Any state employees approved????

Go to a cardio-pulmonologist and have them order the test.  When mine came back negative, he ordered it again and it was positive.  Like you, I woke frequently and that was an indicator for him to have it done again.  Why don't  you check with Blackstone and see if they will hold off on the submittal until you get the test done and read by a specialist.  There is much more that goes into this than most pcps handle. Connie

My friend Maxine also had a negative result on she was denied. She went back for a second test and was tested positive. I would definitely go for another test. Good luck, Mary

 

Hi- This is the infamous State of AZ employee, Maxine, who fought, whined, wined, appealed, and stayed upset for almost three years, until I was approved. I just got on OH and saw your post(s). My surgery was on 8/14, and although I have to be honest - this is not a fun month - it was worth every tear shed, every appeal filed, and every medical test taken.  I had high blood pressure (in fact, the docs had just added a second med to the mix a couple of months ago), joint pain, BMI of 43+, GERD (although I have to admit, there was little documentation of it - just got included by the doctor's office, with no extensive testing or diagnosis and meds.  My cardiac stuff always came back pretty good. The biggie was the apnea. I had been tested way back when, and was told I was "borderline." I wish I had paid more attention. This time around, Dr. Blackstone referred me to the sleep center, and sent me to Dr. Susan Madison, in Scottsdale, and she was a dream come true. Not only did I test positive, but she believes strongly in the great danger of apnea, explaoined everything, and went out of her way to write additional letters to the insurance company.  Go for the apnea. You have the symptoms - and it is nothing to fool around with.  Do everything Connie (above) recommends. She is, indeed, a wise lady.  I wish you luck - please feel free to contack me anytime. Maxine

Thank you everybody for the advice and kind words, I think I am definitely going to pursue a second sleep study just to be sure nothing is wrong and if it is to get the necessary treatment. I think I will take that portion up with Blackstone's office and not my PCP b/c I don't think my PCP will order another sleep study and being in a small town I don't know if there are any good specialists for this kind of thing. Rebecca

I had nearly all the symtoms too!  My sleep apnea husband swore I even had it.  I went the first time and it came back negative.  Dr. Blackstone's office ordered another one right at Scottsdale healthcare and that just came back negative.  I don't have the big 3 and I will probably find out tomorrow if I got approved but there is just no way I did.  Because i dont know for sure I still have to spend 5 hours tomorrow doing the pre op class.  They have just totally screwed up my entire file and gave me a surgery date without having my initial appt and told me the entire time I didnt need to do testing or anything I was fine and would be approved.  Now I feel like im going to get denied, they told me Im going to get denied and at partial fault of Dr. Blackstones office I feel but I dont know.  The whole thing is a mess. Has anyone gotten approved without having sleep apnea? JoAnn told me that virtually everyone with apnea gets approved so if your second comes back positive you are probably going to be good.  Otherwise you and I are in the EXACT same boat. LMT

Maxine!!!!!  I'm so happy to see you posting.  You're a legend, you know.  Hope all is going well.  The best thing I learned from Dr. Blackstone was, "It's temporary."   I remember being at my pre-surgery consult and she told me to remember that whatever discomfort or pain I was going to experience was temporary.  She said that whenever I felt sore, uncomfortable, like killing someone....  to think to myself, "It's temporary."  I did and it got me through the gas bubble in my shoulder, foaming, my first episode of dumping and many other non-wls related life events since then.   Big Hugs!!!! Conne

Thank you, Connie!!!! That is very good advice. I must admit that I feel generally pretty good, but I do have my moments.  My husband found it necessary to ask Dr B (with tongue in cheek, I believe), how long my "moodiness" would last. She told him to suck it up and get over it. YAY Dr. B!   The hardest things for this month, I think - so far, anyway - are some back pain, fatigue, constipation, and the general feeling that although it's all about me, my family seems to think they can treat me like a normal person. HaHa.  It's termporary. It's temporary. My new mantra.  And actually, I remember a good friend who was an operating room nurse telling me once that her favorite thing was being able to tell surgery patients, "You will feel better every day!"  So true. See you soon, I hope. Max

I am a state employee even though my surgery was in 2004 I was denied the first time by Cigna. At the time we were changing to United so to stop any problems I hired Gary Viscio and with one letter from him I was approved. I had none to the big 3 you speak of. Sometimes it’s worth putting out some cash to get past the insurance company.