how long did you wait?

For those of you who went thru Duke WLS ---I have a question.
I just went for my psych visit last monday and all my testing had been completed. How long do you think I should wait before following up?
When i spoke to the lady the other day she said my test results have to be read and then they would schedule a surgery date for me and then submit to insurance for approval(that sounds backwards to me)...I don't want to be a pest but I feel like i need to stay on top of things.

Hi JoJo,

I'd give them 10 days to 2 weeks to get the reports written up and reviewed. They usually schedule a surgery date after they review the reports. They usually have to submit a surgery date when they submit your 'package' to the insurance company for approval. Often it's considered a 'proposed date' and they give you your 'actual' date after your approval comes in from the insurance. I hope that makes sense. The real waiting actually comes when they submit it to the insurance company. Each company has their own guidelines and time lines regarding how long they take to respond. Some will turn it all around in just a day or two and some will take up to a month. It just depends. I think I wrote in my blog about mine and while seemed an eternity at the time, I think it was actually less than 3 weeks once it was submitted to the insurance. 

I'm glad to hear that you've had all of your testing done and it sounds like you are on your way. 

Wishing you all the best,

I went through Duke, they told me I should hear from them within a month after all my initial test were complete.  I did not hear from them, so I called and left three messages over the course of a week, none of them were returned.  When they finally did call me, it was two months after my tests were complete, but they were able to schedule my surgery quickly after that.

Don't get too discouraged if it takes a while to hear back from them, that part did seem to take a while, at least in my case.

The surgery and medical attention I received was excellent, so I have no complaints there.  One thing you may want to double check on...they will schedule you for a pre-op and post-op group meeting.  I found out the hard way that my insurance company (BCBSNC) is not covering the group meetings.  You may want to check with the Duke office and find out if your insurance will cover the group meeting.  I was not told that it would be an issue, and now I have to pay $130 for the pre-op group because I did not know my insurance would not cover it until I got the denial letter from them. 

Other than that, my experience has been a positive one.

Good luck with your surgery!

I went to my seminar and signed up Sept. 2007 and had surgery Dec. 2008. Lots of crap from Duke. I suggest you keep a copy of everything you have to submit and stay a "pest". They have a bad reputation for this and you need to stay on top of things. Was it worth it---YES!

I would wait two weeks then follow up. I had to be VERY persistant about following up. I went to seminar in Jan and had my surgery the beginning of April. Good luck!