Yesterday I made my first real step since my approval.
I went to one of my health plan’s bariatric support group
meetings. Out of the 11 people there, only 1 was a post-op patient. Julie, the
bariatric nurse/case manager, came to the meeting. I have spoken with her on
the phone and conversed with her via email, so it was really nice to put a face
to a name/voice. She has been with my health plan as the bariatric nurse for
over 20 years, so her knowledge is precious and vast. She knows the ins and outs of the procedures
as well as all the paperwork stuff that goes along with it.
I have not had my consultation yet, so I was many steps
behind everyone else that was there.
From hearing other people speak about where they were at in the process,
I learned that it was going to take a lot longer than I expected and wanted.
The number of referrals has grown and they only have 1 surgeon now. This means
everything takes longer. There have been budget cuts in all sorts of
departments, so what used to take 2 months is now taking 5-6.
I emailed Julie this morning to ask if she could get me
signed up for the mandatory class prior to my first consultation, and again,
she did! She is wonderful. My class is a 6hr class on June 6th. They
only have one class per month and the April and May classes are full. I am
hoping I can schedule my pre-op visit for as soon after June 6th as
they will let me.
Another thing I found out, I will have a 2 night stay in the
hospital and will be required to take 2-4 weeks off work depending on the doctors’
orders. A little longer than I was
expecting, but that’s ok.
All in all, I was very happy I went to the group. I plan on
attending the one in May. Its nice to
get more of the specifics of my health plan from people who have gone through
it.
Xoxo,
Jessica
I only took off one week after, but I wish I would have taken off two.
ReplyDeleteThat's good to hear. I was thinking a week would be pleeeenty of time. I will take two though :)
DeleteI find it interesting how different all the surgeon's offices are. I really hope that you get through all of the hoops ASAP. I have almost zero patience for everything, so I would jumping around in my skin to just wait. You are much more patient than me!! I'm hoping to only take 3-4 days off of work (plus the weekend) for my surgery, but my surgeon said today that I might want to take off the whole week. Argh.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I thought 2 weeks sounded like a lot, but I will have the paid-time available so I might as well take it as a gift and use it. I want to be the most successful I can. My patience is not as good as I would like it to be, but I dont have a lot of say in how long things take. I have learned to not be afraid to ask though. Its served me well both times, so I will keep asking :)
DeleteGreat JOb going to the support group. Support is such a good tool during this journey. It helps to spend time with people that know right where you are an understand :)
ReplyDeleteI loved it. I am definitely going back next month. Most people there were wanting to get sleeved, so it will be interesting to see who ends up with sleeves vs. RNY. My surgeon does not like to band. Last year they put 1 in and took 12 out...
Delete