Friday 05/04/01--Called Dr. Elariny and got an appointment for 05/201 for my first consultation.

Monday 05/21/01--Did not go to Dr. Elariny's office today. My oldest sons night nurse was in an accident and could not make it here. So I had to stay up all night and could not make the trip. I have my appointment rescheduled for Wed, May 30th at 4 PM.

Thursday 06/21/01--Saw Dr. Elariny today. Now just waiting for insurance approval.

Tuesday 06/26/01--Heard from insurance today. Was approved for the RNY, but not for the DS. So now I get to appeal. I will keep everyone posted.

Friday 09/28/01--Have been trying to get information together for an appeal. I have not gotten the DS approved yet. I am now going for approval for Vertical Gastroplasty (VG). This is the stomach reduction part of the Duodenal Switch surgery only. We are hoping that the insurance company will approve this one. Keep your fingers crossed.

Wednesday 10/10/01--I heard from Dr. E's office today. I was approved for the "Sleeve" -- Vertical Gastroplasty -- the stomach part of the DS surgery. See the picture below.

Tuesday 10/16/01--Received call from Dr. E's office today. Was advised that my insurance company (Trigon Blue Cross Blue Shield) has now denied my surgery that just last week they had APPROVED. I have not given up yet, I will call and argue some more tomorrow.

Thursday 01/24/02--Faxed my appeal letter to Trigon BC/BS for the Sleeve (VG). Now just waiting to hear from them.

Wednesday 02/06/02--Found out that my appeal was denied. This time reason being that I could have the Vertical Banded Gastroplasty, but not the sleeve because it had no pouch.

Thursday 04/04/02--Found out today from the insurance company that my second appeal fax was received from Dr. Elariny's office. I am going to get a call to set up a conference call.

Friday 04/05/02--Received call from Kris (Appeals Unit of Trigon), a VERY nice lady. She said that my conference call is set up for Monday, May 6th at 9 am . Keep your fingers crossed. I am hoping to change their minds.

Monday 05/06/02--Had conference call. Cried when over. I felt that they just did it because they had to and not to really hear my appeal. One of the first words out ot their mouths was, "you know that your insurance does not cover investigational procedures". That was pretty much a give away.... no approval.
Within 1 week received letter stating that I was not approved and that I could still appeal one more time to an external review board... Husband switching jobs so I will not be doing that. Starting new job on 07-15-02.

Monday 07/08/02--Talked to Mohammed from Dr. E's office. He said that since my husband is changing jobs and his insurance will be different (Trigon still, but a different plan) we will just start over from the beginning. I am going to go to a new doctor on 8-12 to get a referral since my other doctor retired. I went ahead and scheduled an appointment with Dr. E for 8-21. I am going to just have to do the consultation part of the appointment since it has been over 1 year since I was there. I already know about the surgeries and have been through that part of the 1st visit. I already know what surgery I want to have. I will keep you posted in August. Keeping fingers crossed that this new job will be good luck for me!

08/02--As of 09-20-02 I will have Cigna insurance. Now I get to start all over....Good or Bad? Time will tell...

Monday 10/28/02--Had my appointment with Dr. Elariny again. This time he said that since my insurance had changed, I may be able to have the DS if I wanted it.