In the beginning...

Jul 05, 2011

When I started this journey I was so hyped up... so excited... I attended my seminar in February 2011, went to my first appointment at my surgeons office in March. I set up my appointment with the nutritionist, the psychologist and dove in head first. I took my paperwork to my primary care physician in early March and "got the ball rolling!"

I wanted to be the model patient. I studied my insurance policy daily. I read the clinical bulletins, I made a notebook to compile all my info and organize my records. I requested medical records for the past gazillion years. I joined a gym and hired a personal trainer to help with my exercise program. I set up appointments with a nurse psychiatrist to discuss behavior modification. I enlisted the help of the nutritionist and a iPhone program (food diary) to help me stay on track and make better food choices.

I was doing wonderfully and felt very much in control. I lost 20 something pounds and I cut my Diet Coke down to ONE a day!!!

All was well for a few months until I hurt my knee (again) and I couldn't exercise and THEN I found out that if I lost too much weight (below bmi of 40) that I would disqualify myself. Frustration set in.... But I tried to hang in... It was time to submit to insurance as I was doing the 3 month "fast track" available through my insurance. So I submitted my records to my doctors office on June 7th. My doctor would review and submit to my insurance company for preauthorization approval.

I tried not to get discouraged, but it was inevitable. As I struggled to keep my head above water and not gain any weight, I decided to check on my submission to insurance. It was Mid June, and I called my insurance company only to be told that they had no record of my submission. I called my doctors office and was told that they were "behind" and that it would be submitted later in the week. It was finally submitted on June 20th, but my insurance company kept saying that they didn't receive any records. My doctors office said that it sometimes took a while to get in the system so they wouldn't refax for 2 weeks. 2 long excruciating weeks.... FINALLY on July 1, my doctors office agreed to refax my records.

On July 5, 2011 I spoke to my insurance company, Aetna, and they had my records. Now the real wait begins. The wait where I know that they are tearing my records apart bit by bit. Looking for something to  give them the excuse to stamp "DENIED!!" I know that it could go one of three ways... 1) approval, 2) they could request that I continue physician supervised diet and exercise for 3 more months, or 3) Denial

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I can not change, the courage to change the things that I can and the wisdom to know the difference....

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