Newbie - Patsy intro

HI My name is Patsy and I live in NW Glendale AZ. I had originally hoped to have surgery at Barix with Dr. Schlesinger, but my husbands insurance denied it. He has an insurance self-funded by the company he works for and the criteria they had for WLS was nearly impossible to comply with. The insurance is PHCS (private health care systems). They wanted three years of physician supervised dieting! I contacted my Dr. and former Dr. in Michigan for any notes they may have made about me dieting. I was really disappointed to see that my Dr. in Michigan had noted very few conversations or recommendations for diet in my charts. I had the opportunity to sign up for BCBS of AZ PPO at my work so I did it. (My husbands insurance also now requires that if spouses have ins. available they have to have it as their primary insurance.) BCBS of AZ does not have a contract with Barix so I am going to another surgeon. My husbands insurance wanted me to have a second opinion so I went to Dr. Juarez. I want to have him as my surgeon now. I called them last week and gave them my new insurance info. I will probably need to get a new psych eval. The pyschiatrist I saw is not very co-operative to get things sent out to insurance and my surgeon. He wrote my eval out by hand and gave it to me at my visit. The insurance company found it unacceptable and wanted a more formal letter. At least it should be typed! I see DR. Ruzi in Scottsdale for sleep apnea. I use a CPAP now and have really gotten used to it. He is my biggest "cheerleader" for me to get this WLS. He told me if I need anything to call him. I still have daytime sleepiness and take provigil to keep me from nodding off. I am hoping BCBS will approve me. My insurance with them was effective on November 1. I am 56 years old and have lived in Michigan most of my life. My husband was transferred here to the Phoenix area and we moved here in Aug. '04. We have been married 6 years and have a Bassett mix dog named Maggie. I have a daughter that is single and lives in San Diego. My son lives in the Grand Rapids MI area with his wife and four sons. He has a daughter from a previous marriage that lives in Florida with her Mom. My two step-daughters 22 and 19 live with their Mom in Kentwood MI. My co-morbidities are high blood pressure, sleep apnea, arthritis in knees and GERD. MY BMI is 49 and at my last visit to the Dr. I weighed 304, an all time high for me! I have a hard time walking because of my knees and my feet hurt. Walking a half a block gets me out of breath. Luckily I am in fairly good health otherwise...LOL My heart checks out normal anyway! Glad to meet you all!

Welcome Patsy! glad to meet you! This is the bst time of your life! I am 41, and 14 weeks post-op. I still have to pinch myself that my open RNY happened and I am lighter on my feet. Happy New Year and God Bless you. Connie Jones, Ft. Huachuca AZ.

welcome neighbor! brandy