Miscommunication leads to frustration

[Valieb43 0]

Hello!

So I am a little frustrated with this whole process. I approached the idea back in February, and finally acted on it in April when I was diagnosed with Diabetes, high BP, and high cholesterol. All of this at the ripe old age of 29. So, my PCP recommends a surgeon, and its the same center where my friend just had gastric bypass done. She raved about the center, and she looks fantastic, so I felt like I was in good hands. Well, the seem to do everything backwards, or they just fail to communicate. I called to make an appt in April, and was told to fill out some paperwork, see the psychologist, see the nutritionist and then we will schedule you to meet with the surgeon. Sounded a little odd to me, that you would do all of these things before actually talking to a dr who would tell me if I should even be considering this surgery.

I go to the 2nd part of the psych eval last week, and he advises me that I have to be smoke free for 2 month pre-op. Well, it would have been nice to have been told that 2 months ago. Then I am reading about this 6 month eating plan?? I thought I went to the nutritionist, lost 5% of my weight (my ins requires it), and then would have surgery. Now it seems like it is going to be at least another 6 months before I even get to the approval process from my health insurance. AAAAGGGHHHH. Not only am I spending money on my copays for all of these visits, I cannot make plans to do anything for like the next 6 months, because I have NO idea what is going on. I mailed them my new patient registration packet 6 weeks ago, and called to follow up. The only thing they had was my letter of necessity from my dr. So, had to resend that info, and will be calling tomorrow to follow up to see it was received. I would like to get this done before Christmas, but it doesnt seem like that will be the case. Why does it seem like banding requires you to jump through hoops, but bypass is just "see the shrink and we will schedule you":cursing:

[RestlessMonkey 7]

Actually if it were me I'd go to another surgeon. Bypass is one thing but for the band follow up care is absolutely VITAL to the success of the band. Unless you want a couple of years of this mess I'd find someone else. Good luck!

[isaviolinist 11]

I agree. By the way, did you already go to the free information seminar? That is the pretty standard first step for banding (I'm sure there are exceptions but more or less, that is the first thing you do). Generally the hospital or surgeon's office will register you for the seminar and then you can go from there. At the seminar, they go over pretty much everything involved with getting a band, including the need to stop smoking and insurance policies as far as the required 6 month supervised diet (it is only required by some insurances...did you check to see if your insurance requires it?) as well as all of the pre-op testing you'll need. At the seminar you often also get a chance to schedule an initial consultation appointment with the surgeon (although its not always the case).

And you are correct about discussing your plan with the surgeon first. When I went in for my initial consultation, we talked about all the options including bypass. I wasn't considering bypass, but if I was and I hadn't met with my surgeon prior to all of the pre-op testing, I wouldn't have known that I am actually NOT a candidate for gastric bypass because of complications with a previous surgery. If I had been aiming for bypass, however, I would have been pretty upset if I went through all of the pre-op testing and then met with surgeon just to find out I was not even eligible to begin with!

Sounds like its time to research some different docs.

[wootsie73 0]

Well, I've been working on this process for 3 years and am still not banded, so since April doesn't seem very long to me. Some of my time was unavoidable, but 3 months isn't that long. However, your surgeons office does sound pretty disorganized to me. I think if you don't feel comfortable with how they run their business, you should find another doc. The band definitely does require a lot of follow-up.

Joan

[viprvenm 0]

Get in your car...crank it...put it in gear... STEP ON THE GAS!!! Go with another surgeon that will actually talk to you and help with the process. I have not had my surgery yet, but feel as if I am being guided through the process in a very professional matter. There is follow up already in place and things seem to be falling into place just as they should. Research other docs and see what you find. Best of luck to you!

Jason

[ParrotheadCathy 0]

Valie, here's my suggestions.

1) Call your insurance company yourself. Ask exactly what theire requirements are to approve you for surgery. They may tell you that the 6 month supervised diet is their requirement (or you may find it is just that surgeon). Either way, you need to know.

2) Ask them for names of surgeons in your area who are approved providers. Then do your research. This will be especially important if you find after 1 above that the 6 month diet is the doctor's requirement rather than the insurance company.

3) Even if the 6 month suprvised diet is the requirement of the insurance company, it's not like you're the only one who has had to do that. Many have had 3 or 6 month required diets. (I was self-pay and was able to skip a lot of the hassles.)

Good Luck