Brad86

Just got my date. I go 6/13!

Blue Cross Blue Shield Alabama has pre approved my surgery. I also have Medicaid as secondary insurance. Do I have to have a pre-approval from medicaid as well, or is preapproval waived since it’s secondary insurance to a procedure being covered by primary?

I went today for my cardiac consult. Is it normal for the cardiologist to want to do LOTS of testing? They are doing a echo of my heart, making me wear a halter monitor for a week, and doing a stress test. If I wind up having congestive heart failure, will bypass potentially be off the table?

On 10/14/2021 at 17:48, Maroux said:

Hello!

I'm back, now 4.5 days since learning I was en route for the gastric sleeve journey, end of next year.

At first, I was delighted, then freaked out, and now I'm at the stage where I have 100's of random questions...

So I'll label them with letters to make it easy to reply, if you want to just quote the letters . Here we go...

A - Meds

1- If you're on meds for depression, can you still take them after the operation or do they go through your system?

2- Still on meds : when you have a headache, can you still take tablets? (I'm pretty sure half the stomach is taken, but I can keep the brain)

B - Living alone

1. After I get discharged from the hospital, can I go down a couple of steps (to get home)

2. My bed is elevated. Right now, it's a national sport to get on and off it because of my weight. Is it possible to manoeuvre getting in and out of bed without help shortly after the op?

3. Now the embarrassing one: Erm. What about bathroom breaks? Can you wipe?

4. How long after the op can you take a shower?

C - Work

1. I know everyone is different, but how long after the op are you sufficiently pain-free and physically able to work a full day and concentrate on your tasks?

2. When the office is open again (not fully open in Ireland yet), I usually go to work on a bicycle: how long after the op would you say it is possible to get on a bike and cycle?

So, these are my questions after only 4.5 days. Brace yourself for more in the next year! Luckily there are only so many letters in the alphabet!

Thank you in advance for your replies!

Maroux

Has anyone used AL Medicaid for surgery? What was your experience? Any hints or tips?

Hey guys. Looking for some success stories and tips for getting approved via Alabama Medicaid.

20 hours ago, NovaLuna said:

Originally I was also going to use a different surgeon, but they had a wait list that would have made me wait three more months and COVID hit around that time so my surgery would have undoubtedly been delayed so I'm glad I went with a different surgeon. It worked out in the end and I'm incredibly happy with my results. It may be a different choice from your original, but I hope it works out as well for you as it did for me! I hope the rest of your journey is much smoother!

Actually, the surgeon now was an original choice. So I’m very lucky! When my journey started, he didn’t accept Medicaid. Now he does.

Hey guys. New here. On Medicaid only and starting the long road to approval. I’m currently 34, 418 lbs, 6’0. I have high blood pressure, sleep apnea, diabetes (type II), and high cholesterol. I started in January seeing a doctor for my 6 month physician led weight loss attempt and documentation. I was on adipex as well as lipotropic injections through them. My first visit was in January and I was at 413. I hovered 399-413 over the first 5 months, and on my 7th visit in September, weighed in at my highest of 418. I spoke with a physician in Huntsville at the beginning of my journey and they told me to go ahead and complete my 6 month plan, and then come to them for the rest. I called them and was bummed to find they recently stopped taking patients with Medicaid only. I was heartbroken. I had searched for years to find this physician. However, the recommended a doctor to me who ended up being my long term family surgeon. He just recently began accepting Medicaid only patients for bariatric surgery. I got a referral for a cardiology consult and psych consult. Going to psych next week and hopefully cardio as well. Then will get to meet with the surgeon. Praying so hard everything goes well.