Consult Completed

I had my consult at Dr. Blackstone's as well as the nutritional consult today. All I'm waiting for at this point is my letter of medical necessity from my pcp. Arrrrggghhh! I even wrote the thing for the guy and put it on a disk as he requested. All he has to do is copy it to his letterhead and he hasn't done that yet. I'm going to bake a pan of brownies and take them to his office staff and recruit them to nag him.So as far as the consult goes, I met with Randy who was very nice and thorough. He really took his time and answered every question I had and then some.I met with the nutritionist after that and she was VERY thorough. She explained everything in detail and the why's of everything they ask you to do. She then gave me her e-mail address so I could e-mail any questions I might have.The next stop was Becky to go over my packet. I have everything I need except that darned PCP letter and she can't mail my packet off to Cigna until she gets it from him. Becky says that she has only known Cigna to approve the first time out on two occassions and one of those was a mistake on their part. She did say that most get approved on appeal. She's worried about my two 26 week weight loss attempts because one of them was back in 1989, but we'll see what happens. After the packet gets mailed to Cigna, it will take between 20 and 30 days for them to respond.I'll keep nagging the pcp and then the wait begins.Connie

I'm excited for you, Connie! The anticipation grows. I have my consult scheduled for the 29th of July. I'm going to see my PCP on Wednesday, and I'm just prayin' that I'll have all my stuff together by the time I go up there on Tuesday. Let us know how it goes! Patti

Congratulations Connie.... Good to hear you had your consult...FINALLY after almost 6 weeks and nagging the hell out of folks at Dr. Blackstones' they sent my packet to Cigna. I know they are busy...but I didn't think it would take that long...maybe they are finally catching up. When I spoke to someone there...they said they were hiring another insurance liaison...maybe that will help... I just hope it doesn't take long for you to get the packet out of the office, it was nervewracking for me... Also was told the new surgeon is coming on board Aug 11...right now they are booking Dr. Blackstone into November...so maybe having another surgeon will move some surgery dates up for some people...

Hi Donna, Becky told me that she has whittled the pile of insurance approvals down to a two week time frame. Soooo... I guess that means that even if my pcp gets off his rear and sends her the letter this week, it will be another two weeks before it gets sent to Cigna and they have a month so I'm really looking at 6 weeks. Yeeesh. Now let's add the denial, appeal letter and turn around for that. I was figuring that I wouldn't get through all of the red tape and have the surgery until next March so I'm right on target. As long as I don't have to spend another summer in my 120 pounds of extra flesh. Next summer I have a tribal ritual to go through that requires a lot of stamina and endurance. Most people go through it in their late teens and early 20s, but it was never important to me until now. My father is in failing health and it's important to him that I complete my Choctaw ceremonies before he dies. I know I won't make it unless I get this weight off so I feel like I'm playing beat the clock. Connie