What should I do first?

Not sure if anyone will really know the answer to this question but I thought I'd ask anyway. My husband's insurance is supposed to start July 1st and he should be bringing the paperwork home soon. What I'm wondering is if I can go ahead and call the surgeon's office to make an appointment yet. I know that's probably a little premature but I thought at the very least I could have them send me out some information or something. It's just driving me crazy knowing that the insurance coverage is coming and I'd feel so much better if there was something I could do in the mean time! By the way, I think I'm planning on going to dr. Stoner. Hopefully I won't need a referral from my regular doc because she is unfortunately very ignorant with the whole obesity issue. She actually gave me the drink more water and exercise speech last time I saw her! I really hoped she'd have a clue, but I could tell she would be no help so I didn't even mention surgery to her. Any advice?

Jami, I would definately make that first appointment! Some docs take forever to get in for the "initial" visit. By all means start gathering your paperwork for your case and find out if you will need a psych eval for your doctor...there are many things you can do to begin the whole process...in the meantime, research research...and remember to breathe... XXOO hang in there! Kristi

One thing that I did while i was waiting (i had to go to a seminar the dr. REQUIRED before i could even schedule an appt to TALK about the surgery. I had to wait 10 days until the seminar..so i made sure i gathered ALL of my Primary care physicians records and had them sent to my surgeon... they will try to drag their feet about getting them sent..but just stress to them that you would like to "expidite" (thats my word of choice this, and if there is any possible way of getting the records sooner?. When i said that... my wait went from 2 weeks to 2 days! You will need to tell them to send all the records that pertain to any comorbitities (problems caused by your weight) that you have and also your weight gain/loss record and dieting records. They will usually send these directly to your surgeon, but if you still have not made a choice on surgeons, you can get a copy of them to take to your surgeon yourself. Being prepared with the records saved me a couple weeks of wait time. Even if your primary dr. is DUHHHH about obesity (hmm... i would guess she weighs about 100 lbs soaking wet!!!!!???) she is required by law to release your records to you. Make sure she doesn't give you any slack! Good luck!! ~~~Dawn~~~