So frustrated!

I am so frustrated because I had my first appointment with Dr. Stickler on Sept.9 and my psych consult on Sept. 20. Since my psych consult I have called his office numerous times and received the run around..."you can always call your insurance company to check progress" then I call the insurance company and they tell me that the drs office hasn't sent anything. Finally I get to speak to a person in Dr. Stickler's office only to find out after e-mailing him personally twice that my chart has been misfiled for the past two weeks in with the regular patients and nothing has been done with it. Furthermore, my pcp faxed him a letter and I mailed two separate pieces of documentation and I have no idea if those things even made it to my chart and can't find a person to ask! All I want is for them to send my information to the insurance company...if I get denied and have to appeal, I'll deal with that, but I'm so frustrated that I am considering filing the claim myself (which my insurance company said I can do.) I can't get anyone to call me back and if I speak with anyone other than the insurance person in Dr. Stickler's office, they just say that I have to talk to the lady in the insurance office! I'd be happy to if she would answer the phone or return any of my calls. My impression at my first visit was that this could be a quick moving process, but it has been anything but. Any support would be appreciated. This is actually my first post to this message board & it is mostly because I am so frustrated with getting the runaround. Lisa

Lisa, Welcome to the world of pre-op insanity, where you can't get a straight answer and everyone you speak with "passes the buck" to another person then that person contradicts everything the last person said. I also had the misconception that this process would move along if I took care of getting all the tests done and made sure the results were sent in. Ha! I will be lucky to have the surgery by the end of this year. I think that the surgery has been so successful that the surgeons and their staff cannot keep up with the demand. The success part is great but the insanity is just that. What can we do? I use this website to vent, read meditation books and pray. The whole process is difficult because knowing that one surgery could help turn a life around is like a dream come true. You do your research, make a decision and.....................wait. It's what is. I wish you the best of luck on this journey to your surgery! It will happen for all of us eventually and that is good to know. Dianne Owen Pittsburgh