I Got Approval For A Consult
Hi everyone,
I got an approval from my Ins.Co. that I can now schedule an appt. with my surgeon for a consult. But first, I have to attend a mandatory information session. By some luck of the draw, I was able to get in for this Wed. July 16, then I make my consult appt. with Dr. Schweitzer. I am so happy and very thankful. The only sad thing is, that I live in Hagerstown, Maryland and have to travel to Baltimore, but I will do what I have to do. :):) Wish me luck !!
Ellen
Thank you Aaron. I am kinda excited. Is this what happened to you in the first stages of getting this done? If gas was not so high, I guess I would not mind too much. How are you doing ? I wish I had this all behind me, but I don't, so I will go forward and pray it goes fast, then I can really ask questions. It is so nice to know that you are out there for me and can relate to whatever questions or problems I may encounter. How much have you lost up to todays date 7/12/08 ? Please stay in touch and thanks again for responding and I hope I will continue to hear from you.
All the best,
Ellen
Hi Ellen!
yeah i had my orientation that i went to in january of 2007. I had my first private consult with the surgeon in July of 2007. I knew i had a long way to go. i had already started my dietician visits by the first consult and I was hoping for a september 2007 surgery but my dietician visits had holes in it so i had to go to the dietician until February of 2008. MAKE SURE YOU SEE YOUR DIETICIAN EACH AND EVERY MONTH so this does not happen to you if your insurance requires it. by may of 2008 i had my surgery. i ran the gambit of emotions.....from excitement to "oh my god just get it over with or give me the knife and I'll do it myself!" LOL so far.....for the past week or so, i've hit a walk but i'm moving again. I'm down 121 pounds since my first orientation in january 2007. i'm feeling great and look at my workout post for today :) I'm constantly working on myself and working on self-affirmation on a daily basis.
Hi again,
When you say dietician, how long do you have to see this person? Is this a requirement from the surgeon or your insurance co. ? No one has mentioned the dietician yet, but I am doing the medical supruvised diet with my family Dr. Did you go to a local one here in Hagerstown ? My ins co was to send me a packet of their requirements before surgery, and I was to have it by this weekend, but I just went to the Post Office and of course it is not there yet. I hope I can see a dietician ( sp?) here in Hagerstown. DId you have to go to Baltimore for that too? I hope I can do this here.
Let me know.
Ellen
hi Ellen!
Seeing the dietician was a requirement of my insurance company. I have Aetna and that was a requirement for them as well as my surgeon wanted me to get down toa certain weight before he would operate on me. I was 500 pounds and that's dangerous for this surgery. In order for it to be laparoscopic I just had to lose a lot of weight beforehand. otherwise it would have to be an open procedure and I really didn't want that to happen. keep calling your insurance company for the information......be a pest! You pay a premium to have it so you need to get what you want. You can see any dietician as long as they keep good records to send to your surgeon. i went to my dietician in Frederick because i work in frederick. now one of the things was that for my initial consult, I also had to see the nutritionist that works with the surgeon and i gave her all the things that my dietician gave me so she could understand the kind of diet I was on and she liked it a lot. so keep that in mind in regards to your consult. start writing down everything you eat from this point onward so the nutritionist has an idea of your eating habits and she may recommend a course of action for you.
Aaron
Oma,
Congrats on your approval. I'm curious as to *****quires the information session. I e-mail my request for consult to Dr. S's office on 23 June. Hadn't heard anything back; so I called on Friday. They told me they would call back, but haven't. I'll call again Monday afternoon, if they still haven't called.
Penny
Hi,
Thanks for answering. DId you have to go to a mandatory information session?I hate it when you call an office and they never call you back. KEEP CALLING, no matter what. Aaron, another nice person on this web site, said to keep on them, and be a pest if you have to. What Dr. do you have ?
When I call my Dr'.s office ( if you have the same one ) I ask for Lillian or Valerie. They have been so much help to me. Let me know what you hear on Monday. If I don't hear back from a Dr's office, I won't wait much longer than 2:00 pm as some office put their phones on Voice Mail, especially if it is a Friday. I used to work in a Dr's office and that's what those gilrs did, cause they wanted to leave on time on Fridays. Also, I was told that Dr. Schweitzer and his group require the mandatory information session. Then after that, they will call you to set up an appt. Trust me, If I do not hear anything in over a week, I will start calling and I write down everything and times and names if I get through. CYA. I think you know what that means. Cover your _ _ _ !!!!!!!
Let me know how things go tomorrow, and remember, BE A PEST and don't feel guilty about it.
All the best,
Ellen
Dr. S is going to be my surgeon as well. When my consultation appointment was scheduled I had not attended the information session. I don't recall it being mandatory but I did attend a one prior to the appointment. However, it's probably very helpful to you and them if you do. After 3 years of research, the information session, and reading all of Dr. S's website, I had very few other questions during the consult. I suspect they do it to keep the time of the consultation to a minimum.
Heather
