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So my surgeons office is usually on point. My last appt was march 15th and I was told my paperwork would be submitted either that Friday latest Monday. Here it is Thursday, and no word so of course I called. The receptionst said they would call me back... That was 4 1/2 hours ago... They are open until 7pm but I'm just so anxious. I am having my sleeve performed by Dr Muhammad feteiha (he's super cool). As I said before I am tentatively scheduled for April 9th. My two week liquid diet is supposed to start Monday... Guess I'll start it just to get a feel and get a head start just in case I am approved!!!

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Call your insurance company yourself. I got tired of waiting for my surgeon's cronies (I am not known for my patience, and at that point had already been delayed about 4 months) and had my insurance company on speed dial. Just tell them your surgeon's office was supposed to have submitted a surigcal preauthorization and you wanted to make sure it had arrived.

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Did that this morning lol. They said they had nothing yet. It could take a week to show up in the system. So Monday I'll be calling both again unless I get some kind of response today... I'm hoping my surgeons office sent it off.

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I'm sure you will, but stay on top of them & be your own advocate. I trusted my surgeon's people to get it done properly, and as a result my approval took over 4 months longer than it needed to.

Go on your liquid diet first, so you're grouchy when you call. ;)

(I ended up driving to my surgeon's office and surprise visiting the coordinator. She didn't appreciate it, and I didn't care. After that, she called me within 5 minutes each time she faxed something, and I always called to confirm they had received.)

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That exact same thing happened to me. I was tentatively schedule for April 4 and my preop diet was about to start. I was calling the insurance company for a week and they said they haven't received anything. On Monday (of this week), I called my surgeon's office. Tuesday the surgery coordinator called back that morning telling me everything was in and they had it. She said that sometimes it's not noted in the system until it is up for review. On that same day, two hours later, I received a call that I was approved. The next day is when my preop diet started.

Good luck!! Hang in there!!

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atkinsoncl ...I am hoping that is the case with me, they are working my case and everything pulls through asap

Wheetsin.. great advise I would hate to be swept by the wayside... I'm pushing until I get what I want without being rude of course!

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atkinsoncl ...I am hoping that is the case with me' date=' they are working my case and everything pulls through asap

Wheetsin.. great advise I would hate to be swept by the wayside... I'm pushing until I get what I want without being rude of course![/quote']

I know! It sure is a tough waiting process, especially when it is preop diet time. Hoping things speed up quickly for you.

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Did you ask them about your turnaround time for a response?

My first submission was with Cigna. Thir policy is at least 20 business days, up to 30, before they let you know. And sure enough they took 29 days.

Second submission was to BCBS. I asked them how long and they told me, "A few days." I thought she was kidding. Submitted on a Friday, had approval Tuesday (IIRC).

Best of luck to you. :)

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No, I hadn't asked them because they were unable to see the file in their system so I was assuming it wasn't faxed by my surgeons office. Now that I know it has been that's my next question

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Awesome!! Now just to hear the words you are waiting for :) . Good luck!

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Update... My case has been opened a.d the turn around time is 5 days 15 if things are missing from the file (fingers crossed) thank you!!

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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.
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      1. LeighaTR

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    • 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.

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