So it has been a very long time since I have posted, but things have been moving.
I heard back from the surgeon in Feb and they asked how everything was going. I was a little ticked... they acted like I was the one that they were waiting on not the other way around. I said I was just waiting to hear back from them on what my next steps were since they said they needed to review my primary doctor's charts before telling me what to do next. Her response... "ohhh... well we haven't ordered them yet, but I will order them today."
So ok. I was ticked, but everyone makes mistakes right??? So when they called back in March they still didn't have my charts, but it "wasn't their fault". My primary doctor was refusing to send them until I paid for them. Paid for them??? I was a little shocked, but I decided to drive over to their office and get a copy myself since I knew I would need them a few more times (especially when I changed primary doctors :) ). They charged me a dollar a page - even for the copy of the release the surgeon's office sent them and the fax cover sheet.
I sent a copy of the chart to the surgeon and thought that things would get moving again. Nope. After reviewing my notes they said I needed more weight loss documentation. 25lbs over 6 months with only 2 doctor's visits wasn't enough. I need to have 1 document (or visit) per month. :( So in May (yes it took a long time to figure this out) I found a new primary doctor and was working on getting 4 more months of documents (5 visits in total). Unfortunately, with several reschedules (on the doctor's side) and my increase travel by August I had only seen the doctor three times and I had no idea how to go about getting the additional tests I needed for the surgeon since they didn't seem to provide any help.
Sooo... I decided to start fresh. I started to research new surgeons and found that a great bariatric institute that had just started another office closer to my home. (I had originally thought about going to them, but since they were an hour away I decided not t0). I gave them a call in late August and have been doing follow-up visits almost weekly!!
The new surgeon's office is great! In my first visit I found that I didn't even need the missing documentation since my insurance company had changed the requirements early in the year (grr...). They also set up appointments for my endoscope, physiological review, and nutritionist - with people in their same office. It was so nice to have help with the process instead of being sent out and told to come back after you and talk to us when you are done with everything.
The great news is that, as of yesterday, I passed my physiological review with flying colors and have been approved for "fast track" surgery. This means no group therapy or support groups over the next few months to slow things down. So as long as my scope shows no medical problems I should be able to have surgery in Nov!!!
I am soooo happy to be finally to this point!!
No comments:
Post a Comment