Appointment & Informtion meeting all in one day!

I am sooo excited.  I have a date to see Dr. Sudan in Omaha, and will see him before the informational meeting because of finances.  They had no problem setting it up like this due to cost of gas and such.  Wooo HOooooo!  September 5th, Here I come.  Ok,  now question:  I have both medicaid and medicare (disability and for some reason they do both for me????).  Does anyone know if there is a standard requirement for them to approve?  I have in my records from my PCP various diets I have used and the amount of weight lost with each of them.  The doctor has done follow-ups with me due to other things, meds mostly, but has always checked with me and encouraged me to lose weight.  I would lose for a bit and then would end up gaining it all back again.  I am 320 pounds and 5' 3 3/4".  I have seen that Medicaid has sometimes required a 6 month doc supervised diet, and see here that they are just requiring a 3 month nutritionist consult for someone else.  Do they have a basic thing they require everyone to do, or do they go according to doctors records on what is going to happen?  I'm so excited.  :)  Wow a full couple of months here,  I leave next week for Canada to see my sis, On August 16th my grandson is due to be born and Sept. 5th will be the beginning of a new ME!  Wow!  Laurie

Hi Laurie, congratulations on getting things going. Your best bet would be to call medicaid and ask what their criteria. With medicare they require you to follow a diet with a dietician for six months and try prescription weight loss drugs. Good luck.  Mona

Laurie, Congratulations! I was scheduled for the same day, but had to postpone when I realized that I was supposed to be on vacation with the family that week   I'm now seeing Dr. Sudan in October. Mona, What prescription weight loss drugs are doctors suggesting now? I haven't heard about anything except the Xenical/Alli type. Is that it? Rayjean

Hi, there is redux, meridia and several others. If you can't tolerate these your pcp can write a letter stating drugs are not appropriate for you. Mona

My PCP put me on a diet at my last visit, I explained to him that my insurance might require me to do a six month, he said that he will work it out.  Right now he said for me to just make sure that I eat 5-6 servings of fresh fruits and veggies until I see him next.  He said that it is an easy diet and that any one can to it and it will show that I am serious.  :)  He also said he will write any letters and whatever else I need.  HE is behind me 300%.  At my last visit I was also diagnosed with high blood pressure, he put me on medication and said that it was another proof that I need the surgery to help me get my weight under control.  He is totally awesome!  I'm so excited about getting my p's and q's in line.  I hope that everything will work out and I can have the surgery yet this fall.  My PCP has already done a bunch of the tests even, he wants me to have this ASAP as well.  Wow!  Another with Dr. Sudan, I was wondering if there was anyone else.  Do you have to go through medicaid / medicare too?  Do you live in the tri-cities area?????  LOL  Lots of questions.  They seemed friendly at Dr. Sudan's office when I called to do the appointment thing.  I just told them that I lived 3 hours away and really needed if possible to have my appointment with the doc the same day as the informational.  Really great to work with so far!  Laurie

Laurie, I live in Omaha. I'm thrilled to get to see Dr. Sudan. I really wanted a surgeon who does the DS, and I've been waiting for Medicare to cover it, and for Creighton to finally get their COE. Let me know how it goes with your appointment. Hopefully, I'll be just a month behind you on this journey. RJ