This is taking SO LONG!

[phthaloblue 0]

I'm coming here to vent for a moment...

I've been going through the approval process for the band since August. A few months in, my insurance carrier changed their tune and said that I needed a 6 month diet, so I started that in October. In the meantime I've been doing every blood test and clearance they could possibly imagine. I understand that it's all to make sure I have the best possible outcome from surgery, but there are days when it feels like they've just added hoops in the hope that someone just gives up.

Anyway, I went for my pulmonology clearance last month, although I have no history of breathing issues. No problems sleeping, no asthma, nothing. They were going to clear me except that I have big tonsils and my tongue is set high, so they wanted me to get a sleep study done just to make sure I didn't have severe sleep apnea (though I don't even snore at night). But they said that so long as it didn't come back as severe, they'd just sign off on the clearance. Okay. Another hoop. I did the study, and the tech said in the morning that I did fine; there was a touch of mild sleep apnea during one REM cycle, but nothing that would hold up surgery, in his opinion. I called my pulmonologist this week to get the clearance authorized. Only, the pulmonologist wasn't ready to issue a clearance, saying that I was getting different amounts of oxygen throughout the night, or something. So I have to go back for another study to try the CPAP machine.

The whole pre-approval process has been frustrating enough, and it feels like it's not ending. Every time I think I'm finished, there's something else. On top of it, now I'm afraid that I won't be able to get a surgery date until the fall if it continues at this rate. I'm a teacher and I'm counting on getting it done during the summer when I have plenty of time to recover. At this rate, I need to get approved in the next month or two to make that happen. (It takes a while to get the surgery with my surgeon, great as he is) In the end, this whole process will have taken almost a year of my life, and though it will (hopefully) improve the quality of every year after, that's still a whole year to put off an important health procedure.

Sorry for the long rant. I feel better having vented this. :sneaky:

[NCsQueen 0]

Sometimes you just need to rant to make yourself feel better. The only advice I have for you is to pray on it. In the end it will be worth the wait. I know it's hard right now but all these hoops your insurance is making you jump through will be worth it for you in the end. Good luck to you. :sneaky:

[phthaloblue 0]

Thanks for the comforting words. I'll be so glad when the surgery is over and life can begin again!

[hannahj914 0]

Hey how are you

i know how you feel with this process it has been a hard one for me also since i am part of a study and i was also 17 ...there was back and forth to the doctors office for a year i started in jan 08 they said i had to start a six month diet also with that i thought taking blood and doing all theses other things i would be able to get my lap band after six months. When the six months where over my doctor said oh you need a sleep study and after that oh you this oh you need that after all of that i finally got my day (apr 15) after a yr and 4 mons my insurance approved it with in two weeks because i had everything at once so with that i know how you feel and it can be hard sometime but just keep hope alive

[Band_Groupie 3]

there are days when it feels like they've just added hoops in the hope that someone just gives up.

Just wanted to say you're not alone and stick with it. I've seen many people say this (myself included) and many here give up or self pay because of the process. It will be worth it all in the end, but vent away...I have, LOL!

[maestrita 43]

On the flip side, I would wait a year if I could get my insurance to pay. They won't though. I have to come up with the 10,000.00 plus travel and after care. I know it's hard on my family financially, and I will be working off paying for my surgery for years to come. I just can't go on like this. I just can't.

It's strange that they think apnea will be a problem. Maybe the resp doc is trying to document your need for the surgery. I only say that because many people who have apnea are approved because of the apnea (as a co-morbidity), rather than excluded. My apnea is pretty significant (OK, let me be honest. I can be heard snoring outside of the house if I don't sleep with my machine. I'm not exaggerating), though my BMI is not terribly high. I am paying for the surgery to find some relief from the debilitating fatigue I feel from the sleep disorder and the pain from injury related spinal arthritis which is worsened by my weight problem.

I hope this reads with the pleasant tone I am hoping to impart, and I only mention these things to maybe help you to hang in there, and look at it in a way that brings you comfort. It won't be too long before you are living a much better life. Best wishes!

[phthaloblue 0]

Maestrita, thanks for the perspective. It's the positive things (like how my insurance will eventually approve payment) that I need to focus on.

I got the impression that they wanted to diagnose apnea in order to arrange a CPAP machine for the recovery after surgery. I got some more information from my pulmonologist and she said that the results show mild apnea with some variability in my heart rate and oxygen levels during the night, which is a red flag for her. Though it seems those are normal symptoms of mild sleep apnea - she said last month that if my apnea was mild, she'd sign off on it. Thus my frustration. But at least it'll be over soon!!!

[gr8fulmaria 0]

Hang in there~!~!

My surgery date is tomorrow the 23rd.

I started my journey in may08. Fortunatly I had the sleep study a few months b4 I even thought of the surgery.(My mom told me that I stopped breathing during the night)Talk about snoring? OMG...I was so loud people say they don't know how I didn't wake myself up...LOL.

Because of that my surgeon said that I was a great candidate. I got hung up with the psych part. Was seeing a therapist and thought that would be ok, well I was wrong...so it took an extra few months to get that taken care of.

I see it this way.... God knew that I needed to learn a few things about myself b4 the surgery which I have and I am gr8ful that I did.

So tomorrow is the big day. I am so excited. Good luck on your journey~!~