Distraught...

I spent 4 months of hard fighting with my insurance company and finally was approved. I worked very hard to get all of my clearances in to the surgery center and my surgeon. I was told last night that I probably would have surgery on 12/15/05, but had to wait for surgical clearance. Today I was told that after the surgeon reviewed my chart again he has decided to drop me as a patient as the surgery center may not be able to deal with 2 specific risks. 1. Previous surgical difficulty intubating. 2. Latex allergy. (Have experienced swelling and itching of mucous membranes from dental procedures w/gloves and dams as well as latex condoms) My insurance approval is only valid until 12/31/05. I've had a good cry and now I'm ready to continue the fight. I'm in Columbus, OH and I now have to find a new surgeon. I have to go to a hospital that has an allergist on staff, emergency staff and the ability to accomodate me if I were to experience any problems during or after surgery. My PCP and the other surgeon recommend OSU. Dr. Needleman. Can anyone give me perspective on this situation I'm in? Thank you in advance!! Jacquelyn p.s. I posted this on the main message board as well.

Jacquelyn, We might (stress might) be able to help you. As far as your 2 specific risks, we have dealt with both of those situations a lot. The only problem is that I'm not sure I have the time to squeeze in any more December cases, but I will try to help you the best I can (that is if you're interested). If you are you need to do 2 things: 1) call and talk to Tracy our insurance coordinator and see if she thinks it's do-able 2) go to our web site (new you real you dot com) and register on our patient portal. Whatever you decide, I hope it works out for the best for you! Good luck, Dr. C

Jacquelyn.... Call Dr. C's office, they are fantastic.. you will not regret it! Keep your chin up and fight the good fight... Best wishes and please let us know what happens. Look forward to chatting with you on newyourealyou.com =)

I went though the OSU program and they are just great. I met Dr. Needleman and he is a terrific Dr. My surgeon was Dr Mikami. He is just the best. With it being OSU they can handle most of anything that may come your way. Give them a call and talk to Shannon Surber. She is the Director of the Bariatrics Program. Everyone there is great. I am so happy I went through OSU. If you have any other questions.. please feel free to email me. Good Luck and God Bless.... Hugs Julie

Hello. I am sorry to hear about your situation. I had surgery with Dr. Needleman in July and he has been fabulous as a surgeon. I also noticed that Dr. Curry said he might be able to help. To be very honest, if I had it to do over again I think I would go to Dr. C! OSU is great but I didn't feel their follow-up care has been up to par. Both doctors are great at what they do and I think to get it pushed through insurance either would be a good choice. Good luck and keep us all posted. Shellie

As you know some of us are so partial to Doctor C. Please call Tracy and see if he can get you in. There seems to always be a reason for everything . If I had to drive 1000 miles I would go that far for such a great team they have. The hospital room is so clean and all yours. Dr. C will pop in on you a few times and so will the girls. Please call him. Cindy

As you know some of us are so partial to Doctor C. Please call Tracy and see if he can get you in. There seems to always be a reason for everything . If I had to drive 1000 miles I would go that far for such a great team they have. The hospital room is so clean and all yours. Dr. C will pop in on you a few times and so will the girls. Please call him. Cindy

Dr. C, Thank you so much for your post! My insurance will put me as out of network if I go to Cincinnati. I've heard great things about you and I'm certain I would be in good hands with you!!! My PCP has turned all of my paperwork and labs in to Dr. Needlemans office at OSU. I saw that Dr. Needleman was rated as #2 in Columbus, OH for bariatric treatment. If OSU can accept my completed package and schedule me before my insurance approval expires it looks like I will be in network. You are the only physician I've seen post on here and I think that is awesome! God Bless you! Jacquelyn

Jacquelyn, I had surgery with Dr Needleman 10/10/05. He's an amazing surgeon!! He is the director of the Bariatric Surgery at OSU. He does 350 surgeries a year. His work is fantastic. If that is who ends up doing your surgery you won't be disappointed. If you have any questions ask Denise

Thank you to all that has responded. This is the latest: Thank you all for your well wishes and prayers. I spent last night organizing all of my paperwork and writing some more personal thoughts for the new paperwork. This morning I went to my PCP's office and had some additional labs drawn and they faxed my "packet" to OSU. I called OSU and they told me the FAX was coming through as we were speaking. I told her that Aetna requested a phone call to change my approval letter and info over to OSU ASAP. Then I thanked her kindly and she said "We'll see IF we can help you, our doctors are pretty well booked up, but you never know." So I guess they are reviewing my info and God can just take care of all the details because He is in control!!!