A different kind of insurance denial..and then acceptance.

For those on here who knew I was going in today for an EGD with dilation for my stricture, it is on hold ofr a day or two. I have been scheduled for 2 weeks for my EGD at Lutheran with Dr. Fayaad (RULE: NEVER GO TO DR. FAYAAD) and the day before they call and say, "we jsut discovered that none of our doctor's are covered by your insurance". SO we had to cancel. Dr. Cahalan went to work right away and got a letter off to my insurance company requesting a special review. They called back this morning and said that they would do it with Dr. Feldman. So it's back on but I don't know when. So a little whilelonger of spitting in a cup and drinking through my G tube and hopefully I'll be back to normal. If anyone ever has any concerns about a stricture, please don't hesitate to write. It's nothing to be scared of, but I definitely have advice I have learned through this process. Glad to hear everyone else is moving forward with approvals and dates. Take Care B

Blake, It is really good to hear from you. Was wondering how things were going. Sorry to hear about your dilemma. I hope things work out very soon for you! I really do not know alot about a stricture. Are they painful?

Mine hasn't been painful, but some are when you try to eat or drink. I haven't had any food or water orally in about 3 1/2 weeks. I didn't give a lot of consdieration to them before surgery and it doesn't make sense for pre-ops to worry about them becasue there is nothing you can do to prevent them. Just luck of the draw and how your body heals, but when you think you have one, you HAVE to be persistent with your doc about checking it out...

Oh, on a positive note, I am down 55 lbs in 6 weeks. Don't be jealous ladies...guys are fast losers...but it's amazing what happens on a 4 week liquid diet..

Well, at least you can look at the bright side. When i was puking for my first 7 months post op, I figured at least I was losing weight probably quicker than had I not been so sick. Sounds like you have a positive attitude at least. hang in there. jean

wow Blake, your attitude is amazing. But I suppose what else can you do. Too bad it is taking so long with so many problems to get your back on track. But the weight loss has to be encouraging. Is there anything us pre-op people can do or think about to perhaps try to avoid a stricture. It seems kind of common, so is it just a random thing?

I was sharing this with a few others offline today and my best advice: Don't waste a single minute worrying about it! Expect the best and chances are you'll be just fine. You wouldn't spend time worrying about whether a comet was going to someday come and wipe out the entire planet. Why? Because worrying about will do absolutely nothing nor prevent it. Just do everythig the doctor asks and somewhere in the back of your mind, know that it's a possibility and if it happens, you just deal with it and move on. Everything happens for a reason and God put this burden on me for a purpose and I'll be stronger for it. Take care everyone and wish me luck tomorrow. I got the call this morning that I have an appointment to get it done at Dr. Feldmann's office at 8:30 am... B

Well Blake right now you should be getting your stricture fixed!! Hope everything goes well and keep posting Janine

Hey I wasn't here yesterday at work to read this but i wan'ted to wish you luck today. I hope they are able to "fix" everything today. You will feel so much better once this is fixed. Let us know how it goes when you feel up to posting.