YaYaJae

I started the process on my own as well. All I had to do was attend a seminar for 3 hours to get everything started. What I'm saying is that in order for Medicaid to "pay" for the surgery a letter from your PCP along with everything else stated above is required. They will give you a checklist when you go to your appt or seminar letting you know what is needed.
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oh okay. I have done the seminar. I have GERD and my doctor on recently asked me about my sleeping. next will be sleep study. I think things will go smoothly.

@Inner Surfer Girl I will go out and buy a notebook tomorrow. Thank You.

yesss... I have started on my research and i will continue. And thank you so much.
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@cb11 thats good. & thanks

Hi YaYa! I'm in Raleigh, NC. I started my process in Feb. and I will have my surgery June 22.
At my first doctor's visit, the office looked up my insurance and told me exactly how much my part would be. Unfortunately I have a large deductible. Some insurance plans will have you go through a 3 or 6 month diet before surgery, however, I did not!
My hospital has everyone go to 3 nutrition classes before surgery and you have a lot of medical appointments to go to. I had a psychological exam, an endoscopy, a sleep study, an ultrasound of my gallbladder and monthly surgeon visits. I also had to go to 2 support group meetings, provide a 5 year weight history and get a letter from my primary care physician. It took me about 3 months to get all that done and another month waiting for paperwork and approval for surgery.
Waiting for all the appointments seemed to take forever, but here I am, next week I'm going to start my 2 week liquid diet (to shrink my liver to make it easier for surgery, not everyone has to do this). So excited that I decided to do this for myself.
About selecting my surgeon. We have a couple of top notch programs where I live, but only one took my insurance. I had three surgeons to choose from, and ther were videos on their website where each surgeon spoke about himself. I liked that my surgeon had been doing these surgeries for a few years, but he was a bit younger, I think they're more likely to be up to date on the newest techniques. When I met with him, I asked him how many bariatric surgeries he does and he said about 6 a week - which I liked, it sounded like he knows what he is doing.

Hey,
My name is YaYa. I am 21. I am from Little Rock, AR. I am schedule for a seminar in July.
At this moment I just want to know the journey to surgery date.
What did you all go through that you wished you had known?
Insurance?
Pay out of Pocket? Monthly billing?
How you went about selecting your surgeon?
Tips for preparing for the surgery
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