depressed now...

I had my surgical consult today. Love the doc, love the rest of the staff in the office (Dr Zeni, St Mary Mercy Livonia) I just know my pcp keeps lousy records and I won't have the 12 months diet history comm blue requires, naturally I have the co morbidity & BMI, so, now I'm depressed, I want to be hopeful, but... So, since I'm probably going to be here with you guys as a pre-op for a while, can someone tell me how to upload my picture, I'm E incompetent. How does a "friends" list work too and how long will this sad lethargy take to turn into mad motivation? Lexia

try not to let this temporary delay get you depressed. ask your wls dr if they have a weight loss management plan to follow so you can get the approval from bc. i have aetna and my clinic i went to started me on this mgt plan for three mths and i got approved a short time later. keep up your faith and all will work out. god bless.

Dear Lexia, I had the same problem with my doc not keeping good records. So I composed a letter to Blue Cross; and basically told them why should I suffer because of this. And I also said they could pay for surgery now or let me continue to get more and more ill until they were paying for all my future illness that were getting worse as time went by. Well they finally got it and approved me! Don't give up!!! You want it go after it and don't take what you person says as that is it! Good luck Lexia there is hope if you go for it. Sincerely, Judy R

Lexia: I know exactly how you feel. My doctor didn't record our conversations about my diet in my medical chart. For 8 visits throughout a 13 month period I brought my weight charts, food and exercise log, calorie tracking forms and we discussed my progress each visit. We even talked about putting me on diet pill perscription. But of those 8 visits there was a single tiny notation that stated "Patient continues to diet." Which of course wasn't good enough for the insurance company. My doctor wouldn't amend his records or write a letter stating that I'd been dieting. And my insurance company wouldn't accept that letter anyway .... the records needed to be in my medical records. Period. No exceptions. So I started over. I'm in month 7 of my 12 month diet documentation. Yes, it was devastating when I found out what my doctor had done (or hadn't done, actually). But I started a "new" diet documentation with a new facility through my surgeons office right away. The first few months I was more bitter about being on a diet than motivated to make it work. It took me a while to get over the breach of trust I experienced with my previous doctor. But I didn't wallow in my depression because I knew that every day that I waited to take new action was one day further away my surgery would be. So my advice is to restart now. Today. Check with your surgeon's office to see if they have a program. If not, have a "Come to Jesus" talk with your PCP and lay out exactly what you expect from him. If he's not supportive of the surgery or helping you do whatever it takes to get approved, find another doctor. Today. Getting started on a new 12 month diet documentation should be your #1 priority right now. Fight the insurance company - don't let them win. Pam

Wow Pam, where do you find the motivation. I feel so let down. I've been considering surgery on and off for years. I finally make a decision only to find out I'm probably waiting another year. I don't intend to give up, and my doc is decent (I see him tomorrow) I'm fairly certain he'll do whatever is necessary to help me (short of changing records). I was getting so fired up though and now I feel flat, I look at the excercise bike and think "tomorrow", and open the veggie drawer in the fridge and think "I'd rather have pizza"... I don't intend to give up, if I'm a year away, I'm a year away, but right now I feel like "in mourning" or something. Are you losing weight with what you are doing? My motivation to get the surgery was how poorly I feel, I can't imagine feeling like this for another year, I have to do something, at least 30 or 40 pounds. I've put 30 on since I quit smoking on 1.1.07, but will losing a significant amount of weight be reason enough for a denial from comm blue? I'm fairly confident if I work really hard I can be really sucessful, but any weight I lose will come right back... UGH so frustrating! Anyway, what are you doing? how is it working? I'm probably 7 months behind you, although it's possible there are some proper notes in my medical records, maybe I won't be that far behind and we can be surgery buddies?... time will tell... thanks for responding to me Pam. I'm the only person in my family with a weight problem, so when I try to talk to them they just don't get it. My mom often hurts me although I know it isn't intentional, pain is pain. It's good to have others out there for emotional support who are coming from a similar place! Lexia

Lexia: Believe me, when I got the news that I didn't have the proper documentation I was devastated. I cried at the drop of a hat for a week straight. I was so angry that there was nothing I could do to change what was happening. So even though I was angry and sad and depressed .... I still knew I had to take action. And I knew that for every day I put off starting over that I was allowing my insurance company and incompetent doctor win my battle --- so I knew I had to fight back and the only way to do that was to get back on a diet plan and make sure it was documented this time. I certainly wasn't motivated to "be on a diet" those first few months, but I went through the motions until I could get my mind on track with the steps I was taking to get my surgery. No, I'm not losing weight. In fact, I've been following a very strict diet and exercise plan since August 2005 (20 months!) and haven't lost any weight at all. I might see a pound or two come off or go back on... but basically I'm only dieting to maintain my current weight. It's frustrating and I often wonder why I bother. But my new doctor has confirmed that I'm doing everything right and that if I can just maintain for now that things will be better after I have surgery. I won't go into all the details right now... but I have a bunch of medical issues that are preventing me from losing weight. In fact I should technically be gaining weight steadily based on the medications I'm on and all the other issues. So I feel lucky that I'm at least able to hold my own. I'm hoping for surgery in November. If all falls into place, that is. Pam

verify that they still require it. my insurance used to so we waited because the dr office said i needed more. I insisted that they send it in anyway and it was approved immediately.