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Today I called the insurance company...



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:D My surgeon's office submitted our files the week of 11/30. Insurance (United Healthcare) called them on that Friday and said they were missing my 5 year weight history. So I scrambled and it was sent in. That was the last I heard. So today I decided to call the insurance myself and see what they said and it was approved on December 4! So why didn't the surgeon's office call me about that little tidbit? Anyway, I just put a call in to the their patient advocate to see what he has to say. I had to leave a voice mail. So waiting again for a surgery date. The insurance agent said the date they had was December 20, but I'm guessing that was just a shot in the dark date. That doesn't give us enough time to do the two week liquid diet the surgeon requires of his patients. But, yay, we were approved! :lol:

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Wooo Hooooo Congrats .....Something similar happened to me , my patient advocate was on vacation .... I called and spoke to someone else and I had a date (like you) 10 days from the surgery date and he just told me to immediately start the liquid diet and I only had to do 10 days worth of the liquid diet ....So keep your fingers crossed .....

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Congrats on insurance approval! Not too long to go now!

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Wooo Hooooo Congrats .....Something similar happened to me , my patient advocate was on vacation .... I called and spoke to someone else and I had a date (like you) 10 days from the surgery date and he just told me to immediately start the liquid diet and I only had to do 10 days worth of the liquid diet ....So keep your fingers crossed .....

Mel, thanks, that's what I'm doing!

Congrats on insurance approval! Not too long to go now!

Thanks, simplejaxgirl. How was your surgery?

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Thanks' date=' simplejaxgirl. How was your surgery?[/quote']

Surgery itself was not a bad experience! I've had much less pain than I thought. Struggling with drinking enough fluids still which is normal but overall I feel pretty good! Thanks for asking.

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Well, the good news is you are approved. As for your surgeon's office's neglect to notify you... who knows?? I was at my Nut visit last week, and I could hear the office staff going on and on about how they had spent the whole day trying to get PPO patients who's out of pocket was resetting on New Years scheduled for surgery in December. Whether you are or are not in this category, that is one possible explanation. Either you're PPO and they don't even want to deal with you, or you're not and they're too busy with the PPO people.

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CONGRATULATION!! What kinda insurance do you have?? My paperwork was submitted 12/10. I called just a few minutes ago and it's still pending. :(

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Cathy, we have United Healthcare and it went very smoothly. The office submitted it on 11/29; insurance called them back with missing info request on 11/30; approval was finished on 12/4. So, less than a week for them to approve it. It should be like that for everyone.

Hopefully, you'll hear soon. Good luck.

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After I posted to this thread I got great news. I was APPROVED!!!! YAY!!! My surgery is scheduled for Monday. :))

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Great news, Cathy and Monday, wow, that is quick! Congrats and best wishes.

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Thank you!!!

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Congratulations!!!! So happy for people getting approved! Can't wait for the day that I'll be posting mine :)

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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. 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💪
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
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