cathychatts

Thanks for the information Green! You are correct, it is Dr. Jamie Ponce, you must be in either GA or TN. I understand he is quite the expert in bands so it is worth waitng for. I was scheduled for May 17 and then they changed it to June 6 so Dr. Ponce could be there. I feel honored that he will be at my surgery. Lucky ME!

I found out I am getting a new Realize Band, a Dr Ponce is flying into my city to "Proctor" my surgeon. After the first one the surgeon will be using the new band on his own. Boy, am I glad to get the "expert" in my operating room! Two for the price of one. They actually pushed the date of my surgery from May 14 to June 6 so this guy can be there. I won't complain though! Just so happy to be in line for surgery and approved by the insurance!

My Band date is June 6:party:, I was originally scheduled for:cry_smile: May 14, but the date was moved so a “Proctor” surgeon :confused2:can be at my surgery. They are going to be using the newest Realize Band and they are having the “expert” at my surgery for the final training on this band. I don’t know much about the band or how new it is, but the doctors all have to have one of these “proctors” there at the first surgery they use this new band. I was told I will be getting “2 surgeons” :confused2:for the price:Banane14: of one. The special doctor’s name is Dr. Ponce, he works for Realize. Anyway, now my date is June 6. I am looking so forward to this!:biggrin: I am so happy to be a Jazzy June! I:thumbup: LOOK forward to meeting you all!:smile2:

:rolleyes2::confused_smile:I found out today that my surgery date has been moved to early June. :confused: I was kinda bummed until they told me why. I am going to get a new Realize band and they are flying :plane:in a teaching special surgeon to work with mine to put the band in. They say it is a new and improved version. So I will be satisified to be a June Bug! Goodbye and Best of luck to you All!:cry_smile:

Hello all you Mayflowers! Remember the Mayflower is the ship that brought the pilgrims to a new land! :thumbup: As you can see my avatar is a woman, old and haggard or young and beautiful, it depends on how you look at her! We all have that beautiful woman inside… now let’s show her to the world! I live in Kingsport, Tennessee. I have been single again for 18 years:mellow:; I was married for 20 years:rolleyes2:. I have two grown children (a boy and a girl), two grandchildren (boy and girl) and one on the way (another little girl.) I am a Senior Instructor at a Technology College, I teach Business. In a nutshell, I train Medical and Legal secretaries. I have been here for 9 years in August. Before that I owned a custom picture frame shop. I have had weight issues my entire life, beginning as a toddler. I was lactose intolerant as a baby and that has followed me through life. Now, I am intolerant to eggs, milk, oats, peanuts, onions, lettuce, strawberries and cantaloupe! That leaves very little to work with, but I will succeed! I am positive and proactive a:thumbup::thumbup:nd a motivator. This is a journey I am looking so forward to and will support each of you, as I look forward to your support. :tt2:

Carrie, What type of plan do you have. I have a POS through the state of Tennessee. I teach for a college here. I am so glad :biggrin2: I chose the Cigna plan, because if I had chosen Blue Cross/Blue Shield I would have had to pay 20%.:tt2: Since my Doc and Hospital are "in network" I only have a CO-Pay. I wish you luck! Keep me informed!:thumbup:

:thumbup: MAY 14 IS MY DAY TO BE SET FREE!

I am from Kingsport, Tennessee. That is in north east Tennessee, part of the Tri-cities.

I got my insurance approval April 21 and my surgery date is May 14! I am so very, very Happy!:thumbup:

Congratulations Carrie, looks like we won't be far apart. I am so excited. You mentioned co-insurance. I think I only have to pay $100 to the hospital and then a co-pay to the Dr of $25. :thumbup:I will begin a Low carb diet on the 1st of May and then liquids for 2 days before surgery! I am so happy!

yea! :scared2: I am approved! I got the authorization number and all.:thumbup: Earlier today they said I had to do the 6 month diet program over.... The insurance clerk sent more information and BAM... the overturned the denial!:tongue::tongue2::thumbup:. I have a date! May 14! Good luck to all of you and don't give up!:rolleyes2:

I got a denial letter for lack of 6 month diet and then I called to see exactly what I needed for the documentation. I was ready to begin the process all over again. When they got to my authorizations, low and behold, I had an authorization number. It had been over-ruled by a letter and 6 more pages of documentation the surgeon's office had sent! :scared2::lol:I am so excited. I can't wait to get a surgery date! It will be sometime very soon! :tongue2::rolleyes2:

I am having problems getting approved. I was denied on April 16 because they needed a letter of medical necessity. A rep from Cigna indicated that was all they needed. I pray that I can get an appeal going quickly. I hate this waiting game!

I don't think my Doctor is going to use the "no-port-band" I suppose it is the new APS band. I sounds like it has been out about a year now, and the clerk at the office said this would not be available until May. Is their a new version of the band just becoming available?

My doc's office said, as of the 1st of May they will be using a new type of band that is new and improved. I found something about one of them going all the way around and one that was wider and had less chance of slippage. I am getting impatient and the office assistant said it was good that I had to wait because of this improved band. I suppose it is right, there is good in everything... even waiting!

does anyone know anything about a new, improved type of band?

The Insurance clerk at my doc's office called today and said Cigna had denied me because of the 6 months. I have been in 2 different programs, but neither consecutive, but they did overlap and go 6 months... anyway, :huh2:someone from Cigna called the doc's office and asked for my home phone number and said she knew what they were looking for and wanted to give me advice... she also has had weight loss surgery. So the insurance clerk got together the records according to what she was told and faxed them today. So, I really don't know where I stand right now. :biggrin: Another interesting thing the doc's office told me was that beginning May 1 they are going to begin using a new type of band. I don't know anything about the type of bands. :rolleyes2: Good Luck to you! And thanks for the support and encouragement!:tongue:

I just called Cigna, my paperwork (100 pages) faxed on the 10th, received by them on the 12th, and the rep said it is pending already! :biggrin2: She said that is very quick, that she was surprised that it was moving so quickly! Yea!!!!:thumbup: Wish me luck! :thumbup:

I just called Cigna and was told that my claim was pending. The rep said she was surprised because it usually took longer. My information was faxed on the 10th of April and received on the 12th by them. She said it was very quick that the case was pending. The insurance clerk at the doctor's office faxed over 100 pages. It is looking good! :thumbup:

I just called Cigna and they have not even received the paperwork from my Surgeon's office. The clerk has not even sent it yet. That really bums me out! :frown:

Hi Carrie: I also have Cigna through the State of Tennesse. You can go to the web site for Cigna and find information concerning the surgery going to this link http://www.cigna.com/customer_care/healthcare_professional/coverage_positions/medical/mm_0051_coveragepositioncriteria_bariatric_surgery.pdf or just call the phone number on the back of your card. I have called several times. I had a little difficulty getting them to pay for the phyc evaluation, but I did succeed after a few trys. That is covered by Cigna, not the Megellan, because it is a requirement for the surgery. Your mental health carrier will deny it. There was no "in network" provider available so they arranged it with the Doctor of my choice. They will also pay for the nutrionist and the 6 month diet plan also. You just have to be sure the provider codes everything correctly. Be sure to call Cigna yourself, it makes it much easier to get things moving. I have completed all the necessary visit, test, paperwork and now just waiting for the surgeon's office to submit. I even called Cigna to see if the paperwork had arrived and they happily checked for me. The main thing to remember is to be nice :mellow:when asking and they will bend over backwards to help. It is hard to be sweet sometimes when we are so aggitated, but it does work. Good luck! :ohmy:

My surgeon's office is going to submit my paperwork today. I hope I don't encounter too many problems. I fought with them over my phyc evaluation and they finally got it approved... and then they didn't pay. Their communication sucks.:biggrin:

I am so looking forward to this surgery and so ready to get rid of the weight. I actually gained 15 lbs to get my BMI over 40 for Insurance... I am kinda ashamed of that :thumbup: but it serves me right, now I can't take the weight off. :w00t: I hope to get my approval soon and may have to do the extra 6 months. I hope I don't but if I do... anyway. Good luck to those of you who are being banded soon. And Indio girl, you are quiet an instiration. I hope i do half as good as you, I am tring to get thing together so I will be ready and as soon as I get the ok from the nurse I hope to begin a pre-op diet. I notice that many loose significaitly before surgery. i will gladly diet if I know I won't gain it back so easily. My body resist loosing any of itself. I think my fat cells have minds of their own:confused2: I am so hopeful now after reading the post here and getting all the good advice and suggestions. I thank all of you!

This tread looks very interesting... I can't wait to get off work tonight and read it!

I hope everyone had a nice Easter. I am making progress toward being banded. I hope to have everything ready for insurance on Wed. I will have the gallbaldder then. I have done both of the informational meetings, the one-one-one nutritionist session, phycological evaluation, sleep evaluation, group support meeting, pap, mamogram, I have completed 5 months in a doctor supervised program and 3 months with my general doc when she gave me phentramine. I pray that is enough! I have a BMI of 41 and have sleep apnea, osteoarthitis in the knees, gerd and asthma. Surely I will get approved! I finally toldy my Boyfriend about this and I was shocked that he was so supportive. I expceted him to be a problem. His only concern was he wants to loose weight too. I told him I was afraid to tell him in case he only liked "fat girls" Silly me. :wub: Maybe I have found a good one for a change. Have any of you seen the programs on The TLC channel with Paul McKenna? I am going to give the things he talked about a try. It seems like it can go hand in Hand with the band.