So annoyed and frustrated right now. After over a year of waiting and coming to seminars, groups, pre ops etc and then insurance saying I had to use a different surgeon due to COE requirements I was one appointment away from scheduling. Everything approved and had a single pre op class left in a few weeks. Just got a call today that my SECOND surgeon resigned. Now they have to resubmit with another COE surgeon at this COE. New surgeons ratings online are considerably lower. I mean I’m not so desperate I want just anyone rearranging my internal organs?. I’m so angry and frustrated with this process I’m losing hope. On top of this I was in the ER just a couple days ago and diagnosed with Bell’s Palsy. So half my face is paralyzed. I’m so low right now I can’t see any light at the end of the tunnel. Just feeling very hopeless and needed to vent where other people may have dealt with the same red tape and hurdles and hopelessness. 

I can somewhat sympathize. About 7 months into my process, my surgeon abruptly left his practice leaving all his patients with either having to switch to another surgeon within the practice or follow the original surgeon to a different hospital. My pre authorization was through the original hospital so I decided to stay there and use a different surgeon. Apparently the original surgeon left so abruptly that his staff was left trying to work his patients and all the paperwork that go with us in an already full schedule. Long story short, I should have had my surgery before Christmas but here I am in April and just now getting everything ready to set the date.

I was at the point of giving up hope when just a couple of weeks ago I got the email that I was approved through insurance and just need to talk with the financial people about paying my upfront cost and then we can schedule surgery. So don't give up hope just yet. It's a long, tedious process but isn't your health and well being worth it? I say yes ?

I experienced this 7yrs ago when I had a ballon inserted, By the end of 6 months My Doctor had resigned. I had to go to another hospital entirely to get the ballon removed. It wasn't a funny situation. Just hang in there though, it will be worth it in the end.

Yes, it’s just so frustrating. This journey started for me with a plan that was supposed to cover surgery but an employer that opted out so I got my hopes up to get shot down. Then a wait to switch insurance. Then once it was switched I had to switch docs/hospitals. Shot down again. Had to start over from the very beginning even though I had completed the insurance requirements with the first hospital. Then once I was approved with the new dr but waiting for my date they call me with this news and tell me at least another month to wait and a new approval needed. All the while I can’t smile or even drink without drooling out the side of my mouth right now. I’m a complete mess and just sitting here in self pity. I know it will get better but I am having a hard time
Deciding what to do about this surgeon. Going from a Dr with 4 star ratings online to one at 2.5 is not appealing to me. I mean what is it this guy has done to make everyone so unhappy?? I’m concerned about it. I can’t lie. But I only have a few surgeons to choose from thanks to UHC. :(

That is frustrating. I have a slighly different situation - I met with 3 different surgeons and was pretty far down the road with my 2nd when I realized I didn't trust him. The 3rd (and final) surgeon was able to use my 2nd surgeon's records to get my insurance authorization. So I didn't have to restart my 6 months of appointments over again. Just make sure not to skip a month between your old surgeon and a new surgeon. And ask their insurance coordinator to request the records from the old office.

So familiar, I too had something similar in my WLS life, luckily my Last surgeon was the Best surgeon , the one for me . Sometimes you do have to go through vasting, tearing stitching out, before a beautiful final garment is achieved. May our poster find her perfect fit for a perfect surgery. I think that is what each of us desire!?

Thanks for the support everyone. I’m not going to rule him out yet but it’s major surgery and I need to trust the person doing it. It helps not feeling like the only one with such a long battle to get surgery. I have a 50 BMI and seeing so many much lower than that getting surgery makes me feel like the universe just wants me to fail. I’m doing this because my health is rapidly declining and the delay after delay is scaring me. Thanks for letting me vent.

wow this would make me crazy. sorry you guys have had to go thru this.

Is your surgeon from Dayton?

Yep-Schumacher. You must be in town here too!:) they switched me to Brown. I liked him ok at the seminar I had to attend but damn his ratings are low and my original surgeon who I was referred to said he would only recommended Schumacher. I don’t think it means he wouldn’t recommend Brown just that he didn’t know anyone else. My issue is his comments online. 

I’m sorry to hear this. I got Bell’s Palsy in March 2017. I hope you recover quickly. Unfortunately I didn’t. I only got maybe 25% function back + synkinesis. apparently at least 80% of people get most to full function back. I am one of the unlucky ones. I hope you get your surgery back on track soon.

WOW, I guess I'm glad my Ins Co doesn't pay at all! I'm not saying anything against Ins Co, however, I keep seeing these types of accounts and wonder why the Ins Co/surgeon has to start over? It would seem to me, that if the surgeon is within the network, or is a participating provider, and you were preauthorized, the only thing that would be left to do is the Dr accepting you as a new patient, a review of your records, an appt (or 2), and then scheduling surgery. So sorry for your difficulties, with your health and Ins. Hang in there and know that you are not alone. Be well my friend.

Since I decided to stay with the same office and use a different surgeon, I didn't have to redo anything. My seminar had been with the hospital, not the surgeon, so that even carried over. I did however have a serious delay in getting my info sent to insurance because the original surgeon left suddenly and all his patients had to be worked into an already full schedule for the new Dr. All that was at the end of the year and on top of that delay, my company changed insurances...same company but different division so my insurance co back in Dec denied my claim knowing that i'd be changing divisions after the first of the year...they said it was because I lost too much weight on my 6 mo diet. So my poor overworked nurse had to resubmit to the new insurance and finally a year later I was accepted.

Wow, it seems so hard for you to deal with all this bureaucracy!

Unfortunately, in my country (Romania) there is no cover from the insurance for Bariatric surgeries... even if you have additional health problems. So I made a credit for 3 years and payed myself for everything. Also, the process to reach the surgery is very simple, there’s a 1 st appointment with the surgeon to decide is you qualify for such surgery, then 1 week of investigations and if all goes well and you keep a week of diet on liquids you can be scheduled for surgery 2-3 weeks after your first appointment. I have to mention that this does not apply with the national health care system but with the private one. Anyway, in a Romania the state system and the state hospitals are so horrible that I would not trust them even for the most basic treatments.

Hang in there and good luck!???

I hope you were able to move forward with your surgery and that all is going well for you.

Yeah I would like to know how things resolved in Southwestern Ohio. I'm about 115 miles NE of you so as a Fellow Buckeye, although you probably are more of a UC Bearcat, I would like to know the following chapters to Your Story. Best and Brighter Days Ahead from Frustr8 here in Mount Vernon.??