New member

caroljo · May 20, 2011

Hi, I hope I am doing this correctly!! I am in the process of going to all the appointments leading up to surgery. I have already been to the seminar, visited the "history taker", seen the nutritionist once, had an esophageal flouroscope test, lined up a sleep study and a psychologist visit and started jumping through the cardiology hoops, which include a nuclear stress test and several more appointments. Does this seem typical to you? I have also lost 9 pounds and all of this in the past month. I am surprised by how many visits and requirements there are. These are not necessarily mandated by my insurance, but seem to be part of the program at Oregon Health Sciences University.

DRobjohns · May 20, 2011

Hi, I'm new, too. I just had my Lap-Band surgery on April 26, 2011. I also had to do a lot of "hoop jumping" for both my insurance and for the surgeon. I dodged the sleep test bullet, but after I went to the cardiologist for the standard EKG, I was told that I had to go back for an echocardiogram because my resting heart rate was considered high. I also had to pay out of pocket for the psychological. Then about 4 months into my "journey", I was told that the surgeon I was working with was no longer "in network"! So I found a new surgeon. And let me tell you it was no easy task to get my medical records from the first surgeon sent to my new surgeon. I ended up having to have certain test results sent to my primary care physician and then he had to send them to the new surgeon. Thankfully the new guy accepted all of the tests that I had done up to that point and I didn't have to start from scratch (which is what the first surgeon AND my insurance company told me "might" be the case). I had to go to a lot more nutrition classes than my insurance required just because my surgeon required them. Oh and then at the end of March I found out my insurance was changing as of May 1...so I ended up having to reschedule my surgery from end of May to end of April...which left me less than a month to get all the remaining "specialist" appointments scheduled. Lucky that I have an understanding boss who allowed me a lot of hours here and there to go to my appointments.

So bottom line...there are requirements specific to your surgeon and not your insurance.

Good luck and don't give up!! It will all be worth it when we're healthy and looking good, right?!