sunnkistme

That sounds like a fantastic policy, I am envious!

There are many variations in policies from the same company. You might have an amazing plan that covers everything. My BCBS plan does not. Have you been billed for all of your testing co-pays? Do you have a co-pay for the surgeon, the anesthesiologist, other specialists? Here is a breakdown of my policy: 2 office visits paid annually plus the annual check ups and testing (thanks to the ACA) initial 2500.00 in other costs are paid by me after 2500.00 deductible is met I have to pay 45.00 per basic office visit or 35% if the cost is more. 35% of all testing, x-ray, etc..Up until I reach 5500. My max out of pocket is 8000. All of the pre-op testing has brought me very close to the 8000.

I have been doing the six month supervised diet as required by BS and have been challenged to even stay where I am. After taking diet pills for years to stay at 225 I developed a reaction to phentermine and could not take it anymore. After I got past the withdrawal period I started to try to at least maintain at 235. At my last appointment I was at 246. Last night, as I was taking my celexa, I remembered that about the same time I started exploring WLS, my dosage of celexa was increased and I changed from taking it only when I felt like I needed it to taking it everyday. Needless to say I cut back to my previous dosage and am going to ask my Dr about other options.

My insurance has several requirements including a psych eval,6 months supervised diet/exercise. My surgeon also has ordered tests a test that has not been covered - the one where you swallow barium and the pop rocks to make your stomach poof up. BCBS has denied the charges for these services. Any advice?

My surgeon said I might have to go off the prescription strength Ibuprofen I have been taking for a long time. But it was not a firm rule he says it is more important to listen to my body. He does want me off the NSAID pre-op and while my stomach is healing. At an appointment today my neurosurgeon talked about using liquid Ibuprofen, but could not find the information on prescription strength liquid. Does anyone out there know if they make a liquid adult Ibuprofen.

I have decided that I will need to look at the surgery like quitting smoking. I was addicted to cigarettes, I am addicted to food. I know that if I smoke again the addiction will come back. When I quit smoking I looked at all the failed attempts as practice and I used medication as a tool to help me quit. I will use the surgery as a tool to help me control my addiction to the foods that make me unhealthy. When I quit smoking there were a few people that I could not continue having a relationship with because I realized when I did not have the crutch of going out side to smoke they were no longer people I could tolerate. I know their will be those people around me again. I did not tell everyone when I quit smoking and I will not tell everyone about the surgery. The people who are important to me have been incredibly supportive. The only people I have not told are my parents. I am 52 years old and scared to tell my mom..Oh dear, no where near as mature as I thought.

I am going to go through insurance, but it seems that by the time I get through co pays and deductible I will have spent almost as much as Mexico would cost. I will be out of pocket 8500.00 before insurance payss 100% f your insurance is marginal, not being covered might not be a huge financial difference.

I have my cardiology test next week. It is a cardiac stress test so I thought originally I was supposed to get on a treadmill. When they actually read the test it was a chemical stress test that was ordered. I am going in for the two day test now. An hour on day one. IV something to induce stress...then I ma not sure what is done on day two.

I am right at 40 BMI, My surgeon is doing my six month supervised diet. He advised that I weigh right at 40 for my nutrition appointment and then can lose as much as possible. I am looking at Ocober for my six months to be up.

It sounds like they may have just given you "not medically necessary" instead of didn't jump through the right 6 month hoop! Your can appeal or go through the 6 months and try again. Somewhere on here someone said BC/BS was no longer demanding the six months. I thought it was too good to be true.

I think that phentermine is a great crutch. Remove it and you fall right back into old habits. I had used it several times over the years but always regained what I lost plus 5 more pounds when I quit the phentermine. The last time I tried it I broke out in hives. I kind of think of the hives as a blessing as I finally made a decision to pursue surgery.

I am halfway through my 6 month supervised diet. I have had all but two pre-op tests. Initially I did not tell anyone and had felt I needed to keep it that way, but with so much time off for appointments, I felt like I had to say something to my supervisor. I told two friends at work who I swore to secrecy. I was afraid to tell my adult daughter and her husband as they are usually negative about that kind of thing. I was so surprised when they offered total support and encouragement. My daughter even called the next day to tell me that she would be there to support me in any way she could. I feel that the people who need to know are actually supportive (one of my friends is supporting me so she can have all the clothes that do not fit anymore )

I am worried that my insurance will not approve me for the surgery. Beyond that I am mostly excited. Ok, my other big concern is sag. I seem to already have an over abundance of sag and wrinkles. But the benefits are well worth the sag. I would love to get the surgery part over with! I let myself gain 10 pounds (not hard to do) so I could be at 40 BMI. Now nothing fits and I am really uncomfortable. Whenever I lift something I think about carrying that amount of fat around. The lowest weight I have been as an adult was about a week at 190..I can't wait to see what it feels like to climb stairs without 100 extra pounds.

I will be sleeved in October. I am so glad people know to expect hair loss with the extreme weightloss. Back in the 80's I was a hairstylist. One of my clients had WLS and was sure it was my fault her hair started falling out. I gave her free treatments for a year. LOL I had no idea extreme weight loss could be a cause of hair loss.

I am thinking of taking three weeks and then coming back 1/2 time for a week or two depending on how I feel. I am a little worried about pushing myself to get back and not taking the time to mentally adjust before going back to a stressful work environment. I have enough benefit time to take 12 weeks if I need to.

I have OA with abundant spinal bone spurs. I am very concerned about tools for OA pain management post surgery. I have managed to not use narcotic pain killers for the OA, but my surgeon said I might have to since NSAIDS might harm my stomach.

I too will have surgery planned in late October or early November. BCBS requires 6 months of physician supervised diet. I saw my surgeon two days ago and he wanted to schedule right away. I reminded him of the 6 months. I get my psych eval this Monday and the Cardiac test on Wednesday. My NUT appt is in two weeks. I have been tracking my food but not worried about losing until after my NUT appt. My BMI is right at 40 so I am being careful to not make any drastic changes until after the NUT appt. My surgeon is doing the supervised diet. Biggest post surgery worry I have is what I will be able to take for my arthritis..

I absolutely have the same fear too. I can no longer afford not to. I have bee putting it off for a few months but have to get with the program.

I too have BCBS Ca. I am in month two of my 6 month supervised diet. I am right at the edge with my BMI the Dr says I must weigh my exact same weight when I go to the nutritionist and then I will need to focus on getting where I need to be. I am worried that I will go through all of this and then be denied because my BMI is too low. Right now I do not have any typical co-morbidity other than rather debilitating arthritis.

Missing food is one of my biggest worries. I appreciate your honesty and would also like to hear updates if you do or do not seek some professional support. I am several months out from surgery (even approval for surgery). I am going to try going to one of the support groups within the next few weeks because I want to know how others are dealing with the loss of the relationship with food.

I have been thinking about surgery for years but always felt it was soooo expensive and my weight wasn't THAT bad. After a lifetime of obesity this year it got THAT bad. I decided that this was the year to make a change. I will end my 6 months supervised diet in October. My BMI is 39.5 to 40.2 usually. Each calendar year between copays and deductables, I have to pay 8000.00 out of pocket at which point my insurance covers 100%. For the first time ever, I will be about at 100% by August. I can not come up with 8000.00 again next year if they successfully put me off until 2015. Has anyone had experience with this situation.Now that I am determined to have WLS the what if's are making me worried.

Thanks for the input. I had not thought the surgeons office would or could be a problem.