First Steps

Here's the steps I had to go through in order to have my surgery approved by insurance and scheduled with my surgeon.  I realize these may differ for you, but these were the ones issued by my doctor, Dr. John A. Mason (College Station, TX).

1.  Attend informational seminar - these seem to be held on a monthly basis by my doctor's office.  It lasts approximately 1 hour and they present the different options available to you (i.e. gastric bypass, lap band, gastric sleeve).  At that time, I submitted my name and number and was told to wait to be contacted by their office.

2.  Meet with the doctor - my first appointment with Dr. Mason was on June 11, 2013.  At this time, he once again went over the options available and asked which I had decided upon (which was the sleeve).  I was weighed, measured, etc at this appointment.  I then met with the lady that coordinates the entire process, Tish.  She works with your insurance company and the other service providers to make the process as smooth as possible.  And she's awesome.  Love me some Tish!

3.  Meet with Nutritionist - this lasted approximately 45 minutes.  We reviewed good food choices, nutrition values, proper plate proportions, etc.  All the stuff we all know....we just choose to ignore it most of the time.  I took lots and lots of papers home from this appointment, but honestly, I haven't really looked at it since.

4.  Psychological Evaluation - this lasted approximately 2 1/2 hours.  I sat and visited with the psychologist (a lovely lady who had also had WLS) for a bit, then took some sort of personality profile.  Basically, they want to see if you have any mental issues that might hinder your recovery.  And if you have depression or anxiety issues, this surgery will not 'fix' you.  I'm a pretty happy person in general, so this surgery is not 'fixing' anything for me.  I'll be happy - whether I'm fat, skinny or somewhere in between.

5.   Cardiology Consultation - if I had heart issues, I would have had to do this, but thankfully I do not.

6.   Education class - this lasted approximately 4 hours.  There were two ladies that taught the class.....one had WLS several years before and the other was a nurse that assisted with WLS, so their knowledge was incredibly helpful.  We were given a 1" thick binder full of good information and told lots of good stuff including how to prep for surgery, what to eat before/after surgery, what to pack for surgery, etc.

7.  Final Pre-op - final meeting at Dr. Mason's office before surgery.

8.  Surgery Pre-op - meeting with staff at the hospital for final instructions and x-rays.

I was able to accomplish this pretty quickly and my surgery was scheduled for July 11, 2013, exactly one month after my first doctor visit.  Some people have to be on a doctor-supervised, documented weight loss program for 6 - 12 months before their insurance will cover it.  I am very fortunate that my insurance will cover the surgery in two circumstances:  [1] BMI is higher than 42 (which I was, but just barely)  [2] Health issues if BMI is under 42, including diabetes, high blood pressure or high cholesterol.  The total estimated cost of the surgery was $12k-14k, but I wound up paying approximately $3,500.