So far.......

So far Ive received responses from several of the surgeons I mailed last week and Dr's Voelinger in Charlotte and Classen in Fayetteville have indicated that they accept Mediciaid. Dr Bauman in Concord does not work with mediciad anymore and Dr Gonzales in Winston Salem is no longer doing bariatric surgery. The lady at Dr Voellingers office said that from what she read in my letter, that she thought I had probably met all Mediciad requirements. She said they would talk to my PCP and get him to write a letter for me that was worded correctly so that I would get approved faster. Apparently Mediciad is getting more and more restrictive and she said Voellenger can only do a certain number of these procedures per month. I live a lot closer to Charlotte than I do Fayetteville so its looking like Dr V is it right now. My appointment with VR is tommorrow morning. The approval process for VR looks like it might be faster than Mediciad so I will at least check it out. Hopefully after tommorrow I will know what direction to take and can proceed with the initial consults with my chosen surgeon, etc. My diabetes meds did a number on me the first week I was on them. I did notice Im eating less now since I am supposed to have less insulin and less blood sugar in my system also. Im still getting over the flu too so maybe that has something to do with it. Still a little discomfort is better than kidney failure so Ive taken my meds exactly as I was told. Talked to a woman who has an open RNY in 1993 a few days ago. She is having problems now with an intestinal blockage that doesnt appear to be directly related to her surgery but probably was made worse by the fact that she has had surgery. Still she said her life after surgery was so much better that she would rather die that go back to being fat again. Ive done some research and found some information out about medicaid approvals and how to get around them. Found a few companies that are non profit and will sue the Mediciad people if they dont approve a surgery...

Robert, Looks like you are making good strides to the ending goal! I hope the best for you! Nancy

Thank you Nancy. Im trying.