APPROVED & Given a date for Surgery. Bitter Sweet.

So, I've been jumping through all the hoops for insurance purposes ~ psyche eval, 6 months dietary classes... They wanted me to lose 20Lbs or maintain my current weight. WHICH I SMASHED!! Official final weigh-in on June 28th was 26Lbs down from the start in March. This morning I checked, just for giggles, & am down another 6Lbs for a total of 32Lbs!!

I was getting antsy since I hadn't heard anything since the last class on the 16th, so I emailed the office manager at the clinic that will be doing my Sleeve Gastrectomy surgery. a day or so later, I get a call back that she has great news & I need to call her back as soon as possible... Called her back & she informs me that I have been approved by insurance & (they had to give insurance a date) the date was set for this August, the 29th!! !!

Then she starts confirming everything & mentions a string of letters & then I caught "duodenal switch" as the surgery I've been approved for... Yeeeeeaaaaaah, how about "no"??!?! Not what was discussed at initial meeting with the bariatric Dr.. We had talked about a few options, but determined the Sleeve Gastrectomy should be sufficient to do what I need, is less invasive & less risk than the RNY / Bypass. But, if needed, I could go back later & have the RNY / Bypass done because the SLeeve Gasterctomy was the first part of getting the RNY / Bypass surgery anyways.

She said she had it down on notes that we discuss several things but the switch was what was on her notes as to what was happening. (Yeah, nope! try again!!) So~ she has to cancel the case & resubmit everything to insurance for the Sleeve Gastrectomy & will get back to me...

Later the next day, the Dr. called me to confirm what was going on... I reminded him that we had both determined the Sleeve Gastrectomy was going to be the surgery & then he goes on to tell me (Despite everything he said at the initial meeting) that he didn't think the Sleeve Gastrectomy would do enough for me & that because of my BMI (or something like that) that the RNY / Bypass would be the way to go... although he did acknowledge that I did well on my weight loss during the classes... I told him I was going to stick to the original plan & just do the Sleeve Gastrectomy first & see how things go from there. He was ok with that & said the office manager should be getting back to me Monday or Tuesday after hearing from insurance, but it just seemed like he REALLY wanted to do the RNY / Bypass because it was already approved. (and in my assumption = more $$ for them)

Am I wrong that my confidence may be a little shaken by this turn of events? Does anyone know if the Sleeve Gastrectomy has the same insurance requirements as the Duodenal Switch or the RNY / Bypass surgery? Or have I just been bilked out of some major out-of-pocket cash because they submitted for the wrong procedure?

UGH!!! this is my life folks! Can't. have. nice. things! One step forward & two steps back!

(give me a minute while I write a Country song about it) OY!

You're not wrong at all. Don't EVER submit to a surgery you don't want for any reason ever. You know your body better than anyone else, even the surgeon. You know what you want. These surgeries are such a gift. But they can't (in many cases) be undone. Even if you have an original surgery taken down, you'll never get your guts back to their original, preop state.

Put your foot down and change surgeons if you have to. I promise the money is the least of your worries until you get things straightened out in a manner acceptable to you.

From what I understand, the sleeve is the first step to the duodenal switch. And the reason it's become a stand-alone procedure is because it proved so successful for so many.

The sleeve actually removes at least 75% of the stomach, which the bypass does not do. It simply bypasses most of the stomach. The sleeve can be revised to a bypass...it will just bypass a smaller stomach.

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but this is how I understand those 3 procedures.

Regardless, I would lose confidence in my surgeon if he tried to pull a bait and switch like that. Stick to your guns. And first the office manager said DS, then the surgeon said bypass? Hmmmmm.

(edited to correct typo)

Apparently whatever notes she had were "confusing" and my guess ~ if he is like any other doctor ~ his handwriting sucks. The DS was briefly discussed. & the RNY / Bypass (your understanding is my understanding as well...) was also discussed at the initial meet. And because the Sleeve Gastrectomy was the first part & less invasive / less risk and he told me I could lose up to 150-250Lbs from the SG ~ I (very clearly) indicated I wanted to go that route.

They aren't fighting me on "switching" to the SG, it just came across in the later phone call by the doctor (to clear things up on his end) that he wanted to do the RNY / Bypass just because it had already been approved. But yeah. Sticking to my guns, just got me wondering if I need to use a sharpie & write "Do Not Remove" on all my limbs & "Here for the Sleeve Gastrectomy" on my torso prior to going into surgery.


*edited for clarity.

Question: what is an "LSG"? I know VSG=vertical sleeve gastrectomy. But I don't recognize the "L"?

edited because "an" not "and"

My guess would be laparoscopic?

Ah! Yep! Thanks Gwen.

I'm thinking the op is mixing terms. Laparoscopic is just the way they do the surgery. Laparoscopic versus open surgery.

Same animal. My brochures & the doctor referred to the VSG as just the "Sleeve Gastrectomy" or the "Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy."

Actually the DS does remove part of the stomach. You're thinking about the rny.