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I have finally completed all of the requirements and jumped through all of the hoops, and my file was submitted to my insurance company today! I will be waiting on pins and needles until I get that approval!

How long does it usually take to get an answer? And once approved, how far out was your surgery scheduled?

Thanks!

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It can take anywhere from 24 hours to a month. It depends on the insurance company. Though, people with UHC, from what I have heard, normally hear back with a week. Good luck!

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I have finally completed all of the requirements and jumped through all of the hoops, and my file was submitted to my insurance company today! I will be waiting on pins and needles until I get that approval!

How long does it usually take to get an answer? And once approved, how far out was your surgery scheduled?

Thanks!

Ins companies vary, but once papers are received and processed, and auth usually takes 10-15 business days. Once the auth is granted, it is up to the surgeon to schedule and set up your surgery date that must be at least another 2 weeks after the dr has you scheduled for surgery. You will be placed on a Preop Diet for the 2 weeks in order to shrink your liver and basically detox the body of fats/carbs that have been in your system--you will feel much better in recovery from doing the PreOp Diet. Good luck with everything. Ronda :D

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Thanks for the replies everyone! I am so nervous, need to keep busy and try not to think about it. I have met all of their requirements, and my surgeon submitted a letter stating he thinks I am a perfect candidate for this procedure, so hopefully the answer will be positive!

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Mine was submitted Monday. I am on pins and needles too! I am so afraid something will go wrong. I have not done very well on the 6 months diet. I went to the doctor every month, but have only lost a tolal of 8 lbs. I keep thinking that they will understand that if I could do this on my own, I would not be asking for approval.I am trying to focus on just getting the word that it has been approved, but the fear of the surgery itself still sneaks in too. i hope you hear soon that everything is ready and you get your date very soon. Kathy

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KristinaRN, I have Cigna and my paperwork was submitted on Good Friday in the afternoon. I had my answer by Monday afternoon of the following week. I am still waiting for my surgery, however, as my surgeon is just so busy his first open appointment was July 5 which has now been pushed back to July 7th.

Dawn

I have finally completed all of the requirements and jumped through all of the hoops, and my file was submitted to my insurance company today! I will be waiting on pins and needles until I get that approval!

How long does it usually take to get an answer? And once approved, how far out was your surgery scheduled?

Thanks!

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What insurance do you have? Mine was submitted on 6-6 and was approved on 6-7. Of course I didn't know this, so I had called a week later (to my insurance company for status) and was told I was approved on the 7th. Of course I got my letter in the mail the next day. LOL

Find out how your paperwork was submitted. If faxed in, call your ins today to check status/to make sure they got the paperwork. Once they tell you if you are approved or denied, ask them to fax you a copy of the letter. I have BCBS of Texas. They were very nice and faxed me and my surgeon a letter and congratulated me too. :-)

BTW, I do medical billing for a living, so call them daily if you want too. Don't be scared of your insurance company. Ask questions, they don't mind.

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The only type of approval I needed was for the insurance department of the hospital to call BCBS and "verify my benefits." I was instantly approved. It took my insurance lady maybe 3 hours to call me back and let me know. I was approved last friday, and since my suregon is out of town this week, I won't be able to schedule anything until Monday because he has to sign off on my chart.

Everyone is definitely different with how long it takes in this process. Mine, luckily, has been very speedy!

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Mine was the culmination of 4 years trying to get my revision surgery done. Just so happy I finally had the surgery on 5/31. I went through a bunch of hell in order to get this surgery. You just have to never give up and always stay on top of each level of progress in your treatment and care. :rolleyes: Ronda

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Mine was being sent to the insurance company today!! I am so nervous. I have done everything that is required of me so I hope the approval is not a problem. I already have my surgery date for July 19th.

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With you having a surgery date, I would think your auth should be in place very soon. Good luck.:D Ronda

Mine was being sent to the insurance company today!! I am so nervous. I have done everything that is required of me so I hope the approval is not a problem. I already have my surgery date for July 19th.

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      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. LeighaTR

        I hope your surgery on Wednesday goes well. You will be able to do all sorts of new things as you find your new normal after surgery. I don't know this from experience yet, but I am seeing a lot of positive things from people who have had it done. Best of luck!

    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
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