Got a call from my insurance company this morning telling me that I was approved and would be covered 100%.

Great news.

I just called my surgeon's office to ask if they knew I was approved. They said they knew but there was a minor complication.

My surgeon was no longer operating in the hospital they were scheduling me at and they don't know which hospital will replace it.

I asked how long she had known this and she said she just found out this week. I told her it would have been nice if she would have called to tell me.

This is the same person that was supposed to have called my cardiologist to get the ok for me to stop my blood thinners for a couple of weeks prior to surgery and did nothing. I ended up doing it myself 3 weeks later.

I probably won't have surgery for over a month. I've been drinking expensive shakes for a week now. My roommate delayed his move out of state to give me a ride to and from surgery. I've already cleared my calendar and scheduled my vacation.

This is more than an inconvenience to me and the assholes don't have the common courtesy to make a phone call.

I told her to call me the minute she knows anything. If I don't hear from them by next Friday; I quit and they lose out on the huge chunk of change they would have made on my surgery.

I'm down 82 pounds without them. Surgery isn't as important to me that it is to a lot of people. I will just have to muster that much more willpower and hope I can keep going.

Don't give up. You've done great but really don't give up on the band. It's worth the journey.

Don't let those assholes dictate the direction your life will go in. Maybe its some kind of test. I have been following what you write and am very inspired by you. You look great and have come so far and imagine how nice it will be to have the band to help you later on. Don' give up.

Call your insurance and advise them of the situation and have them refer you to a surgeon in your area. This type of thing happens quite often. Or call another WLS surgeon and see if they accept your insurance and how soon they can schedule you, all of the legwork as already been done, you're approved.. it's not that you're approved only for that dr or office, you're approved anywhere.

Either way you go, it'll happen much quicker if you handle it yourself. Life lesson #10 - NEVER wait on somebody else.

Besides if a Surgeon has lost their privileges at a hospital chances are, you're better off NOT having them operate on you, just sayin'... lol

Thanks folks!!

I really need to think this over. I don't need the stress this is causing me but at this point; I don't know if I am stressing out over nothing.

I don't want to blame my surgeon. I did all kinds of homework before even giving his office a call. He is renowned and the hospital thing has to be political.

His nurses and nutritionists are top notch also.

It seems to all come back to the same legal assistant or whatever they are called.

I am however going to look into other surgeons. I didn't think about the approval like that. I am going to find out if it means approved for any and all surgeons in the network.

Thanks!!

Yup, approval is approval as long as the doc and hospital are covered the approval won't change. I would think a surgeon would look at you as a Christmas present, everything already done and nicely packaged, he just has to unwrap ya! (huh, on second thought that sounds either warped, kinky, or both but hopefully you get my point). I don't know who you were using or your insurance but I know there's a bariatric surgical center in Dallas that's supposed to be fairly good (no personal experience with them, sorry, I'm an Arkie).

Keep in mind, doctor's offices screw up too. Most people in health care are there to help, but sometimes you fine someone who just looks at it as a paycheck and forgets that a few phone calls will change someone's life (or just flat out doesn't care). I'd start making the calls and pushing the issue. We know you're not shy!

Good luck with all this, you're too close not to keep pushing!!!

I'd have thought the tough part would've been the approval. Aetna is a notorious pain in the ass; the night before my BC surgery they called to tell me they'd decided not to cover it because they felt it was "cosmetic". Thankfully my employee benefits rep raised hell. Stay the course - your dedication thus far has paid dividends (down 80+ pounds) and laid the ground work for your future success with the band. Consider this a speed bump!

Thanks!

I was never really worried about Aetna. I have great coverage and if worse came to worst I would've just played the heart attack card. After all, what's the use of having a heart attack if you can't benefit from it? :frown: