Going through some difficult times
Well, so much has happened since I last posted
here. The odds of my getting approved does not look too
good. It seems that since I was not on a "medically
supervised" diet, that the insurance company will say that I
haven’t tried hard enough. Excuse me, but I’ve been heavy
for 23 years and I don’t think that I should be
punished for choosing not to starve myself or take a bunch
of pills that are going to be forced off the market
by the FDA. I’m sorry if I have offended anyone, but
I really need to vent. Anyway — I’ve sent in my
documents and figure that if this surgery is meant to
happen, then it will happen.<br><br>Not only that, but I
haven’t got the greatest support system either. I haven’t
talked about my feelings very much because the one
person who can be supportive (Mom) is very negative. In
fact, she thinks that this surgery is not going to help
at all, and that I’ll probably have to have it
reversed. Boy, let’s have some positive attitude
here!<br><br>But wait! — there’s more. The good news is that my
primary doctor did not object to writing a letter of
referral. He did express his concern over the chance of
getting pseurosis (sp?) of the liver. Has anyone heard of
this happening?<br><br>Well, thank you for letting me
vent and I welcome any thoughts, suggestions, laughs
and prayers.
May 18th, 2003 at 8:18 pm
Dear Mary:<br><br>Atleast your primary doctor
didn’t object to writing a letter of referral. That is
more than a lot of doctor’s will do. I understand the
"mother thing." My mother was the same way and I never
even told her until it was all over. Even two years
post-op she will yell at me when I do housework, etc.,
because she will say, "because of what I did to myself."
She never says WOW 115 lbs gone how fabulous. It is
always, "what I have done." Like I held up a store at gun
point or something. If you have at least one friend
that can be your support system, grab onto them and
hopefully they will be there for you….if not….remember
we are always here for you. I can’t say too much
about your approval. It seems like everyone is in the
back pocket of the insurance companies. Keep your chin
up…when you least expect it…you might get approved.
Good luck…Helen
May 19th, 2003 at 12:20 pm
Hi Mary,<br>I know how you feel with the
insurance thing. I fought for a long time about it. I think
what finally got me approved was my primary care
physicains concern for my health. He sent repeated letters
to the insurance company voicing need for the
surgery due to high blood pressure and my high rish of
heart attack. My problem with getting approved was my
age. I was 22 when I first started to persue the
surgery and 23 when I was finally approved one year
later. Just keep your chin up and keep fighting. You and
your doctor fight together. It may seem to take
forever to get approved but it is worth the wait. I will
keep you in my prayers. –Shawna
May 19th, 2003 at 5:41 pm
hi mary i just read your post and ihavento posted
on here in awhile either. i can understand what you
are going through. i had some problems with my
insurance too and had to have sooooo many tests doent o
show how necessary it was for me to have this done. my
doc kept writing letters also so that helped. i had
to have a liver biopsy done too and that is what
actually i believe got me approved. it showed that there
were mamny fatty deposit cells building up in there
and when i had an ultrasound on my gall bladder it
showed i had several stones. i was also a walking heart
attack as my doc referred to it. so jump thru any hoops
necessary i say to get approved if you really want this
done. i had it done in april and have lost 95 pounds so
far. i went from a size 34 dress to a size 22/24
dress. <actually i am wearing a size 20 dress today
but it runs larger so it still boosts my ego.<br>
good luck and keep us posted on the outcomes.
May 20th, 2003 at 3:04 pm
Mary,<br> I, too, had the same concerns. What I
did was write the insurance company a letter
explaining that I had not been fortunate enough to be able
to afford a medically supervised diet. Insurance
companies don’t cover it, and its quite expensive. Along
with it, I enclosed a diet history, all of the things
I have tried to do to lose weight, dates, and
pounds lost. It helped, and after almost 5 months I was
approved. Nothing is easy, and don’t let it get away. Stand
and fight!
May 20th, 2003 at 8:25 pm
Mary<br>I am sorry to hear you are having trouble
with the Insurance, I also had problems. My doctor
wrote an extensive letter, telling how life threatening
it was for me not to have the surgery. he told them
about the many Diets I had tried to no avail. I was
approved within one month, from the time he wrote the
letter. But don’t give up just keep trying where theres a
Will theres a way.