Monday, September 28, 2009

YAY



The guy in charge of the exercise class finally called me back today! By the grace of God, I made an appointment for Thursday at 9 am. There is a fee of $65, but this IS my LAST requirement for surgery!! I will see if I can get a signed official paper to bring to the surgeon's office *seeing as it is right across the street from where I will be taking the class*
I am excited for two reasons,
1.) I will be getting more inspiration to exercise regularly and perhaps learn some new exercises
and
2.) This is IT! After this, the surgeon's office can send off my paperwork to the insurance company!

I just have to praise God! If it weren't for His peace and His love...I would never have made it this far. Thank You, Lord for being so awesome to me! And thank You for always taking care of me.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

I've grown a sense of humor over the past year...


So yesterday I go to my PCP's office to pick up 'The final paperwork' needed for the surgeon's office to send off to my insurance company. I thought to myself, "Hmmm maybe I could just have them fax my paper work to the surgeon's office...nah...something might happen."

I drove 35 minutes to the neighboring city in which my surgeon's office is located. After a few minutes of waiting, I got to speak with my insurance lady, Judy. Judy informed me that as of that moment I had ALL of the needed requirements to send off my paperwork monday!
Half in disbelief half relieved I said, "Praise Jesus!!"
Even though she told me that I had all of the needed requirements....I still felt uneasy.

Well....on my way home I get a call on my cell phone from the surgeon's office... (enter the 'I knew it was too good to be true' line) Apparently as of last week, yet ANOTHER requirement was added.....yes as of LAST WEEK!!!
It's not a horrible requirement...just annoying. Once a month *starting last Friday* there is a one hour long lecture on the importance of exercise before and after GBS. Although this is a great idea...why couldn't they have added it let's say...next month?!!!

Anyhow, the next class isn't until October 16th from 4p-5p. I was informed that I could call the gentleman teaching the classes and maybe do a one on one class so I can turn in my requirements earlier. Apparently it can take 1-3 weeks for MY insurance to review and accept my paperwork. I've already called the guy teaching the classes and left him a message...but still no word back from him.

I will say this, I HAVE grown a sense of humor during all of this insurance run-around. I'm not angry, like I thought I would be...more annoyed than anything...but I know it will happen in God's time.

Well everyone, I am going to get off of here and go watch a movie on this rainy rainy day.

Take care

Friday, September 18, 2009

Frustrated



So today I called the surgeon's office to check on the status of my paperwork for insurance approval. I was informed that they received the correct physician notes for all the months of my weigh-ins EXCEPT: April, May and June. Apparently all that was written was my weight on the notes and nothing else. The notes are suppose to contain: weight, diet, exercise program and progress made.
I then called my PCP's office, only to find that it closed at 12 pm (b/c it's Friday).

(Amy says...."GRRRR")

I know...I know....it will be okay, but trying to get through this insurance run-around is getting quite frustrating.
I am so thankful for my doctor and the awesome people at her office...they've really gone out of their way to help me with this.
All I can do is call my PCP's office on Monday and pray that they will fax the correct and needed paperwork to the surgeon's office.

Until next time....

Friday, September 11, 2009

Much to update!!



Okay, so I had another appointment with my PCP yesterday. We discussed the following topics:

1.) The error in my medical record concerning my initial weigh-in.
*She looked through my chart and found that it was an error in the dictation, and she corrected it.*
2.) The Lord blessed me to find the UMR requirements for gastric bypass (click here). I printed them up and gave them to my doctor.
*She ended up having copies of the needed paperwork, faxed to the surgeon's office*
3.) Told her about all of the crazy/mad heartburn and vomiting I've had lately
*She ended up diagnosing me with GERD...(shocker lol) She told me to continue taking my Prilosec (which has been helping I might add).
So all in all, it was a great visit. I still need to lose 3 lbs before I see her next month.

Today, I dropped off a rather large stack of papers (my journal) to the surgeon's office. When I mean it was big...I mean...it was BIG. Like from Feb 25th-Sept 10th....yeah....lots of paper.
Judy, the awesome insurance lady, informed me that as soon as they receive my paperwok from the PCP's office as well as the printed dictation of my final consult....THEN they can send off my paperwork to the insurance company.
It's so nice to know that I'm still getting a little closer each day. I'm thankful that this is all in God's hands...Lord knows I could not handle ANY of this on my own.

Anyhow, I shall be bugging the surgeon's office next week to make sure my paperwork was received and no further requirements are needed.
I will update next post with the results!

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Getting a little closer everyday!!


So yesterday was my 'final appointment' with the surgeon. I got to sign the consent forms for surgery, as well as take a True/False quiz about the surgery (in which I got a 100).
As I was talking to the surgeon, he informed me casually that I have a hiatal hernia (Amy was like....."HUH?!")
He said, "last October when you had your EGD, I found that you have a hiatal hernia. I will be able to correct it during the surgery though."
Thank God for that!
After all of the paperwork was finished, I went to my buddy Judy 'aka the insurance lady'. She looked through my large file of paperwork and found that I still have a few more things I need to get before she can send off my papers for insurance approval.

1.) She found a 'boo boo' from my weigh in from February. It basically says that I weighed 100 lbs less than I really did. (glad she caught it) So when I see my doctor next week, I will see about her fixing that.

2.) April, June and July are missing the part that says "Amy is on an 1800 ADA diet and exercising 3 days a week"
3.) My food journal (in which I will be dropping off at their office due to the largeness of it)

Once I have these things taken care of, then they will be able to send off everything for insurance approval!!! (YAYYYYYYYYY!!!!)

Even though I still have more requirements to fulfill, I feel much better about the whole thing. I know God will lead and guide me through every bit of this (as He has the whole time so far).

As for other news, my Hida scan came back and it was completely normal! The gallbladder u/s was also normal, however the side note of 'notably enlarged fatty liver' was there.
Most obese individuals have an enlarged/fatty liver, but it makes sense as to why I feel 'tender' in that area when I ate fatty foods.

Well everyone, thank you for all of your support and wonderful comments. I appreciate each and everyone of you!


Take care and I will update after my next Dr's appointment on Thurs the 10th.