Looking for surgery support friends....

Hi I am Jim I live in Dayton and I am working to have surgery hopefully in sept. I am looking for people interested in talking and also looking for support. I am 36, married, and have 5 children. If interested e-mail [email protected]. I do have a few questions. what is the psych eval about? How long does one have to wait to hear from insurence about aproval? I don't think my profile is posted I can only see it if I look up my profile from my confirmation can anyone else see/read it?

James, I am also pre-op so not 100% sure what questions are on the psych eval...I think they are checking to see if you have any disorders (bipolar and what not) and if you think this surgery will do "unrealistic" things (some people think it will make you rich, etc)..giggle. Also, my insurance (humana choicecare primary access) has been very quick about approving wls. Sometimes it has approved on the same day or week!! But the problem with my dr is, he is SOO booked up, and is unable to send the ppwk to the insurance co for months after the initial consult, because on some insur plans, the apprvl is only good for 90 days. Right now my surgeon is booking into Dec & January!!! So I guess it depends on the insurance co. A great place to ask questions to and get fairly quick answers is imnotfatanymore.com-(the site belongs to the Midwest Losers support group which is primarily based in Cincinnati. The site and support group are free-just go there and click on weight loss discussions and post your question. Good Luck to you! Andrea F West Chester Ohio

Hi Jim, My name is Pam. I am 53 years old and I live in Newark, OH. I have two grown sons and 6 grandchildren. I have already taken the plych eval and it is nothing to worry about. A lot of questions that you have to rate 1-5 in accordance to their importance to you. Some are sooooo way out there that I was laughing out loud! Like the one that asked if I thought someone was trying to poison me! Well....I guess they have to ask. The psychlogist said I wasn't nuts but I am depressed...no duh! I have Anthem Blue Preferred and they approved after only 8 days! I had letters from my family doctor, my orthopedic surgeon, my respitory specialist and the surgeon for the bi-pass. I urge you to contact any medical professionls that would have an input into your weight problem and medical conditions caused by you obesity and ask them to write a letter. It was an immense help. Also....I don't know what the policy of you psychlogist is, but mine wouldn't send the finding to my surgeon till the insurance had paid and since they are notorisly slow....I went ahead and paid it in full to speed up the process. My surgery is scheduled for Aug. 25 and I am excited but kinda scared too....take care and keep in touch.

They are not looking to see if you are Bi-Polar! Geez.. Be careful about what you post.. BP is not as horrid or unmanageable as it sounds. Anyway, a pysch evaluation provides the insurance company with a lot of history about you. It is a summary. Included in that summary is your family history, your history, your present and how prepared you are for future change and how you will handle this life change. They DO list any depression or mental illness that you may have been treated for in the past and/or present. HOWEVER, as long as any kind of illness or depression will not interrupt your ability to follow your program before, during and after surgery, you should be ok. They want to know what or who is your support system. Bottom line, they want to be CLEAR you know what you are about to do and that you mentally prepared to follow clear cut guidlines for a healthy life. They don't want anyone to have surgery if they obviously destined to fail before they begin.