New to this board

Hi everyone!  Just thought I would stop in and introduce myself since this seems like a great board.  My name is Monica and I am 37 yrs old.  I live in the far west suburbs of Chicago with my hubby and 3 kids.  Tyler is 13 and Jacob is 11, they are mine from a previous marriage and Austyn is 9 and is technically my stepson, but his mom passed away when he was 2 so in my heart, he's mine.  I am going to school to be a vet tech and I work for my neighbor doing embroidery for now.   I am doing the 6 month supervised diet and just had my 4 month visit last week.  I have only lost 9 lbs so far but that's okay, at least I'm losing right?  I have BCBS IL and have heard some pretty negative things about them, so I am praying they don't give me a hard time.  

Hello Monica,

Welcome to the board! There are some very friendly people here so there is always someone to chat with. I just finished my 6 month diet and am waiting for my busy PCP to fax my documentation to the surgeon. I wish you all the luck in the world on your journey!



Diane

Hi Diane!  What insurance do you have that you needed to do the 6 month diet?  I have BCBS IL.  I have heard that they are very tough to get approval the first time.  My fear is that when they look back at my 5 yr history there was a time about 4 years ago that my BMI wasn't 40 or over.  As of now I am listed as no co morbidities...though I wonder if I have sleep apnea or not.  Oh well.  Thanks for the welcome and I am sure that I will make friends here!  I love to talk!  LOL

Fortunately in an unfortunate way I have Medicare. They began requiring a 6 month supervised diet. I have read a lot about BCBS. As long as you have everything in order I'm sure you'll make it thru. I lost a little over 30 pounds, but everyone is different. I had to give up chocolate. I haven't bought any in about 7 months. I realized I could live without it after all. I can't believe I actually beat the chocolate cravings, but I did. I ate lots of fruit because I was told by the dietician that I could have plenty of fruit and I drank so much water...lol Wishing you the
best in your journey!



Diane

wow, you are good to give up chocolate, though I have to admit ever since I was preggo with my now 11 yr old, I kinda lost the taste for it.   I have given up soda...that was hard!  I don't buy it anymore for anyone here and it's been good.  It's hard to find things that my kids will drink but they are surviving.  lol

I am 8 weeks out from RYN and I just wanted to let you know that you don't have to wait for your PCP to fax in the stuff to the ins. I called my ins and started the process myself. I am luckier then most I guess, my ins allowed everything to be done by phone. I called my ins about 5 days later and got the name of the nurse assigned to the case. I called my doc's office and let them know her name and phone # and what info they were wanting. They called that same day and I was approved the same day. I went through 6 mo supervised weightloss but after that I was approved in a total of maybe 2 weeks. Just wanted to let you know if you take a proactive role in getting the info to the ins the process will be a lot quicker. I have a couple of friends that did the same thing. It also prevents the doc office from sending it to the wrong place. Good luck!!

Hi Monica, welcome here! It's so great to see all the newbies post lately!!! So awesome. There is also an insurance forum on OH, so you may want to check there if you have any concerns about your policy, but really, everyone goes through the process a little differently based on personal stats and such, and even though someone else may have BCBS IL, their employer may have something specific in their policy re: WLS. You just never know until you go through it (well, from my experience anyhow...it just seems very individual). So, keep your chin up that's for sure!!! Keep us posted on your progress!

Hi Monica Welcome to the board.

Oh how I love Chicago!

I am also pre-op working on the structured diet thing for insurance. My last visit is tomorrow.

Wishing you all the best on your journey.

I have to admit Angela, I have lived in the suburbs my entire life and can probably count on one hand how many times I have been downtown!  LOL   bad huh? Good luck on your last visit today! Wishing you all the best as well!

{{{Monica}}} So glad to have you here hon. :)