Good Morning!

Hi, Everyone! Hope that everyone is going to have a great day today. I am off today after a 6 day staight run....Yahoo! Time to relax and catch up on reading emails and such. Not to mention reading a good book. Now that is what I call relaxation. Yes, I will have to donate some of my time to cleaning and cooking a meal or two. But with the kids vacationing at Grandma's house, there is not much in that dept to do. Where do I stand with the wls schedule? Well, Thursday I will be picking up letters from my PCP and GYN to bring to my surgeons office. Then they will be mailing them to the insurance company for approval. My surgeon feels as if we should go ahead and send them in to see what the insurance company will do. They (the insurance co) don't want to come clean with what BMI has to be to be approved. Said that it is determined on a case by case basis. Now at first I was told that BMI had to be either over 40 with no co-morbidities or over 35 with co-morbidities. I am in the 38 range with co-morbidities. So, now what? Hmmm, well I guess we shall see in a few weeks. Hate to get everything together, send it in and then get a denial. Will of course appeal if that happens...guess I will have to just hang in there and wait and see. Everyone have a great day and Take care! T--resa

Hope everything goes well with the insurance, and you get a fast approval. Tina

Thanks, Tina! Right now I am just about ready to find out something, to be able to move on from here. Take care, T--resa

Hi T--resa, I think I came across your story recently on an MSN website too. I'm in a situation similar to yours and I too am just beginning this journey. I have an appointment Thrusday with the surgeon here...so we will see what we will see then. Good luck and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you!!! Have a great week!!! K.R.

K.R. Kinda confused about the MSN website thing. I don't have one on MSN, only here on OH. But I am sure that there are others out there going through the same experiences as I am having. Send me an email sometime and let me know how you are doing. Hope that everything goes well for you on Thursday with your surgeon. Take care! T--resa

Okay, okay......I am a little nuts It was buggin me about the msn website thing so I kept thinking about it and finally remembered that I had posted a month ago on a MSN message board. It was the gastricbypass board if I am finally remembering correctly. Since then I have just posted to this board. I like this site much better. Easier to navigate. Like the profile sections and all the info offered here on wls. Hope you enjoy it here! T--resa

K.R.: Who is the new surgeon? Is Dr. Shapiro still there or did they just finally get another surgeon in? Will you be at the support group meeting tomorrow night? Cathy G.

Just reread your post and saw that you said surgeon, not new surgeon. Whew, what a relief. Cathy G.

HI, My appointment is with Dr. Shapiro.....so I "hope" he is still here!!! Of course, with the military, ya just never know! I heard that there is a support group meeting and I fully plan on jumping into it........"IF" Dr. Shapiro agrees to treat me. I have spent the past two weeks since receiving an appointment with him trying to put together a history of the past 19 years of diet and exercise.....as well as every doctor's appointment and nutrition appointment that I've had in reference to wieght. So, keeping my fingers crossed and saying some prayers. The only thing that I don't like about our system here is that it seems to be set up like a lottery. Every thing I've heard has been..."you'll get to see him, if your lucky and your home when they call.........if you're not, they'll try you next month!" Then "IF" he takes me, I understand that there will be a lot of running to different appointments and all......I fully comprehend that and its necessity....BUT, then I understand it's like the lotto again.......if he's doing this surgery one month and you happen to be on the pick list and you happen to be home and not on orders, then you will be seen. Of couse, I know that this is all what I am "hearing".........so, if you have a different experience, I'd love to add that into my knowledge base. I don't mind the wait....I just want to know if I will be in good hands. Thanks, Kendra

Kendra: The support group meeting is at 7 (I think, can't remember for sure) either in Classroom 1 or the dining hall (depends on if the classroom is in use) on the first floor of the hospital. I also wrote down as much as I could remember from over 20 years of dieting. I had to fill out some questions and such on my first appointment, so it helped to have it written down. A little hard to remember as my first appointment was in November 2003. I had to wait a little longer for surgery because my boss had neck surgery in November and was out for nearly 3 months. Actually, I never got the call. When my boss told me she was coming back to work, I made an appointment to see him and he asked me then if I was ready to schedule my surgery. I had my surgery in February and have lost 58 lbs. so far. It takes 2 surgeons to do the surgery, so, if he is the only one on hand, it doesn't get done. I don't know if there is another sugeon stationed here at the moment. Good luck with your appointment. Maybe I will see you at the meeting tomorrow night. I will be a little late because I have to work till 7. Cathy G.