Scuba Guy
02/02/08 - Weight 176 - down 118 since surgery, 162 overall - I am home from spending 4 more days in hospital for severe stomach pain. no issues in 5 months. At least they found it this time, an internal hernia. This was not a tear, it was a pocket formed by the fat buildup for years. When I lost the fat, it allowed the intestines to move into an area where they should not be. Would have happened no matter how I lost the weight. Dr said it is common enough that last April, they changed thier surgery proceedures and thay now look for these type of areas during wls and stitch them shut at the time.
01/07/08 - Weight 181 - down 113 since surgery, 157 overall - dr going to be upset was to stop loosing 12 pounds ago.
12/26/07 - Weight 187 - Down 107 since surgery, 151 over all.
10/03/07 - 1 yr post op appointment today with the Dr. - All Labs perfect except B-12 - Increase injection to once every other week.
09/01/07 - Post Hospital followup - all seams to be well - no reoccurance of stomach pain. Weight now 193. I am down 101 since surgery and 145 over all. I am now at 17% body fat and 23 pounds from goal. Dr told me remainder is in loose skin and I do not need to loose anymore, as a matter of fact - I may want to gain a few pounds - WHAT - Gain a few pounds - never in my life have I been told that.
08/22/07 - Spent 4 days in hospital. Been having severe pains in stomach after eating dinner for the previous 5 days. All tests were inconclusive. Suspect a problem with the superior mesenteric vein possibly being ccompressed or bent. This may be the result of having been stretched with weight gain and now too long with the wieght loss. Could be issue with digestion of chicken - this has been my main staple since suirgery but now I am grounded from Chieckn for a month.
06/06/07 - Weight: 210 - down 84 pounds since surgery, 128 pounds overall
01/10/07 - 3 months post op - down 52 pounds - weight loss has slowed but already at 42% weight loss. This has not been anything like I exected - I really wish I had done it years ago. I do not dump, which is in my opinion a bad thing cuase I can pretty much eat anything I want so I still need will power. I am generally never hungry. I have started working with a personal trainer so time to start tightening up the skin and muscles
10/16/06 - 19 Days Post-op - down 30 pounds - went to hospital - heart meds are now too stong - blood pressure is too low - had to stop all medications -
10/06/06 - 9 days post-op - down 20 pounds - feeling great
10/03/06 - 6 days post OP - down 9.4 pounds - I can finally eat again.
09/28/06 - 1 day Post Op - Eating, chicken broth, herbal tea and jello -
09/27/06 - SURGERY DAY
09/18/06 - Pre-Op Consult completed with Surgeon (9 Days Pre-Op)
09/13/06 - Pre Op Education Class Completed, visit with Nutrionalist and Excercise Theraphist Completed (14 Days Pre-Op)
09/12/06 - Pre Surgery Lab Work, Xray and EKG complete (15 Days Pre-Op)
09/11/06 - Surgery Scheduled - 09/27/06 - (16 Days Pre-Op)
08/30/06 - Approved by Insurance Company
06/09/06 - WOW -- 11 phone calls received today between the Drs Office, the Insurance Co or the Third Party Administrator. And news as well.. !!! Seams the denial I received after my first appeal may have been mis or overstated. I was told today, the only thing still needed for approval is a letter from the theraphist confirming an ongoing theraputic relationship. The Drs office has had that since the day after the first appeal was mailed - Can it be this easy ?? I was called back today after the Drs office faxed the Letter from the Theraphist to the Insurance Company and said she once again confirmed, the only missing requirement is the letter.. Skeptical optimism.... We shall see next week.
06/08/09 - Still no new news, but once agasin i received a call from both Drs office and Insurance company
06/07/06 - No new news, but phone calls today from both Drs office and Insurance company
06/06/06 - Received call from Drs office and Insurance Co.. wow... they will both look into my situation
06/05/06 - Called Insruance Carrier again left nasty gram on voice mail which still tells me they will get back to me in 48 hours. Called Billing manager at Drs office 3 times todfay - no response from any of the messages - called Office Administrator - left message for her too.. Woudl be nice to talk to a human. Went to Support group meeting this evening where I was able to inquire, in front of the group, what was going on - no phone calls returned. They took down my information and said someone would call me.
06/02/06 - So much for 48 hours ...no call for anyone, Called Drs office and left another message
05/31/06 - Called Dr's office - left message for Billing Manager to call me - Called Insurance Carrier to inqure who the new case manager was - received a recording that I would get a call back witihin 48 hours
05/25/06 - I am no longer waiting for response to second appeal. I found out today that the billing manager for the drs office is no longer employed there. No statement as to why she is gone. The insurance company patient advocate assigned to the state has been reassigned and there is a new person in that position and as of tomarrow the wls case manager with the insurance company is no longer there. I need to call next week to get a new case manager assigned. Oh did i forget to mention, it now seams the second appeal filed April 20th on an expedited 3 day basis -- may not have been filed. There appears to be no record at the drs office, which explains why the insurance company told me last week they were still waiting on the same paperwork as requested with the first denial. To summerize: 5 weeks down the drain.
05/18/06 - almost 4 weeks waiting on a 3 day expedited appeal so today I called the insurance company myself. I was told we are still missing the same items as stated in the first declination. I know the Dr's office has the additional paperwork. not sure why the insurance company did not receive it.
The appeals coordinator did provide me a name and phone number to an insurance company patient advocate located on-site at the State as well as a case manager who can help me with the paperwork. The case manager has had the surgery and been through the process. I will make some calls tomarrow.
05/09/06 - 19 days come and gone - still no word on second appeal - waiting for Dr's office to followup and get back to me Based on postings from other people with my insurance company - average time for approval is 16 weeks - I am at 14 tomarrow.
04/27/06 - 3 days come and gone - should be hearing from Ins co any time
04/20/06 - Second appeal filed with request for expedited review (3 day turn-around) - Expedition was approved - now waiting for determination
03/13/06 - Second Insurance denial received
03/08/06 - Cardiologist evaluation completed - Medication changed and am cleared for surgery. This is the last medical evaluation needed before surgery - now soley waiting for insurance company.
02/16/06 - Appeal sent to Insurance Company
02/14/06 - Nuclear Stress Test completed
02/13/06 - Nuclear Stress Test - Part 1 completed
02/09/06 - Insurance denial received - denial based on an exclusion for services that are not considered Medically Necessary.
(Well the warning came true so I guess now that we are past this, we can move on to the next phase.)
02/06/06 - Attended first support group meeting for bypass patients
02/06/06 - Echocardiogram completed - (I have a heart - co workers amazed again!!)
02/01/06 - Surgeon received final documentation from PCP and Insurance Pre-certification requested. (Was warned first request is usually denied.)
01/30/06 - Abdominal Ultrasound completed
01/27/06 - H. Pylori blood screen completed
01/23/06 - Initial consultations and evals (Surgeon, Nutrition and physcological) completed - (Passed Phsyc exam! - coworkers amazed :) )
01/16/06 - Initial package submitted to new surgeon
12/19/05 - 6 month Managed Weight-loss plan completed
11/06/05 - Attended my second WLS Seminar - New surgeon and new staff - Excellant Presentation and staff - very comfortable with staff - much better
09/29/05 - Discussed concerns with PCP - he refered me to new surgeon (actualy, I found out he had meant for me to have been refered to this new one to begin with, guess there was miscomunication with PA)
08/17/05 - Attended WLS seminar and submitted my initial package - not too crazy about staff
07/25/05 - Discussed weight loss necessity with PCP - started Managed Weight-loss plan, refered to Bariatric Surgeon
