Well, I got my insurance approval for surgery and I was all excited. Then, the Dr's office called me today and let me know that I am not approved because my psych consult result was that I have Major Depressive Disorder. They are requiring 3 months of counseling before the surgery now. That means that surgery will be next year and will cost twice as much since I'll have to pay my deductible twice. How lovely! Makes me so much less depressed to hear that great news...

Get a second opinion! I believe that some of those evaluating us really do not approve of weight loss surgery. Patients in my area even had difficulty with one of the psychiatrists recommended by my surgeon. Now all know who to go to when they want approval.

Kitty

Get this: I had surgery in Mexico, and the psych evaluation was done on the second post-op day--AFTER surgrey! It was a joke, this woman came in my room, didn't even introduce herself, and started asking a lot of personal questions. She seemed offended when I asked her who she was! After talking to me for maybe 15 minutes, she told me that I need counseling. Then she left--just like that. Now, what was the point of that? I never even got to tell her that I had years of psychoanalysis with a nationally known psychiatrist.

OH MY!!!! That is just another reason to NOT get surgery in Mexico Not to mention the band they use, despite what they tell people from Las Vegas, CANNOT be filled in Vegas as nobody will treat the non FDA approved band. Good luck! :ranger:

My psych evaluation was on Monday the 17th. She mostly asked me was I ready to change my way of living ie: living with the band? She asked me did I have a support network she took a great deal of my family medical history. Asked if I had any drug history. Also interested in my level of education. However, my doctor gave me a list of questions that she needed to explore with me. She did ask about depression I told her it was the same as anyone else the average stuff...nothing clinical. At the end she said I would make an excellent candidate and would fax the report to my surgeon. She wish me much sucess and that was the end...11/13 is rapidly approaching. But don't get depressed three months will go fast. Actually I can't believe that I first went for all that my insurance wanted in just April and now I am preparing for the surgery.

Dlew

When you have the phych eval just basically tell them that you are doing this for your health, your excited about your new opportunity in life, and how you are tired of beingon countless diets and want to make a new journal entry in your journal and this is live and be healthy. Leave all the neg things out. That is what I said and is exactly how I feel. Hopethishelps let me know how you make out

That's what I told the psych at my eval and she wouldn't clear me for surgery either. I'm on a 60 day hold unitl I can try again and I need to get counseling. Luckily I get 6 visits free through my husband's insurance. Even at that though I don't want to see her again as who's to say she won't charge me another $300 and deny me again. It bugs me that she thinks she can make judgements about me when she doesn't even know me. Especially judgements that involve the quality of my life and my health.

ask your surgeon or coordinator if they have someone they can refer you to. Remember this is a social science, not a hard science. 1 + 1 does noe always = 2. Especially when the psych is biased. Do a bit of research to find out who is WLS friendly. They may just be smelling an op to get a client.

I am scheduled to have my surgery on October 2, and I have had to pay for my surgery out of pocket! $13,350! Who has that kind of money laying around?? Blue Cross Blue Shield denied me because my BMI was one point off from meeting the requirements! SWEET! Well, best of luck to you! BTW, I have been battling insurance companies for two years! Wish me luck guys!

Get a second opinion! I believe that some of those evaluating us really do not approve of weight loss surgery. Patients in my area even had difficulty with one of the psychiatrists recommended by my surgeon. Now all know who to go to when they want approval.

Kitty

I agree with Kitty. Get a second opinion if your insurance will take it. My eval was stupid to me. After the written tests (no I'm not afraid of the dark, I don't want to hurt myself or set things on fire ~just a few of the repeated questions in one of my tests~) the doctor basically took a quick history for his notes, looked at my size and gave me the go. Even befor my tests were scored. Granted he may be a crappy psyciatrist in it for the $500.00 but I didn't get denied.

If it were me I'd check out the second opinion option. And if you feel you need counseling then do it also. For me I feel losing weight and getting healthy is going to improve my mental health more than anything.

Good Luck!

I am a self pay patient and I was still required to have the psych tests. The person I talked to had told me that I had an eating disorder and that she recommended that I have 4 counseling sessions before she would approve me for surgery. Of course this absolutely makes me more depressed because my surgery date is set for October 11th and that is all I have been looking forward to. I am two weeks out to surgery and I spoke with someone at the Dr's Office and he had told me that ultimately it is up to the Dr whether or not they will approve you for surgery. I am currently seeing a counselor for other personal issues, but I am hoping that I can get in 4 sessions before the 11th. I think its really silly becuase I asked the psychologist if it mattered of the time frame and she said that it didnt matter at all. So basically I feel that she was just covering her but. She said I could have all four sessions in one sitting or spread it out....does that sound like someone who "truly" cares about my well being? I guess I am just frustrated and taking it out on this forum, so I appreciate you all for reading.

LOL..it's not funny, but it's funny

sounds like this guy is trying to suck more money out of you my dr gave me my testing and told me after if i needed to come in after surgery he would be more than happy to meet with me but i have not heard of them making you come back after initial test before they approve you wow!

lisa good luck my birthday is the 3rd of october but my new life starts on the 10th of october! good luck

I went on 9/24 to take mine. I spent 3 hours answering mostly true/false questions. I also had to take an I.Q. test. On 9/25, I had to make the drive back to the doctor's office the next morning to get the results. He told me that I passed the I.Q. in the 85 percentile. However, I didn't pass the psychological part. He said some people will come in and take the evaluation and make their life sound so depressing and bad. Then there are others who come in and unconciouslly answer in ways that make them sound fine and seem like there is nothing wrong with them. I fell into this group of people. He told me, and this is the very words he used, "according to the results of your evaluation, your scores are invalid, simply because you seem too good to be true." I could have fallen out of my chair. I just looked at him in disbelief. He said I would have to come back on 10/1 and take the evaluation over. I told him that if I come back and take the test over he will get the same results if I answer the questions honestly like I did the first time. He told me I would not get the same results.

The questions were to be answered with how you have felt in the past two weeks including the day of the evaluation.

I was asked if I had thought about suicide, if I was happy, if my relationship with my spouse was good, if I lost my temper easily, if I was hotheaded, if I kept my anger inside, if I had ever been abused, if I loved my father/mother etc. I answered everything honestly and still failed!

The impression that I got from the psychologist was that he wanted to hear me say how depressed I was and how I thought I had no reason to live because of my weight.

I am happy with who I am as a person, I have a healty relationship with my husband, I love my parents dearly. I do lose my temper, but I 'm not a hothead. I can control my anger. I don't tend to overeat, it's just that I was raised in a family where you cleaned your plate before leaving the table. I have also inherited the "love to eat and socialize while doing so gene." We have get togethers at my parents house every other Sunday. I have gained over 45 pounds just because of some stupid steriod shots in my shoulder. I also have joint pain and sciatica and am recovering from foot surgery, so I haven't been very mobile over the past few months. I know I packed on around 20 pounds due to that. Why do people automatically assume that because you are heavy that you would take your life? I love my life, I just want some of this weight off so I can be healthy and do more things with my family. I am the mother to a 20 and a 15 year old. I would like to live long enough to see my kids married and raising families of their own.

Well I guess because I am a self pay patient, the Dr's have re-worded what they originally had told me. They now tell me that I do still need to get the sessions but it will not hold up my surgery. :clap2: So thats actually quite a relief for me. I just thought I would let everyone know how it turned out.

i feel for you i sort of didnt tell the truth some questions i felt like if i really answered truthfully i would sound to desperate or too depressed so i answer the questions like im happy as a lark which is not true all the time but know one is happy all the time if we were that happy we wouldnt have weight/food issues would we ? I DONT KNOW! dont give up evetually you will pass try to be truthful without sounding desperate if that make sense GOOD LUCK TO ALL OF US!!!!!!