Got my approval letter and spoke with the case nurse who told me they are waiting for a letter from the cardiologist to clear me for surgery. Then she proceeds to tell me, well it doesn't really matter because the doctors surgery schedule is already into January! I told her "I have to wait until January?" and she said "Yes, unless of course the letter takes too long to get here, then you might be looking till Feb!" I have call the doctors office to see what the hold up was, since I did my test 6 weeks ago!, the office person told me that they are just waiting for the doctor to fill out the form! I already did all that was needed to be done to get this surgery.

Has anyone had to wait this long?

no, can you use a different doc. ?

When I first went into a local hospital group, and went to go get tests, it wold have taken a very long time (3+ months) to get tests done, and calls to the doctors office would go unreturned, paperwork got lost, so I decided to switch to a different, as highly rated, doctor in the area. This was a terrific outcome for me. I was able to get tests rapidly, the email and phone calls were always returned, and the pre-and post-op surgery care was terrific, respectful and courteous.

If you can, switch doctors now. If they can't help you now, imagine how useless, or worse, incompetent the care will be before, during and after surgery. I don't know what area you are in, but if it makes sense, switching is an option.

Wow... he is really booked... some of the best surgeons in my area can get people in, latest a month away? What surgeon is this?

Typically surgeons don't schedule till insurance is approved and everything is paid (selfpay) so that should keep their schedule moving and clear for a month or 2 ahead

I live in California and my doctor is at Stanford Hospital, unfortunately I am unable to go anywhere else, when I asked if I could change doctors they said no, because all surgery schedules were full. I have a *** and it states the approval is only for Stanford Hospital. I was so excited when I received my approval letter. Actually I just thought of something, double checked my approval letter and it states that my surgery has to happen before 12/11/2012. Guess I will be calling that case nurse tomorrow morning! Wish me luck

double checked my approval letter and it states that my surgery has to happen before 12/11/2012. Guess I will be calling that case nurse tomorrow morning! Wish me luck

nanaspez

is the doctors office/hospital close enough for you to go in person and talk to the nurse/office people - i always say go right to the source instead of talking on the phone

bring your letter, if they still can't fit you in, they must "allow" you to see someone else

you could also call the insurance company explaining your dilema that surgeon can't operatie til after the new year, hopefully they will give you an extension

good luck

sure things will work out

Unfortunately, Stanford is about 1 1/2 hrs away, but I am hoping that when I call the case nurse maybe she will be inclined to get me to see someone else. I guess this doctor is the #1 doctor at Stanford, so if I tell her ANY of the other gastric surgeons will be fine.

Called this morning and the nurse said changing doctors would be no problem. They are just still waiting for the clearance letter from my cardiologist. Test was taken over a month ago, they sent the results in but no clearance letter. The nurse told me she would call AGAIN and for me to do the same, because she said it should not take this long to fill out the form. So I guess it is a waiting game. I do plan on going to the office myself to put on the "pressure"!

I had to wait close to two years before having surgery at Stanford bc they needed proper cardiac clearance. In the end, you realize that they are not making you wait bc they like to make you suffer but bc they have to make sure you are well enough to undergo such a drastic surgery. It takes time and all you really can do is be patient and stay determined. Good luck!