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Melissa Ward - WLS Page

My Steps to having WLS

I went to my consultation somewhere around 11/6/02...at that time I weighed 325lbs...my highest...I'm a 28 yr old mother of one 5 yr old and just recently married...I have high blood pressure, pcos, hypothyroidism, slight case of sleep apnea, etc...my mother is very supportive of me pursuing wls and my husband is also very supportive. 12/2/02 I go and have my sleep test done tonight. 12/3/02 I had the sleep test done..I am very tired today took the day off work did not sleep well at all being away from home and all those wires hooked up to me. 12/5/02 I had my psych eval today..looks very promising, 12/9/02 I received the results of my sleep test today and they stated I have slight case of sleep apnea...called btc in mich today to ck on status of my file..talked w/a rep in ins. dept. she stated was just assigned to an ins. cordinator that day and trying to tell me not to check back for another 4 weeks...she upset me so bad I was crying...not good12/13/02 I called btc mich. again today and talked with another rep. and asked the name of my ins. cordinator and also asked her name and let her know I did not want to talk to the rep I talked to on 12/9 again. This one stated that my papers were written up and ready to fax to ins. dept. with my 5 yr history of weight and the psych eval 12/16/02 I called btc mich. again and talked to same rep from 12/13 and she stated that they had faxed the papers today at 2:15pm...woo hoo...also I called the insurance dept. and they stated it takes about 1 - 2 days to be entered in the sys. then about another week for it to be reviewed.

You are Rowlf!
You don't draw attention to yourself much, preferring to keep your cool and stay in the background
.

12/26/02 I called the ins company today...they were closed from the 21 - 25th...the rep stated it was just put into review on 12/20/02 which was fri...and that there wasnt and new info as of yet and he stated could be a couple weeks. 12/27/02 I called the ins company again today...just felt like I needed to...the rep stated that I was APPROVED on 12/26...WOO HOO...Then I called the ins. dept with btc and they stated all they need now is the approval faxed to them from ins. co. and they will foward it to the dr to sign off on it then a scheduler will be calling me to schedule the surgery...YES, the following pic is me in 8/2002: ******1/25/03 Well I found out that Dr. Stelmach is not covered and I would have to pay $7,000 or more myself which i cannot afford. So I am changing doctors to Dr. Timothy J Custer at Mt. Carmel West. My 1st visit is on Apr 25. I just need to obtain my medical records from bariatric treatment center and a new referral from my pcp to dr custer. Does not affect my approval. ******2/24/03 I went to dr. custers apt today. I really liked him he stated that it would be about a month. you have to go to an apt to see the hospital and meet with the nurses after you get you surgery date. He stated for me to try and get in before i get my date. the nurses stated that he doesnt know what he is talking about i have to wait until i get a surgery date. they have to wait for dictation to come back and send the info to the ins dept to change the dr information. ******3/17/03 I have been waiting 3weeks and they still did not have the dictation back yet. Bariatric Treatment Center was calling me to schedule surgery. I accepted and decided to go back to Dr. Stelmach. Tired of waiting for the other dr office to get their feet moving. My surgery date is 3/28/03 pre-op tests are scheduled for 3/20/03. ******3/22/03 I went to my pre-op tests my apt was 12pm and I was there till about 4:30 or so. my tests were fine they wanted me to go and have a stress test done. I did that on 3/21/03 my apt for that was at 4:15 and was there til 8:15pm. The results from that was fine also. Well now only have 6 days til surgery. woo hoo.

My Favorite Web Sites

ObesityHelp.com
Bariatric Treatment Center
Married in Columbus Ohio
Prince

Email: rward5@wideopenwest.com