New, dazed, and confused!

Hey folks, I'm new to the website, chat room, and message board. I'm having a hard time figuring out what all the steps are to get my ducks in a row. My cardiologist recommended the surgery to me, and I called the insurance company. (I had to fight with them, but I won ... yay me!) Now I'm trying to put everything together that I am going to need to do. Basically, I don't know what steps I'll have to go through during this process. Can anyone outline this for me so I know what to expect? Thanks!!!!!

hi erika, first step should be to talk to your insurance company and find out if you will be for sure covered and make sure there are no exclusions to having wls. then, while on the phone with the insurance company if they say that they will cover it then ask them for names of surgeons that they work with. once getting the ok from insurance and getting a surgeons name or two call the surgeons office to schedule a consultation appoinment and you will more than likely need to attend a seminar hosted by the hospital/surgeon you have been recommended to by your insurance. you will need to get in with your primary care dr. as well as any other doctors to get your prior dr. records (i got my pcp, my prior pcp, my chiropractor, my obgyn) and have your doctors write you a "support letter" on showing that they are supportive of you having surgery or if they find that it is medically neccessary for you to have surgery. (this takes a couple of weeks so start now!) by the time you get into your surgeons office for your first consultation you should have ALL of your records from all of your dr.'s to be able to hand over to your surgeon. as long as you have all of your "ducks in a row" then at that point you should have a psychologist exam to make sure you are "psychologically ready to handle surgery and the life changes that come along with it" the surgeons office should send you a big packet of stuff to read as well as stuff to fill out and a checklist and that will help you figure out what steps to do when. hope this long winded reply helps. haha. brandy

Brandy; You are looking good! How are you doing? Cynthia

hi cynthia! i am doing well thank you! i have truly NO complaints. i am 4 months out as of yesterday and i am down 73lbs! i feel absolutely great. thanks for asking! brandy

You also need to make sure that Insurance compnay does not have any weird things that have to be completed prior to WLS surgury. Just like surgeons all Insurance companies require different stuff. So make sure what they want ahead of time & make sure the Dr. you choose is covered by your Inusrance. It usually take about a month to get all the testings done & pre op stuff done so don't fret about it, just get started. Make that Insurance Company call today. Than call the Dr.s you get & check more than one out & see who you like the best. You have to trust the Dr. & like hime or this won't work for you. Go into Obeisity .Com's main board & it will walk you through a lot of it for you if you want. They will help you with everything. Good luck. Marilyn, the Bearlady