Surgeon Consultation Tomorrow

Hello, I don't know if I've posted to the Arizona board before, but I thought I would tonight.  Tomorrow I go in for my consultation with the surgeon. I am very anxious and hope that it goes well. So far I've had to jump through the following hoops for BCBS of AZ:  1. Saw my OLD PCP to get my medical records from 2001 through 2003 and to get a letter of medical necessity 2. Saw my NEW PCP to get my medical records from 2003 through the present and to get a SECOND letter of medical necessity. 3. Saw a psychologist to take the MMPI and get a psychological evaluation. I'm waiting to hear back from him on whether he is recommending me for the surgery (fingers crossed, but not worried). Had to self-pay this because the insurance will only pay for the MMPI (their 50% IF I'm approved for the WLS).  4. Had blood drawn and tested  5. Went to the WLS seminar Now all I have to do is see the surgeon tomorrow, get the last bits of paperwork to the Bariatric Center, and then wait to see if I'm approved.  I hate waiting! :)  But in the meantime, I'm very excited about seeing Dr. Villares tomorrow. Feel bleah though... am coming down with a cold. Hope he won't hold it against me that I come to see him while sneezy and sniffly! Don't want to put it off though.  Any last minute suggestions for my visit with the surgeon tomorrow?  It's a Scary-Velous time!

Hi first of all congrats!  I don't have alot of advice, I was a self pay because I couldn't get my insurance to cover a lap band!  But I would ask  your surgeon how many has he done, whats his success rate,  whats does the after care prgram invovle.  I would go to the national board of bariatric surgeons online and the state one.   To get all the info you can on him, thats what I did for mine. It was acomfort to me to know there wer no marks against him. This is a big step.  Good luck in your jounery.

Oh my, I sure know the waiting game.  I started trying at the end of May, actually got the approval from BCBS of GA in mid June... I was supposed to have surgery in July, that got put off, then I was supposed to have surgery 2 weeks ago, went into the hospital 4 days before due to a UTI gone bad so surgery was put off again.  Was supposed to have surgery last week (Monday) and there was a misunderstanding with the insurance and the admit area of the hospital... I had to call the insurance company myself and get things worked out... fortunately got it done and rescheduled surgery for Aug 30 and am done.. Recovering now.  Some pain - just pulling mostly from the staples.. gross!  Otherwise, everything went great, eating and drinking fine... I cannot wait till I feel normal again - without the pull of the staples.  Then I can get a fill.  I have found myself being able to eat more, so the fill cannot come soon enough!  I made it and you can too.  Patience, it is definitely worth it!

I hate to burst your bubble but I too have BCBS of AZ. I was so excited when my insurance said they would cover it. I called myself and they said yes but gave me the criteria, the same you listed above. I then went to my appointment and what they didn't mention is the following.. 1. You MUST have a 6 month supervised diet from your doctor (monthly visits). Not only that you have to attend weekly meetings (i.e weigh****chers) showing documention that you attended.  2. You MUST attend a lisenced excerise program (such as personal trainor) that must document that you attend THREE times a week.  3. you can not gain more then 5 pounds during the 6 month time period. 4. If you miss a week from your meetings or exercise you will have to start all over.  I was DEVASTATED!!!!! I decided to do self-pay. My doctor says BCBS of AZ is the WORST insurance when it comes to paying for WLS.  Sorry.. if you hear differently I'd like to know. Good luck!

->POP<-  Okay, there goes my bubble!  IF the insurance company requires all of this, then I will do what I can. Sounds really expensive though! Jeepers creepers!   Well I will take it one step at a time, and see what happens!  I expect the paperwork to be turned in by the end of this week or beginning of next week.  The biggest concern I have isn't seeing the doc, because I can do that, I would be concerned with the weigh****chers (as in how much $$ will that be?) and I'm concerned with a personal trainer (again, how much $$?). I don't worry about the gaining weight thing, and I don't worry about missing appointments, because those are just hoops, you jump through them (but what about vacation, when you're going to be out of town for two weeks?)  Ah well... we will see. I know I had a coworker who was approved and had surgery and I don't think that she had a problem. I find myself hoping that it is partly a matter of co-morbidities and BMI, and that I'm in the range where the actuarial tables suggest that paying for surgery is cheaper than paying for obesity. Also I'm in a profession that (again, according to actuarial tables) makes me a lot more likely to continue to be insured through the same insurance than other occupations, which agian will hopefully be a part of their formula they use when deciding whether to approve or deny such claims.  I can't do the self-pay, as I could never pay if I had complications... so it's insurance or nothing, so if it's hoops they want me to jump through, I guess I say "which ones?"  Thanks for the reality check. We'll see what the insurance company says!