New Member - Greetings To All!!
I'm just getting my account semi-set up and wanted to send a "shout" out to all the familiar names that I've been reading about for the past couple of months. I finally became a member here on the site the same timeframe that I found out that I had received approval from my insurance carrier (Whoo-hoo! - April 18th or so, therefore my first pre-op appointment wasn't until the 30th of April)!
Wow, this is a fantastic site and the information and sharing that I'm seeing is really so exciting because I'm sure to meet some wonderful new friends for hopefully years to come! My surgery is the last day of June (yes, my surgeon is quite the busy one) and the days are going by pretty quickly.
I'm still finishing up some of my general appointments (i.e. the scope and stress test) and then can start scheduling some of the other pre-op appointments once June arrives and I'm 4-weeks or less out from the big day!
I look forward to "chatting" with you all and wish for you all a great week-end!
Thanks Brenda and congrats on your 19 days post-op! I'm reading that you're doing well! How wonderful and I bet you're feeling better each and everyday! I actually sat for my surgeon's seminar back in late Oct 07.....then my mom had a total hip replacement (in IL), so was out there and then brought her back to stay with us (Thanksgiving) during her recovery so my hubby and I could help her and still make it to work without having to take alot of leave (we're taking her back home next week-end and she's doing quite well but will miss her horribly!).......so didn't get my paperwork submitted until early Jan 08. Then, with getting all the medical records from a couple of locations to the surgeon's office and making sure they had everything they needed, by the time I went to appointments throughout Feb 08, it was early Mar 08 before they received the okay from the clinical psychologist that I was "OK" to move forward. Then, the letter of medical necessity was worked up.......and I do really understand that there must be just an enormous amount of information that goes into working them up........so it was 11 Apr 08 before it was sent out to BC/BS. Believe it or not, the insurance approval was the quickest thing so far! Rec'd on the 11th and approved on the 15th of April! WOW! Then, my first surgeon's pre-op appointment and by that time, he was totally booked until the 30th of Jun! Wow again! But, in order to get everything squared away before I leave for surgery, this gives me plenty of time to get all my ducks in a row! :) I look forward to keeping in touch with you all! ---Shelley

