Cassiper

Hello Neighbor! I'm so sorry that happened to you! ❤️ Are you doing well?

I had my surgery 10/4/2022 and my surgeon is amazing! The whole team at the office is great and very helpful. Dr. Semeret Munie was my surgeon and now I mostly see the nurse practitioner, Kelly Columbus-Kline who is amazing as well. Dr. Munie made all the right calls when it came to my care and helping me select the right surgery for me. I was approved for gastric bypass until my pre-op day the week before I was scheduled. At that appointment we chose to change my procedure to gastric sleeve because my iron levels were so low she was afraid I may become infusion dependent on iron. I'm glad she didn't go ahead with the bypass and paid attention to my bloodwork so closely! The person I've had the most contact with through classes, appointments, and support groups is the dietician, Marsha Copley. She has been SO helpful and has helped me feel less guilty about being human regarding some of the choices I've made and has definitely steered me in the right direction with her guidance. I love them all so much. I didn't see any posts about Dr. Munie on here so I wanted to write one so that people can find this information about them.

I'm still going to seminar and I might try to ask my employer to add it to our insurance for next year... maybe there is some way to get it paid for that the insurance person at the surgeons office will know. Right now, between paying off student loans, house, cars, bills, etc. I probably can't even afford to finance. :-/

So, I have made the decision to go forward with the process to get the Gastric Sleeve... I called and registered for the next seminar at the best local hospital (in my experience) and was told to complete registration paperwork and send it back. I was also told to call insurance to find out what is covered for bariatric surgery. I called my insurance and after the phone call I broke down in tears. I was told that it is not included on my insurance plan and is in the "exclusions" because my employer chose not to include it. I logged on to the United Health Care website after I got home from a meeting tonight and cried over this exerpt under the "Exclusions" heading... There's no hope for me now. I can't self-pay. "Surgical and non-surgical treatment of obesity. This exclusion does not apply to screening and counseling for obesity for which Benefits are provided under the "A" and "B" recommendations of the United States Preventive Services Task Force under Preventive Care Services."