contact the doctor. The nurses couldn't approve it at their level. Finger's crossed and praying. I won't bother them again until the 29th or 30th depending on how anxious I get between now and then.

3-26-04 I got denied. They said they wanted a supervised diet in the last 12 months. I thankfully get to start back from February when I first saw the nutritionist. So technically from denial I only have to wait 6 weeks from the denial since I was already doing this prior to denial.

5-18-04 Well, I finished my supervised diet. Now I just have to wait on the nutritionist to get my letter to me so that I can fax it to Dr. Naaman's office to get to the insurance company. I am believing for a June approval and a July surgery.

5-24-04 Talked with Bernice at Dr. Naaman's office and she said that she was going to fax all 76 pages to the insurance company after 5:00 pm so they didn't complain and it would get there faster.

5-25-04 I called the insurance company and they said they recieved the fax. They said to call back in a week and they would have an update as to where it stood.

6-28-04 I got word from the insurance company that I was approved. After I found out that they had recieved the fax I called 12 different times. As soon as I hung up with the insurance company I got a call from Dr. Naaman's office. They are wonderful. I GOT APPROVED! Yippee!

7-13-04 I went in for my pre-op visit and I weighed 282. Went over to the hospital for my blood work.

7-21-04 Arrived at the hospital at 6:00am. They took me upstairs to the pre-op room and they got my IV started, took some blood and all that good stuff. About 7:25 they took me down what seemed like a really long hallway to the operating room. I started crying, I was scared. Julius saw me crying and said, "Don't cry, because if you do then I will cry too and it will all be over with." The next thing I remember was asking them what they were putting in my IV and she said it is something that will make you feel funny. I don't remember anything after that. I woke up in the recovery room fighting the nurses to get the oxygen mask off. I won, I got the nasal canula instead. LOL! After that I woke up again in my room. I got up and was walking around about 2:PM or so. I was released to go home the next afternoon.

7-23-04 I wasn't able to tolerate the pain pills crushed, so I called Julius because I was in a lot of pain. He said to come to the ER and I did. They admitted me with pneumonia. I was able to go home on Sunday. By that time I had already lost 7 lbs since the day of surgery.