I finished all of my pre-approval appointments a few weeks ago, but my file has still not been sent off to insurance. Why? Apparently the pulmonologist faxed his report to the surgeon's office, when it is supposed to go to the financial counsellor handling my file. The surgeon's office apparently can't send the report to her, so I had to call the pulmonologist's office (for the second time) to have them fax the report directly to her. This is such a set-back. I had originally hoped to have surgery before the end of the year, but that obviously didn't happen. I would like to have surgery before my classes start again on the 18th, but it looks like that won't happen. If I get approved, I will probably wind up putting the surgery off until March, and having it during spring break.

That is frustrating. I have no patience for process. Do you have the option to pick up & deliver the paperwork yourself? That's what I ended up doing, in order to get my medical records to the surgeon expeditiously.

I do have that option, but the problem is that the pulmonologist and the surgeon are about 3 1/2 hours away from each other. The pulmonologist is in Lexington, KY and the surgeon is in Nashville, TN.

laurend, thanks for letting us know how you are doing. Wonder if you can take Friday off of school and just recoupe the 5 days. Some people are up and about very quickly. YOu may not even miss a class other than the day of surgery. Good luck.

I only have classes on Wednesdays this semester, but I will also be teaching a couple of labs and assisting in a few classes. My surgeon only does surgeries on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. It looks like if I don't get to have surgery before classes start, I will have to have it during spring break if I don't want to miss class. I have no problem with missing one of my own classes, but I don't want to have to try to find someone to teach my labs for me.

Oh, I understand now. March will come soon enough. But as a side note, if you were banded you probably can go to class shortly afterwards. The pain is minimal, just around the port. Good luck. I know you have been really patient.