Hopefully Helpful For Gastric Sleeve Surgery Newbies

[TexasTina 5]

I got sleeved on 12-16-11. I'm posting this here because I always looked for pre-op steps on this forum. I have BCBSTexas as my insurance. I am very pleased with my Dr and my results. However, I had to place many phone calls, ask lots of questions (sometimes 2-3 times) to get the info I so desperately needed. I understand that to the office staff this is routine and they forget that patients a) don't know the many hoops insurance/and or Dr requires of us and we are anxious to get this done and don't want any unpleasant surprises.

I started my nutritionist visits the last week of July. Put it off until then, then worried that insurance would deny me because my appointments weren't 30 days apart. They didn't. I had to switch to a PCP or the monthly visits by August because the former nutritionist left her job and wasn't replaced soon enough. No problem with this from insurance. I had my initial consult with surgeon in August and he gave me the psych referral. Saw the psychiatrist in September. He had a list of about 5 questions. He typed while I answered. No problem. Psych eval is valid for 1 year. As the months went by I worried that I wouldn't get everything done before the end of the year and then BCBS would change the rules on me. So, i found myself constantly calling both the insurance and the Dr.'s office asking what else I needed and how soon could I get it done. Sometimes they'd rattle off things like "you'll need an Hpylori, ultrasound and EDG but we'll tell you later when you can do this." Not good enough. I pressured them for answers in November and they asked when my last supervised diet date. I told them December 2nd and I wanted everything ready to submit ASAP before the Dr left for vacation. They weren't in the same hurry I was, but being an educator, i was also hoping to use my 2 wks vacation to recover.

I finally got them to clarify what the last steps are before submission.I would need an EGD done at the hospital and would have to miss work the entire day. This was valid for 6 months. Gallbladder ultrasound took about 30 minutes in a Dr.'s office. Valid for 3 months. Hyplori done at surgeon's office in November. This was good for a month, along with the PCP's medical clearance. I also needed an EKG, which I'd had already, but due to the surgeon's office not telling me timelines, I had it too early at my PCP's office. So, she had to do another. This one is good for 3 months. Moral here: pressure the office for information on the tests they require and the timelines. BCBS only required the 6 month supervised diet, psych eval and medical clearance. The rest was my surgeon's office. I got all the tests done the last week of November, had my last diet visit on !2-2-11. Also attended a mandatory pre-op nutritionist class at the Dr.'s office on 12-2-11. The following Monday, 12-5-11 I called the surgeon's office to see if they had received the PCP's medical clearance. They hadn't, so I called my PCP. By Tuesday all paperwork in at the surgeon's office and submitted to insurance. Friday, yes Friday, 12-9-11 i had been approved. However, I didn't find out until Tuesday (12-13-11) when I called the insurance. Man, I wanted to cry from joy and a little from fear. I called the surgeon's office and told them and they called to get a confirmation # from insurance and they scheduled me for Friday, 12-16-11.

It'll be 2 weeks tomorrow. I had no complications. Went into surgery @9:30, in recovery room by 11:00, in my room by noon. Had my IV, catheter, NG tube. Was walking a bit by night time. Did better the next day and was released by 5:00 pm.

Hope this was helpful to someone out there. If you have any questions I'd be happy to try to answer them. Best wishes. This is the best thing I ever did for myself.