What To Expect In The First Consultation.

[LadyKay22 0]

Hello Everyone,

I am new to this site and I have enjoyed reading many posts. I have my first consultation on April 9th. What usually happens in that first meeting? Before I was given an appointment, I had to fill out about 20 - 25 pages of information and return it to the Surgeons office, Is that normal?

I am meeting with the surgeon and the nutritionist on the same day, at my first consultation, is that normal? I am excited about starting the process, but I am also very anxious.

I have already completed most of the pre-requisites that my insurance requires. I think the only one that I have not completed is a psychiatric evaluation.

Any information would be helpful.

Thank you!

[jen_1381 446]

Welcome LadyKay!

The program I am going through is totally different. I think different places prefer different approaches.

For me, I went to the seminar, then filled out a 10 page packet about me and faxed it into the surgery coordinator. After she got it, she got the pre-approval from my insurance company and verified my benefits. I then set my appointment to meet (all in 4 hour session) with the Nutritional Educator (learned about the procedure and diet afterwards), the Internal Medicine doctor to clear me for surgery, the Nutritional Educator again for a 1:1 reviewing my diet, 3 day food log, and what my personalized Pre-Bariatric Surgery Diet is. I then had a 1 hour class on Physical Education where a Physical Therapist taught us the fendamentals for exercising to optimize weight loss.

Once I got medical clearance (that is key) I then got the green light to see the psychriatrist for the psych eval which is two parts; today I took a series of tests (700+ questions) and next Monday I will meet with her 1:1 to make sure I'm mentally fit for surgery.

After alllll of that, I can finally see a surgeon. Luckily, seeing the surgeon is one of the last steps. After that, it's just one Pre-Operative Class, final insurance approval, then surgery. I'm hoping for a late April / early May date, but that could change. I started my Pre Bariatric Surgery diet on March 22nd (not to be confused with the Pre-Op 2-4 week of all skim milk diet I have to do right before surgery). It's super easy, and it's set up to prove that the patient can be compliant with an eating program and also be successful at losing weight. So far in 5 days I've lost 5.8 lbs.

I've only been at this whle process for 3 1/2 weeks and have made huge progress by being really on-the-ball. I'm weeks ahead of the timeline they gave us.

Sorry, I've said a lot, but just hold your head high and go along for the ride! Stay focused on the goal of surgery and time will fly by.

[LadyKay22 0]

Thank you jen_1381. That was extremely helpful. I hope I can move along as quick as you have.

What insurance do you have? Is the program regulated by the insurance or the surgeons office?

[jen_1381 446]

I have United Healthcare. It's a program through the local hospital. You can't make an appointment to see a bariatric surgeon without first going through the steps. Its very structured and you're either in and committed, or out. You can't do one thing before another. Honestly, I know the band has about a 15-20% compliance failure rate and I don't know how with this program. It's so informative and actually kind of strict.

[NWgirl 574]

I have Anthem BCBS and the process went pretty quickly for me. I was scheduled for orientation on Jan 17 where they bring all of the weight loss surgery patients in together and talk about the surgery types, benefits, etc etc etc. At the orientation, we also took a 370 question Psych test that was reviewed by the psychologist prior to meeting.

I was required to fax my insurance ID card in prior to attending the orientation so they could verify I was actually eligible for WLS. I was also mailed a large packet to have filled out and ready to submit on orientation day.

After orientation, I was scheduled to come in over a period of two or three days to meet with the nutritionist, psychologist, nurse practitioner, and physical therapist. Some practices actually schedule patients to try and get all appointments required done in one or two days, since there are so many people to get clearance from. I also was required to get a sleep study done (surgeon requirement, not insurance). After completing all other steps, I met with the surgeon prior to approval submission.

I was not required to do any supervised diet through insurance. I was submitted for pre-certification in early February and received approval in approx. two weeks. My surgeon only does banding on a certain day of the week and was booked through March for band dates. They worked with my time off schedule and I was able to go in as the first patient on a day when she usually does other types of WLS.

[LadyKay22 0]

Thank you for the information. It does seem like a fairly quick process. I have CareFirst BCBS and have met most of the pre-requisites. The one that I beleive would drag the process out is the 6 month of supervised dieting, but I have already completed.

So far I have attended an informational seminar, sent the surgeons office a copy of my insurance card and completed and returned a huge 20-25 page packet of papers.

I would love to have a surgery date in May or June, but I do not know how realistic that is.