Disappointed

Okay all my beatiful Missourian's I could really use your help and encourgement!!! Here is my deal I went to my first consult in Sept. Went back to see him again on Oct 10th. At that time he stated he wants me 1)to get down to 425lbs. 2) See a weight mangement Dr. 3) Do my physic elvuation. He was going to file my insurance papers for approval and set up my appointment with the weight mangement Dr. Okay no problem right?? WRONG!! I got my physic evluation the next day. The Dr wanted me to pay him the $300.00 and not get a receipt. Stated that they sent out the receipts at the first of the month and thats when he would send it to me. Well that wanst going to happen. I made him sign the paperwork he gave me that he received the cash money. By the way it has been long past the first and I still havent recieved the receipt that he stated he would mail me. I still havent heard anything from the weight mangement Dr. I have called and get no information at all. Just for me to keep losing weight. But this is the reason I am suppose to be going to this Dr. So if I am doing it on my own why do I need to see this other Dr?? Just another way to get more $$ out my insurance or what?? By the way when I went to see the Dr. for my first consult on 9-26-05 I was 483lbs. I am now 445lbs with the help of diet and my own PCP that gave me something to help me lose weight. Since I cant get any word back from the weight mangement Dr or the surgeon. Plus (yes it gets better) He still hasnt file for my insurance approval. This is been going on for way past 8 months now and it doesnt look like it is going to get any better!!! What do I do??? There is another Dr here in MO that accept my insurance that I have seen. All I wold have to do is my suppose meeting (which is required) plus my day of seminar that would cost me 300.00. But I could use the physic that I already got. I just dont know what to do. I dont want to give up. I am pi**ed off that I keep getting the run around. Please help!!!!! Melissa Russell MeMe214 Joplin, MO

I think if it was me I would find a new DR. best of luck to you.. Shelly

Melissa, I am sorry to hear of the problems your having. If it was me I would probably talk to the other Dr. and cut my losses. But I would make sure that it would be a better situation (dont want to trade one set of problems for another). I will be praying for you that this will be resolved. Wayne

Melissa, I am sooooooooooooo sorry this is happening, however there may be a good reason. Maybe just maybe, God wants you to re-evaluate the situation, give you more time to plan for your future, etc. I know it sucks and I feel your pain, however look at the good side, You have lost an incredible amount of weight~! And I am assuming still losing. As for the receipt, be carefull posting on here, all I am saying is that Dr's has good lawyers, they read these boards (a few do) and the post office loses things.... So, call the Dr's office and ask for the recipt to be mailed to you asap certified. Then if within say 1 week no receipt, call again, ask again and mention the Better Business Bureau. This is an extremely big issue for you, however may be nothing to the Dr. There are ways to comabt this sort of thing and hopefully help others in the process. As for your other Dr's, call and call and call, I bugged the living Sh*& out of mine, then the letter was mailed. Another solution if possible, find another Dr. I am confused on the 300.00 for the seminar, I guess because I paid nothing out of pocket, other than.. make sure I clarify the Phych evals cost me an A load of money... Because of the test you have to take and the fact that I need to go back before he approved me.. Long story, something about enjoying eating furry creatures, sorry to those that are Veggie type, but if has fur and is easlily killed its worth eatin, LOL...Kidding, I uesd to be that way pre-WLS, now I just say no to red meats, although the other white meat is looking pretty good again, LOLLOL Now with all of that aside, again CONGRATS on the weight loss so far, dam your doing great. I say keep it up and keep your head high because you have earned it~!!! And I know it is tuff but dont let this get you to down. I know that is soooooooooo easy for me to say since I have had the surgery and am losing and blah blah blah, but try to look at what you have done on your own~! And think that your time will come~! Again, wow on the weight loss~! Thats great and I say.. well I wont say what I think of how the Drs are treating you.... Just know I dont it's nice and lets leave it at thats my opinion.... Best of luck you get there! Gevin RNY 06-01-05 314.5/189/146

I would first call that Dr. that took your money and tell him you want that reciept. Sounds like he's trying to cheat the IRS. Next I think I would be finding me a surgeron that will take care of you. I understand you are disappointed. There is a list right here on OH, they can tell you where and who and how many they have done. I am going to a doc in Omaha,.. an awesome doctor that came from Cali back to his home town. I know there are a lot of good doctors out there just be sure to check and see how many surgeries they have done and how many people he has lost. It's important that you know this, this is a major surgery, your life is in someone elses hands. I do wish you all the luck in the world with your new journey,... and just remember they are suppose to be working for you. You don't have to give your money to people that don't want to help you. Now go find you a surgeron that will take care of you and not his pocket book. God Bless Marylin

Just wanted to give you some support. This is the hardest part I think. Just GETTING to the surgery! It is emotionally exhausting. I hope things work out for you and SOON! Take care and hang in there! Kristen

What a total crock! The longer I spend looking into this, the more I'm convinced that we need to form a good old fashioned fat posse! There are some insurance execs and now it sounds like maybe some doctors that are getting away with way too much! Ours is as far as I can see, the last sanctioned form of tolerable discrimination. I have to believe that there is hope on the horizon. I think that for me, the personal battle that I'm experiencing to get the surgery is just too much to fight the battle on a larger scale, but I really hope that if and when I succeed, I still have the energy and the anger inside to start a large scale campaign against the ridiculous hoops that they expect and the harassment from insurance companies, health care professionals and the public. who is the doctor that you're seeing right now? What insurance do you have? Have you formulated a relationship with your current doctor where you've invested a lot and it would be hard for you to change docs? Do you trust him/her outside of this long drawn out process that they are making you go through? Have you spoken to any of his/her other clients? Did they have similar experiences? Hang in there girl! (I'm still trying to figure out how to pay for my surgery. My insurance has a flat written exclusion to all bariatric surgery, so I can't even appeal. It's an across the board denial to everyone on all bariatric procedures) Victoria kelsay