March has come and gone. Nothing major has changed with this surgical process, just a bunch of WAITING that is driving me CRAZY!! (good thing I've already had my psych consult huh?) Only a few minor details are still left to iron out.
I got all of the bills from my consults. The ensuing arguments about insurance co-pays and what is covered and what goes towards my deductible has been exhausting. And the fact that I changed insurance carriers halfway through this process didn't make things any easier for me either. But, all's well that ends well right? As of March 25, I was completely settled with my consults and the surgeons office for my first visits. It doesn't sound like much, but I'm really glad that its all over with.
I've been continuing to work out at the gym on a fairly regular basis. I try for every other day, taking Fridays and Saturdays off. That's 3 days a week, concentrating on at least 25 minutes of cardio with my heart rate over 165 bpm (yes I know its crazy, but its just how it is for now) and another 25 minutes or so on the weight machines. The weather has also gotten nice, so I've also been trying to walk on my off days at the park or forest preserve that are near my house.
I've also began eliminating things from my diet and habits that I can't have around the time of or after surgery. I started by giving up caffeine, which I can't have for a few weeks before surgery and several months after. I will admit it was difficult, especially the first week. I was seriously wishing there was a group meeting that I could attend called Starbucks Anonymous. But I have done really really well with the no caffeine rule, I've cheated only twice in the last 8 weeks (which anyone who has ever dieted before knows is pretty decent. And I still claim having to be at church before 7am on a Sunday morning deserves a little jolt first). Included in that no caf thing is chocolate. I understand there is minimal caffeine in chocolate, but I'm doing my best to stay away from it, too. The next thing I gave up was alcohol. I have problems talking about giving up the booze, because it makes me sound like an alcoholic, which I am NOT. But I LIKE martinis and wine, and every now and then a cold Blue Moon. But I did give it all up about 3 weeks ago and its been going fine. Its just hard to watch the other people around you enjoying things you KNOW taste good. (But I get the feeling that might be a recurring theme in my future, so I guess it good to practice now)
I will admit the hardest part of this whole process has been telling people. I don't think the fear that I have of telling people goes any farther than openly admitting to having a problem that I can't handle on my own. But the fear is still there and the last 6 weeks or so, I've started to tell some people and each time I tell someone it seems to get easier and easier. I feel pretty good that basically all of my family and all of my friends know. (And it makes life smoother when people aren't thinking I'm pregnant when I pass on the cocktails-which someone did ask me). The strange part of telling people are the few random people that tell me "I know someone that had that done and it didn't go well for them." I would like to ask these people (but didn't because I'm apparently too polite) what the hell they're thinking? If someone says to you, "Hey I bought new car,' you don't say, 'I know someone who almost died in car accident a few years ago.'
Anyway, (I'm gonna move on from that because I could really call some people out on that one. Like my boss) this week on Thursday I have my April weigh in. As you probably remember, I have to lose 6 pounds over a 3 month period. When I weighed in at the beginning of March, I was down about 6 pounds, so all I had to do was maintain it for another month, as of this morning, I'm unofficially down 12.5 lbs, so as long as I can stay where I'm at, I will be a happy camper :)
If all goes according to plan, my full insurance application will be sent out at the end of the week. I'm told it usually takes the insurance company about 3 weeks to respond (but lets be more realistic and say a month?). After the insurance approval goes through, the surgeons office is scheduling surgeries about 3 weeks out. So I'm still shooting for mid-May for surgery, but only time will tell (but seriously, I think all this waiting is going to KILL me soon!).
Showing posts with label Insurance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Insurance. Show all posts
Monday, April 5, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
These Moments Sponsored by DQ
The thing people need to know about me is this: I'm an over reactor, a true yet unintentional drama queen (a DQ). If you've ever seen the Steve Martin remake of the Father of the Bride, you might remember Steve Martin's character telling his future son-in-law that his fiancee is an over reactor and comes from a long line of over reactors. That's me. And someday, my father will probably have to have that conversation with some guy on my behalf. I don't usually mean to overreact, it just seems to happen. Knowing this, you probably won't be surprised when I tell you this surgical process is stressing me out because everything isn't going perfectly and there have been a few opportunities to flip out.
JAN 19, 2010
The first one came just hours after my last post when my appointment with the cardiologist, the one that's not technically covered by my insurance, was scheduled. I did my due diligence on this one (and everything else that's relates to insurance) and got approval in writing from the insurance company to see this specialist. So the time comes, and I show up exactly 11 minutes before my appointment.
[SIDEBAR: Being 10-13 minutes early for a new patient appointment is the exact right amount of time to be early. You need at least 10 minutes to fill out the paperwork, handle the co-pay and have copies of your ID and insurance cards made. You don't want to be more than 13 minutes early because then you look a little like you WANT to be at this appointment. Even if you do WANT to be at the appointment you don't want to APPEAR like you want to be at this appointment, it gives the doctors & their support staffs too much power over you. Its the same way you never take the first option when scheduling your next appointment. You have to show them you're not a pushover sometimes or they will have you by the balls for the entirety of your professional relationship.]
Anyway, so I'm at this clinic, ready (but not eager) get this appointment over with. I don't know why, but the feeling in my gut is that if I'm going to fail any of these consults, its going to be the heart one. Don't ask why I feel that way, I just do. As I'm checking in, the nice receptionist informs me that there is NO cardiologist at that location on Tuesdays. Oh snap! I feel an overreaction coming on. Not only is there no cardiologist in the building on Tuesdays, the receptionist can't look me up as a patient because they don't do their own scheduling. So I called the main number and was told that my appointment was for FEBRUARY 19, not January 19. Even 10 days later, I'm still feeling myself getting worked up for this. I spoke very sternly with that receptionist. My contention was (and still is) that I was truly planning on being through my consults by Feb 1 in hopes of having surgery scheduled by the end of that month and therefore would not have accepted an appointment in the middle of February. After a few minutes of my raised voice, I had pretty much battered up the receptionist, so she transferred me to her boss. I gave her the same riot act. I admit I was overreacting and she did try to reschedule me for later in the week, but my response was, "If I can't trust your office to handle appointments, how can I trust your office with handling my heart?" Yes, its a DQ moment, but still a valid question. I canceled with them all together and ended up rescheduling with a cardiologist I knew was in my network.
JAN 20, 2010
My heart rate and blood pressure got about a day or so to calm down when I got the memo from my company: "Our Insurance Carrier is Changing Effective 2/1." What?!? Oh, hell no. You're going to inform me of an insurance change 11 days out? I was aware of the possibility of changing carriers, but I never would have imagined that it would happen so quickly. That DQ moment was a pretty private one, but did include some door slamming and a small lake-full of tears. Basically, all the work that I had put into this surgery could have potentially been for nothing. I don't even know if the new carrier covers bariatric surgery. And I won't know until the 2nd or 3rd week in Feb. So again, I'm left waiting for weight loss.
(The next posts are on my psych consult, my chest xray and pulmonology appt, and my cardiology appt that I actually got into see. Can anybody say McDreamy?)
JAN 19, 2010
The first one came just hours after my last post when my appointment with the cardiologist, the one that's not technically covered by my insurance, was scheduled. I did my due diligence on this one (and everything else that's relates to insurance) and got approval in writing from the insurance company to see this specialist. So the time comes, and I show up exactly 11 minutes before my appointment.
[SIDEBAR: Being 10-13 minutes early for a new patient appointment is the exact right amount of time to be early. You need at least 10 minutes to fill out the paperwork, handle the co-pay and have copies of your ID and insurance cards made. You don't want to be more than 13 minutes early because then you look a little like you WANT to be at this appointment. Even if you do WANT to be at the appointment you don't want to APPEAR like you want to be at this appointment, it gives the doctors & their support staffs too much power over you. Its the same way you never take the first option when scheduling your next appointment. You have to show them you're not a pushover sometimes or they will have you by the balls for the entirety of your professional relationship.]
Anyway, so I'm at this clinic, ready (but not eager) get this appointment over with. I don't know why, but the feeling in my gut is that if I'm going to fail any of these consults, its going to be the heart one. Don't ask why I feel that way, I just do. As I'm checking in, the nice receptionist informs me that there is NO cardiologist at that location on Tuesdays. Oh snap! I feel an overreaction coming on. Not only is there no cardiologist in the building on Tuesdays, the receptionist can't look me up as a patient because they don't do their own scheduling. So I called the main number and was told that my appointment was for FEBRUARY 19, not January 19. Even 10 days later, I'm still feeling myself getting worked up for this. I spoke very sternly with that receptionist. My contention was (and still is) that I was truly planning on being through my consults by Feb 1 in hopes of having surgery scheduled by the end of that month and therefore would not have accepted an appointment in the middle of February. After a few minutes of my raised voice, I had pretty much battered up the receptionist, so she transferred me to her boss. I gave her the same riot act. I admit I was overreacting and she did try to reschedule me for later in the week, but my response was, "If I can't trust your office to handle appointments, how can I trust your office with handling my heart?" Yes, its a DQ moment, but still a valid question. I canceled with them all together and ended up rescheduling with a cardiologist I knew was in my network.
JAN 20, 2010
My heart rate and blood pressure got about a day or so to calm down when I got the memo from my company: "Our Insurance Carrier is Changing Effective 2/1." What?!? Oh, hell no. You're going to inform me of an insurance change 11 days out? I was aware of the possibility of changing carriers, but I never would have imagined that it would happen so quickly. That DQ moment was a pretty private one, but did include some door slamming and a small lake-full of tears. Basically, all the work that I had put into this surgery could have potentially been for nothing. I don't even know if the new carrier covers bariatric surgery. And I won't know until the 2nd or 3rd week in Feb. So again, I'm left waiting for weight loss.
(The next posts are on my psych consult, my chest xray and pulmonology appt, and my cardiology appt that I actually got into see. Can anybody say McDreamy?)
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