Jumped Thru All The Insurance Hoops - Now Just Waiting

[my3sons75 11]

I had my final nutrition appointment today - 3 months of dieting and waiting and it's finally over....well, not yet. They are faxing in all my paperwork to the insurance company today. They told me it will take 1 1/2 to 2 weeks to hear back. Ack! That 2 weeks will feel soooo long after all I've gone thru to get to this point. I called the bariatric coordinator at the insurance to let her know I was done with everything and to find out the REAL wait time,but she wasn't available and I had to leave a message. Crossing my fingers I hear something soon! :-)I'm really hoping I'll still be an April bandster. :-)

[momab50 6]

The waiting is always the hardest. just keep us posted

[ElizabethAnne 40]

Hope you receive your approval soon!

[my3sons75 11]

Thanks guys. :-)

So now that I have done everything the insurance has asked and lost 25 pounds this year, I slipped a little on my will power. Once I left my appointment today I have eaten so many things I'm not supposed to - things I haven't eaten in over 3 months. Maybe I'm saying goodbye to some of my fav's while I have a chance? Celebrating I made it thru 3 months of watching what I eat???

This afternoon I had 3 things from Taco Bell (oh so bad), a big bowl of Sour Cream and Onion chips, two handfulls of Easter chocolate candy, and just now I ate a whole box of Kraft Mac & cheese. I'm sitting here stuffed and feeling soooo bad, both mentally and physically. And I wish I could take it back, because I've been doing so good for so long.

Yuck....stuffing myself doesn't feel as good as it used to. Glad I don't have the band yet or I'd be even worse off. Hopefully this will teach me a lesson and I won't do it again. :-)

[scorpiolady 83]

Ok so I'm probably NOT the best one on here to be giving advice, but I wouldn't beat yourself up too much about eating those last meals.  I sure as heck did!  Yes I did Taco Bell, McD's, steak, Mexican food, ... I could go on and on. Good thing I was self pay and didn't have to wait too long because I was using my "up coming" surgery to basically eat like a cow.  Now, I was very concerned about the liver thing and not losing enough weight prior to surgery and I'm pretty sure they are a bit more lax about self payers (funny how loudly cash speaks) but I enjoyed my lasts.  

 

NOW, I'm post op and wondering why I ate like that.  Ok, maybe quantity? Was I overly concerned about never being able to eat a whole steak, or a whole box of Mac & cheese? Oh my, Shells n' Cheese was one of my all time favs! I know someday, after I heal, I'm going to have a bite or two of steak. I'm going to eat Taco Bell again, I just won't be able to order 4 or 5 items. Maybe I'll have a cup of refried Beans with a bit of cheese and hot sauce. That's why I went with the band.  I know I won't be eating as much as (quantity) I was before, but I will be tasting different foods (quality) to find out what I can tolerate and I WILL have to learn I can't eat the whole enchilada, but I wont' have to deprive myself of the taste.

 

Ok, I'm rambling now. Sorry but I feel where you are right now and I just wanted to share.

[gottobeme 81]

My3 I'm right there with you! After I received my approval I was eating a lot of things that I should not have been. Now I am on my pre-op diet and losing again. This is one of the reasons I know I will need to keep current with my follow up appointments after surgery. From my pre surgery group classes I have learned that it is really around the 1 1/2 - 2 year mark that most people start to have a little trouble. By that time they have usually lost most or all their weight and don't feel the need for support groups, etc. Lets keep helping and educating each other!

[my3sons75 11]

Somethings going on with the website, it won't let me quote or reply correctly. So I'll just have to wing it. :-)

Thanks for the words of support Julz and gottobeme. It really helps to hear from others that they went thru the same thing. I've been sooooo good for 3 months to make sure my insurance approved, and until they do and I have my surgery scheduled and have to go on my pre-op diet, I feel like I'm in the free-zone. My last chance to eat whatever and however much I want. I have to try and reign it in some, otherwise I'm going to gain back the weight in a week! The good thing is that with the dieting my stomach has shrunk and I can only eat 1/4 of what I ate before - unless I keep stretching it out with whole boxes of mac & cheese. :-)

Julz, Shells & Cheese....one of our all time fav's in our house. But I knew better than to try and eat one of those by myself - I'd be literally sick I think. :-) I've been so good with quality and quantity lately, but yesterday was a bad slip. Hopefully today will be better.

Gottobeme, I really think I'll have to make sure I follow up once I start getting down there after surgery. I see myself following all the rules for a long time, but like every other diet I've been on, once a certain amount of time has passed I'll start slipping back into old habits. Like others that go to AA meetings, I'll need to find somewhere to make sure I stay on track. My surgeons office is 1 1/2 hours away from me, so it takes 1/2 of my day up to go to a meeting. Maybe I can find a group of others in my area and we can meet up occasionally.

Good luck to both of you too.... how are your post-op days going? I have been really busy lately and haven't spent much time reading posts. :-(

[my3sons75 11]

Surgeon's office faxed the paperwork to the insurance on Friday. The insurance coordinator from the insurance company called me on Monday April 9th to get some more info from me and they were going to forward everything with a referral to a seperate medical review office that oversees their bariatric surgery approvals. Said it would take 1 - 1 1/2 weeks to hear back. That was Monday April 9th around 10 am.

I got a phone call this morning, Tuesday April 10th, about 9 am, from the review consultant from the medical review office telling me she was reviewing my case. She said it had everything they were requesting (+ my 3 letter of recommendations from my doctors) and that I had done such a good job on the 3 month nutrtional phase that she didn't want to drag it out for me, so she called to say my surgery is approved!!!!! Yippee!!!!! She said they will need to get a surgery date scheduled at the WLS and then they will send the written approval, but today they are giving their verbal approval. I am sooooooo freaking excited...I never thought it would go thru this fast!!!

I found out this morning just before I was leaving to take my kids on a trip to the zoo with some friends so I couldn't stop and write this message. It just sucked, since none of my friends or family know and I couldn't share the news with them, I was dying to get on here and share my happy news. I called my husband at work and told him, and he was like "Oh, that's good. Ok, see you later.". Sheesh. No excitement from him. Oh well, that's why we have the LBT friends!!!

THanks for letting me share!!!

Now begins the worrying.....

[momab50 6]

So happy for you ya hoo

[gottobeme 81]

Husbands!...Mine supports me but is not overly excited. Maybe because we've been married almost 22 years. Congratulations on your approval!

[NWgirl 574]

Woohoo! I waited for two weeks after submission and then called my coordinator because I hadn't heard anything.

I'm on the West coast and she's on the East, so she called me back and left a message saying "I have good news, call me." At the time I was hesitant to let myself get over excited because you just never know, and I had to wait over a day to get back in touch with her to find out.

I am so glad you got your approval! Did you set a date yet?

[ElizabethAnne 40]

So happy to read you are approved!