Hi-What should I expect?

Hi, I have been lurking on this site for a month now. I have an appointment Monday the 16th to meet with the surgeon at St. Francis. What can I expect on the first visit, does anyone know? They told me to come at 8 and they should have me out of there by 3:30. That's a long visit. I'm guessing it can't all be with the surgeon.

Paper work. The time you get done will probably vary by the number attending. When I went (Sept of 05). After you signed in they took you back for weight, height and measurments also taking photos. After every one was done with this we all went back to a class room and I think one of the diaticians came in first and talked a little then the surgeon came in and gave a very detailed talk on the different types of surgerys avaiable, the pros and cons and then he answered any questions. After that was complete we had the option of leaving to think things over or meeting with the surgeon 1 on 1. If you choose to meet with the surgeon 1 on 1 they take you to private rooms and you wait for him to come by. He does a breif review of your history and talks to you to see what your expectations are and ,in my case, he gave me his opinion on which surgery would best meet my needs. I had all of my forms filled out ahead of time that they sent to me and included my notes from my PCP's charts. My diet and exercise records and a personal letter of recommendation from my PCP. The Surgeon took this info with him and his office filed with my insurance company for pre-certification. This may vary depending on the surgeon and things may have changed since I went thru it, but this should give you a brief idea. Do you know what surgeon will be there that day? Good luck!

Thanks so much for the info. That is exactely what I was wanting to know. I filled my paperwork out online. I have tried gathering together some of the other info you mentioned. I have not talked to my PCP yet. I wondered if I should have gotten copies of my medical records to take with me. I guess I will just be behind a little on paperwork. I guess I will find out what they need and go from there. I am hoping that they can help me to choose which procedure would be best for me. I have done alot of research and I time I think Lap would be best. Then I read something else and I think maybe RNY would be best. Man, what a choice to make. Again, thanks so very much for the info, it will help me to prepare.

It sounds like you may be seeing either Dr. Clark, who is my doc also, or Dr. Mandlebaum. As for the medical records. Nancy will have you fill out a sheet and she pulls all of those for you. She does the work with the insurance company. At the appointment, at one point in the day they will weigh and measure you and take your blood pressure.. But they take you into a private room (I for one, was greatful for that) they will schedule you for a dietician appointment and give you a number to call for a psych consult. If you have BCBS, they will recommend St. Francis Behavioral health, however, they are extremely behind on their dictation, so if you wanted to message me I can recommend a good shrink who doesn't charge too much. He approved me. If you have Anthem or BCBS then after about a week they will send you a paper in the mail listing a date for all of your pre-op tests at St. Francis. The meeting itself is very informative. They also have a support group that Wednesday at their facility on Emerson. If you do have Dr. Clark, you will have a one on one at the end of the day and he will be able to discuss any personal concerns you may have.

Thanks Brandy. I do have Anthem BCBS,Federal. Did you have to get info from your PCP? How long did it take you from the time you had this first visit till your surgery? I would love any recommendations on a good shrink. I am already planning to attend the support group on Wednesday. When they called me to tell me I had an appointment on Monday, they said something about they had already talked to BCBS and they cover lap band. I'm not sure what that meant, figure I'll find out later. I am excited and scared at the same time. I think that seems to be the way everyone on here feels or felt at one time. Again thanks for the info. I've heard that either doctor is really nice.

The day that you go in for your consult, they will have you sign a piece of paper listing your doctors and their contact info, and they will use that to request med records for you. I went in for my first consult March 19, I had my first support group meeting March 21 and my second earlier this week here in Franklin, I went to the hospital to do all pre-op tests on April 9th, I had my psych consult April 7th with Dr. Brooks from the Indiana Health Group. Their website is www.indianahealthgroup.net. You should be able to find Dr. Brooks listed on their staff notice. His office's # is 317-843-9922. I had to pay 87.50 for the appointment because my deductible is 250.00 and I haven't reached it yet. He also does Saturday morning appointments, which was very convenient for me because I didn't have to take yet more time away from work for doctors. As for surgery, I haven't had it yet. Nancy sent in my paperwork Wednesday and they are saying it will take 12-15 business days for them to make a decision if I'm approved or not. As for what she told you about your coverage. I assume that they called to see if there was an exclusion in your plan for bariatric surgery (many MANY plans have them) but they saw that surgery is covered if you meet the criteria listed in your policy. For anthem, that's usually 6 months of medically supervised weightloss & 5 years of documented obesity. Although if your BMI is well over 40, they usually just look at the last 2-3 years. Good luck to you in getting all of this completed. I know how you feel, once you've decided on this, you just wanna do it and not have to jump through all the hoops. Oh, and just a note here....you may want to call your insurance provider's customer service # to find out if they cover the fills that you will need to have done on your lapband. You have to get those periodically for the rest of your life and they can get costly if you don't have coverage for those follow-up visits. Again, good luck!

Brandy, Thanks again for all the good info. Good luck and prayers being sent your way for a quick approval. Please let us know when you get approved and your surgery date. Pauletta