New to the site and starting a new path in life

Hi! My name is Jenn I am a single mother, career woman, and full time student and I have struggled my whole life with my weight. I don’t know what its like to be a normal healthy weight. I do not know what its like to feel full of energy. I don’t know what it’s like to buy clothes off the rack and have them fit well. A story I am sure you have heard a million times over.

 

Those and many other things are why I have started on this journey. Today marked the first day of a new beginning for me. I had my first appointment today with Dr. Jamal and his team, Debi, Amy, and Lynn. All wonderful people and very helpful to make sure I understood what was being given to me and answered all my questions.

 

I now realize that this could and possibly will be a long process. I am however completely committed to seeing this through right down to the very last pound and inch.  I now know that my insurance company requires that I have six months of documented weight loss supervised by a physician and I need to have a psych evaluation.  This gives me a new time line to get all of my ducks in a row and get things organized so that when I do submit my letter to my insurance company it won’t come back denied. I am shooting for a surgery date somewhere between February and April of 2010.

 

I also made sure that because I am moving to IL in July that I could come back to Dr. Jamal to have the surgery done. I asked Debi and Lynn the same thing and was told all three times that I could. As it is less than a 4 hour drive I would have no problem coming back for the follow up appointments.

 

Because this is all new to me, although I have done research over the last year… the actual process is all new to me. I am looking for ideas, tips, and tricks to get everything organized as I know insurance companies are set against paying for this surgery.

Hi Jenn,
Welcome to the board!! Dr jamal's gal maybe already provided these tidbits to you but here is what I did, I am not sure whom your insurance company is and I am presuming it will remain the same policy once you move to Illinois I would go to their website and find their medical policy and print it off.  At the same time even though you find the information on the website make sure you call them and specifically ask them if your employer has any exclusions. In my initial journey  I got some misinformation so it took me longer to get started because I did not switch insurance choices.  On your 6 month supervised diet, I would make sure you make up or get some type of form to have your dr fill out; my dr office had one that had your vitals, wght, bmi, type of exercise you worked on that month etc so it was not just your weigh in notes, it shows you are communicating with your dr. and he is truly monitoring you.  I have also heard of people that missed a month and even though their policy didn't say consecutive they had to start all over just because they missed an appt.  I have BCBS of Texas and I got mine approved the first time around, I was given a case manager so I think that helped since I was able to build somewhat of a repore so I wasn't just another claim. It took me longer than I anticipated but by the time I had some testing/visits done I had a stronger medical  record of dieting the past year and found I had a co-morbidity I didn't know I had that helps in your case.  The time will go by much faster than you imagine and during that time read all you can so that when the time comes you will be ready.  I haven't had surgery yet, have my pre-op testing Tuesday, once those results are completed they will give me a date.  Good luck on your journey!!!

Cheryl,
Those are really good points and I had not thought of the form for my Dr to fill out. My insurance will change as I will be on my fiances insurance policy which is BCBS of IL. Once that is all set I will start the process with them and call and ask questions to make sure his employer doesn't have any restrictions. For right now though because of the 6months supervised I am doing Atkins to get my carbs down and my protien up. This way it wont be such a shock to my body when things change and I will be well on my way to becoming healthy! 

I've already given you my 2 pesos, hehe! I'll give you a call this afternoon to try and answer your million and 1 questions! I'm glad you've made the choice to move ahead in this direction!

I know you have given me your two pesos... actually I think it might be more than two pesos now. Hehe. I am greatful for all the advice and tid bits you have given me. At least now I have a realistic view of what to expect before and after.