EXCITING NEWS!

EXCITING NEWS TO FOLLOW!!!!

I have officially been approved by my primary insurance for my surgery! Can I just whew?! What a relief. There of course was some drama in regards to the approval process. Here’s how it went down: my surgeon’s office called me two weeks ago saying that the insurance company had already gotten back to them in regards to my submittal. They needed a two year weight history letter from my primary care physician (PCP). So, I was going in for my medical/surgical clearance at my PCP’s office last Monday (the 18^th) anyway, so I figured I’d call the office and warn them that I would want the letter so that I could fax it to my surgeon’s office. Well, of course, instead of having the letter saved for me for my appointment, they mailed me what was supposedly the letter. Instead, they mailed me two graphs showing my weight over the last seven years. Okay, that was all fine and dandy, except there was no letter on letterhead as I had requested, and there was not even a doctor’s signature on it. I could have just put down some numbers and plotted them in Excel and said it was from my doctor’s office.

So, I get to my appointment with my PCP and I had him write out the letter and print it on letterhead right in front of me. I knew he had to fax my surgical clearance, so I figured it’d be a safe bet that he would also fax my weight history letter. Well, obviously not, because when I called the surgeon’s office the next day to verify they received both my medical clearance and weight history, Tanya (the angel she is!) from my surgeon’s office said they only had the clearance. So, I went on a two day argument with my PCP’s office about faxing over this letter and what not. It turns out they had done numerous things with this letter before finally actually faxing it to the correct number. They had tried faxing it to my cell number (you’d think they would have realized it didn’t go through); they lost the original letter; and then finally they sent it.

So, last Wednesday EVERYTHING needed for my insurance approval was submitted. And I got the letter in the mail from Blue Cross Blue Shield today saying I was officially approved. So, now it really doesn’t matter if Tricare (my secondary insurance) approves it or not because they would not pick up any costs that BC/BS doesn’t cover (which is minimal).

Now, I just wait until the hospital calls me to set up my pre-op testing. So, here’s my question for all my post-opers. What did your pre-op testing consist of? Also, how many nights did you spend in the hospital after surgery? I am scheduled to only spend one night overnight, and as long as my leak test comes out alright, I’ll be home the next day.

Thanks for your input!

OFFICIALLY THREE WEEKS TOMORROW TIL SURGERY DAY!!!