Just Beginning

I have my first consultation with Dr. Ross in Spartanburg on 18 September. I met with his co-ordinator last week and she seemed rather impressed that I had most of my medical records in regard to my weight loss attempts (I only have one more doc to track down). She also said that, so far, they haven't had any problems with getting approvals from Cigna HMO, which is my insurance provider. From my understanding, after the doc visit, things should start moving pretty quickly. I'm just scared to death that Cigna will deny my claim and throw me into appeal hell. My BMI is just under 54 and I'm now developing weight-related health problems, including arthritis and high cholesterol. What do I need to do in order to make this approval process as painless as possible?

Dear Tracy, I just received my surgery date of October 16th a week ago. Like you, I have had a million different health problems already documented. All I did was have each of the different doctors write a letter to my surgeon explaining the need for me to lose weight or I would be in serious trouble. Dr. Sabback received a response two days after submitting all the paper work. I hope it goes as fast for you.

Tracy-- I am 5 days post op. The best thing that I found was I called my insurance company and asked them what information they would need in order to approve my surgery. I personally had to have a psychological evaluation and I had to meet with the nutritionist before my insurance would approve. Neither one are bad. Psych eval is just to make sure that you know what you are facing and that it's a change for life. The nutritionist goes over what you will eat after surgery. I was paranoid that she would put me on a diet first, but that didn't happen. I do wish you the best of luck and be prepared it's a long journey. I started this process January of this year and I just had surgery September 11th. Believe me, it's worth the wait and I found that I was more excited when the time finally came. Best of luck and e mail me if you have any questions! -- Courtney Cross