:thumbup:My journey so far-From the time I inquired to seeing my PCP, going to Dr. Oliak's seminar, seeing the Psych, and meeting with the dietician it's been a month. I am 5 days into waiting for PacifiCare to approve me meeting with Dr. Oliak (surgeon). :thumbup:

Welcome to LapBandTalk!

Welcome to LBT!

Congrats on getting this far. I am sure you will be approved very soon. :thumbs_up:

THANKS A BUNCH YOU FOLKS! I love this site. I have read some really valuable information.

Hey Congrats to you:thumbup:, I just faxed my patient info form to Dr. Oliak. I was going to go with another doctor but he was NPAR (Milton Owens):eek:, so I decided to go with Oliak as he is PAR, experienced, seems prefered by many patients. I am going to the next seminar:blush:. Hopefully all goes smoothly. I have Anthem PPO. Both doctors seem great, I wonder how long it will take to get a surgery date? Excited and nervous at the same time.

Hey Congrats to you:thumbup:, I just faxed my patient info form to Dr. Oliak. I was going to go with another doctor but he was NPAR (Milton Owens):thumbup:, so I decided to go with Oliak as he is PAR, experienced, seems prefered by many patients. I am going to the next seminar:blush:. Hopefully all goes smoothly. I have Anthem PPO. Both doctors seem great, I wonder how long it will take to get a surgery date? Excited and nervous at the same time.

HOWDY! Dr Oliaks office sent the surgery approval on MOnday, so I am pretty darn excited it is getting very close. I hear oliak has a 3 month wait, especially with holidays and stuff. I hope in Jan I am banded! Let me know how things go with you and your process. I would appreciate it!

HOWDY! Dr Oliaks office sent the surgery approval on MOnday, so I am pretty darn excited it is getting very close. I hear oliak has a 3 month wait, especially with holidays and stuff. I hope in Jan I am banded! Let me know how things go with you and your process. I would appreciate it!

Hey Congratulations to you! I found out that my 1st choice does work with my insurance, Oliak seems to be a great doctor but I really could afford his out of pocket cash cost, to be honest. I have my 1st appt with Owens 12-5, my nutrition is today and I have my psych eval yesterday, they said I should have a date in January, maybe e will be there the same day! I am so excited, are you nervous at all?

Hey Congratulations to you! I found out that my 1st choice does work with my insurance, Oliak seems to be a great doctor but I really could afford his out of pocket cash cost, to be honest. I have my 1st appt with Owens 12-5, my nutrition is today and I have my psych eval yesterday, they said I should have a date in January, maybe e will be there the same day! I am so excited, are you nervous at all?

Maybe we will! I am actually over the nervous feeling ( for now) I have been wanting to do this for a long time but, my nerves kept me from it. So, my feelings now are more like COME ON LET'S GET THE SHOW ON THE ROAD! You know what I mean? Once you start the process you want it to speed up, so you can start seeing results. I look forward to hearing about your progress in this lengthy process.

Maybe we will! I am actually over the nervous feeling ( for now) I have been wanting to do this for a long time but, my nerves kept me from it. So, my feelings now are more like COME ON LET'S GET THE SHOW ON THE ROAD! You know what I mean? Once you start the process you want it to speed up, so you can start seeing results. I look forward to hearing about your progress in this lengthy process.

Yes, I absolutely know what you mean! It is so surreal to actually be moving toward being a size that I used to be! The meeting with the nutritionist went really well today and now being that much closer to getting to Onederland! I can't wait to see how soon my date would be. One of my goals is to go skydiving, go cycling with my husband and to go to an amusement park wuithout trying to make sure the ride will accomodate me! I love roller coasters and it would be great to just get on without any anxiety. Congrats on your progress, I hope that by this time next year we have met or are very near our goals!

Yes, I absolutely know what you mean! It is so surreal to actually be moving toward being a size that I used to be! The meeting with the nutritionist went really well today and now being that much closer to getting to Onederland! I can't wait to see how soon my date would be. One of my goals is to go skydiving, go cycling with my husband and to go to an amusement park wuithout trying to make sure the ride will accomodate me! I love roller coasters and it would be great to just get on without any anxiety. Congrats on your progress, I hope that by this time next year we have met or are very near our goals!

So, what did you mean by Dr Oliaks out of pocket cash cost? I am not aware of this. I have contacted Melanie at Dr Oliaks office to ask her about this. I was under the impression, that my insurance would cover all medicall nessecary cost. Uh oh! Well, talk to you soon!

It could be different for you, but I was told by his office oerson that in addition to what my insurance paid, I would have to pay my coinsurance plus another $4500 for aftercare (support groups, online chat access) I never really understood why that would cost so much since everyone goes for free when they haven't had the procedure and people from other doctors go to groups. But that is what she said to me, I spoke with Jennifer. I have really great insurance and I just thought it was crazy. I posted on the site when I found out. As I asked around, I learned that a lot of doctors do this and it is like an unwritten freedom that many doctors do. It seems to be a way of getting more money because Ins companies do pay them their total rate, only the contracted rate.

Likewise- I stumbled in here while at home recovering from surgery, and the breadth of experience and information is really something. I have yet to come here with a question where there haven't been five or ten people who haven't been through the same thing.

:thumbup:my journey so far-from the time i inquired to seeing my pcp, going to dr. Oliak's seminar, seeing the psych, and meeting with the dietician it's been a month. I am 5 days into waiting for pacificare to approve me meeting with dr. Oliak (surgeon). :grouphug:

got approved!!! Pre-op dec 18th.

got approved!!! Pre-op dec 18th.

How exciting for you. Congrats! And good luck. :grouphug:

Happy Thanksgiving! Dr. Oliak is doing my surgery on December 1st. Wish me luck keeping my mind on Monday rather than feasting today!

Happy Thanksgiving! Dr. Oliak is doing my surgery on December 1st. Wish me luck keeping my mind on Monday rather than feasting today!

Hello and a Happy Thanksgiving to you as well! Keep us updated! I meet Alison PAC on Dec 18th.

p/s did you have to pay an out of pocket cash cost?