after starting this process in January, going through a 6 month supervised diet program and a psychiatric evaluation, i've been approved for surgery on august 30th. i was hoping for an earlier surgery. i have been asking my surgeon's office since April to schedule me earlier and they refused until they officially received my approval letter. i'm a teacher and was really hoping to go through the surgical and recovery process while out for summer break. i'm thinking about switching doctors so that i can have the surgery earlier.

so thankful to be approved, but also disappointed that it's for august 30th. kind of pissed off actually since i practically begged the doctors office to schedule me earlier. has anyone had any luck changing doctors in order to get an earlier surgery date?

My advice is to kill the nurse or coordinator in charge of scheduling with kindness and calm them everyother day to "check the status" of cancellations....yes, I am advising you to STALK the office.

That is what I did. When I went in for my consult, I was given the soonest appointment they had, which was Aug 17th but after I got approved on 6/21, I kept calling and asking if there was any luck with getting a sooner date and by the 4th call...she finally said YES and now my surgery is on Monday 7/26.

So, just be sure to be nice to the people in the office and keep calling! They may be able to move you up and if that doesnt work, I would speak with the doctor directly and explain that you would prefer to have surgery with her versus another office but you need it done before school starts.

Good luck!

hey hutchandmarleysmama, you must have misunderstood me. i have completed all the insurance requirements, been approved, received the approval letter and everything. there are several people on this blog who have been scheduled before they receive their approval letters. while each doctors office is different, i really hope they would make an exception and allow me to schedule my surgery earlier. after all they anticipated me being approved otherwise they wouldn't have suggested i go through the 6 month supervised diet. i'm just really mad (but thankful to God) that i have been approved. my husband has been the voice of reason and just said be patient so i guess i just need to do that. i'm going to call tomorrow and see what happens.

Scheduling is at the discretion of the doctors office, not the insurance company. when i was approved the insurance company didn't know the surgery date because the doctors office still hadn't scheduled it.

Oh Gosh I am sorry! I did misunderstand you! I went back and reread your original post! I thought you were still doing the 6 month diet program! That is where I was saying it was up to the insurance to have everything submitted first!

Again, I am so sorry! Been a loooooong week!

Oh Gosh I am sorry! I did misunderstand you! I went back and reread your original post! I thought you were still doing the 6 month diet program! That is where I was saying it was up to the insurance to have everything submitted first!

Again, I am so sorry! Been a loooooong week!

Hey hutch&marleysmama, it' been a long week for me as well, sorry for biting your head off I was pissed that day. I'm normally nice. Anyway the date has been moved to August 16, still hoping for something earlier. Good luck with your insurance-approval process.

My advice is to kill the nurse or coordinator in charge of scheduling with kindness and calm them everyother day to "check the status" of cancellations....yes, I am advising you to STALK the office.

That is what I did. When I went in for my consult, I was given the soonest appointment they had, which was Aug 17th but after I got approved on 6/21, I kept calling and asking if there was any luck with getting a sooner date and by the 4th call...she finally said YES and now my surgery is on Monday 7/26.

So, just be sure to be nice to the people in the office and keep calling! They may be able to move you up and if that doesn't work, I would speak with the doctor directly and explain that you would prefer to have surgery with her versus another office but you need it done before school starts.

Good luck!

Congrats to you, I remember seeing post when you were waiting for approval. My question to you is how were you able to do the pre-surgery diet, with only a few days notice before your surgery?

Yes, I am always nice to the staff at my doctors office, honestly they are absolutely wonderful, I couldn't ask for a better group of people to help me through this.I just have this one, tiny problem with the date. In fact when I emailed the nurse yesterday, I reiterated that I didn't want to be rude, I just wanted some clarification.

Good idea and stalking, that sounds funny. I actually haven't spoken to the nurse in months, we correspond through email, so I'll be using email to stalk her daily.

I hope it works out for you ltm, and you score a cancellation appointment. I would hate to start a new school year with sick days! It seems they might have taken your position into consideration and penciled you in pending approval.

I also wanted my surgery asap, and it's not happening. I was led to believe being self-pay cut out the hassle and hurried things along. wrong! lol

I began my journey at a seminar in April, called the doc office the next day. I was disappointed to have to wait until May 27th for an appt with the surgeon. For the past 2 months I have been squeezing in the pre-req tests, taking personal time off work. So far I have met with a GP (recommended by my surgeon) who did my EKG and helped schedule blood work, endoscopy, colonoscopy (due to low iron) chest x-ray, abdominal ultrasound, mammogram (just because), RFT/pulmonary testing, sleep study and psychiatric exam, the latter 2 still pending. I don't have a tentative date for surgery yet. I'm afraid by the time my psych exam rolls around I will truly be a mental case.

Hang in there!

Thank, you hang in as well. I went to a seminar in December 2009 and am having surgery 8 months later. Boy that was a long process, but now I can say it was truly work the wait. I didn't have to do any of the tests you mentioned.

Good luck to you

Hey hutch&marleysmama, it' been a long week for me as well, sorry for biting your head off I was pissed that day. I'm normally nice. Anyway the date has been moved to August 16, still hoping for something earlier. Good luck with your insurance-approval process.

No worries! We are good! I wasnt even thinking you were a mean person! I think that all the stress of this process adds to the stress of everyday life, so I dont take offense!

Congrats on getting it moved up sooner! I will say a prayer that it gets moved up a little sooner for you!