What's Next

So I've covered this journey up to now.  I can tell some of you are hanging on the edge of your seat waiting for the next post.

The Waiting Game

Because you probably aren't familiar with the process to get approved for bariatric surgery I'll try to give you a little taste of what I've gone through at Community North.

After the initial seminar I waited to hear back from the wonderful insurance admin with CN.  I got a call about a week later saying she had talked with my insurance company and they required I have 3 months of supervised weight loss.

This is pretty common.  Short of no supervised weight loss requirement, 3 months is the lowest term required by insurance providers.  6 months is the norm and it can be as much as 12 months.  I felt pretty lucky but I'm not going to be surprised if they come back and say, "My bad.  We meant 6 months."  This isn't CN's insurance admins fault.  It's the insurance providers' fault.  The requirement should be in black and white but apparently it can be left up to interpretation.

So for the past 3 months I've been doing the following:

- 1 class a month with the dietitian and / or physical therapist.  These can be unsettling for us folks because we've run the gauntlet of weight loss programs.  We despise dietitians and bubbly health nuts talking to us about weight loss and how to eat right.  CN gets it though.  Their dietitans and physical therapists get it.  They don't beat us up.  They are strictly filling the requirement for the insurance provider.

At other places you're left to your own devices like Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig or something like that.  Then you have to provide proof to your surgeon and then the insurance provider.  Then you make a process that is already a crap shoot even harder by relying on yourself.  You never did that before with success why do it now?

Fat Guy Advice - Find a program that does the supervised weight loss as part of their program.

- I had to get blood work and other physical testing done.  Why?  Because they are looking for comorbidities.  There's an awesome word.  So insurance companies don't see obesity as a problem.  But if you can prove that by being obese you have sleep apnia, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, etc, they will be more likely to approve you for surgery.

- 1 session with a psychiatrist (or psychologist) I don't remember.
Coincidentally I met with the same guy both at STV and CN.  His job is to make sure I have the right mind frame to deal with the massive emotional change that comes along with this massive physical change.  When I met him at STV he referred me to a counselor that I was required to see at least 3 times.

Fat Guy Advice - Don't challenge these docs.  Do what they say.  Yeah you have to pay out of your pocket.  Yeah its yet another thing you have to do.  Just do it.  It's made my journey easier.

After meeting with the counselor 3 times he sent a letter to the shrink (I'm sure they love to be called that) recommending me to proceed.  Keep in mind this was at STV before I got jammed by the surgeon's office.
So after meeting with the shrink again at CN we just talked and he told me as before I'm ready to proceed.

- Meet with the surgeon.  So this feels like the end and they're going to tell you to get ready for surgery.  But it's not the end.  This is the beginning of Wait Fest 2012.  I met with my surgeon.  Dr. Jones.  She's great and I feel like I'm in good hands.  My primary care physician recommended her also.  She was there to answer questions I had which were none at this point.  So the next day they were supposed to submit to insurance.

The hardest part...

As Tom Petty sings, "The waiting is the hardest part..."

And he's right.  Right now I'm in limbo.  Dr. Jones says it will be 2-4 weeks before we hear anything from insurance.  Sometimes we get the letter first and sometimes they do.  I look in the mailbox every day...I feel like waiting on my acceptance into college.

So life goes on for now Corky.

That's why I'm doing this.  So life can go on for a long, long time...