Jason W.

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Well I expected to have had my surgery last month but the insurance company denied me. They required a clearance letter from both a cardiologist and a pulmonologist. Turns out my heart doctor sent over every chart and every test he did, minus the clearance letter!! This took a week to get fixed as it appears he only works Wednesdays between 11:26am and 11:39am and you have to catch him in that exact time slot or you will never find him. Then I am off to find a lung specialist for that clearance; find one close to home, his nurse has had Bariatric surgery and we chat wonderfully for 15 minutes. Have a consult date set and ready to go. The next day I get call from them informing me they do not accept my insurance.

The hunt goes on, I find one of my insurances medical provider site. Have my doctor send in a referral get a date for the visit. Then get a call saying "you do not live in our county so we do not accept your insurance." I wish I could make this shit up, I would be rich. So now I am three weeks in to my search for a lung specialism for my clearance letter and not one step closer than I was day 1. I  hope i find one soon I really want to get this new life started.

I just received a letter from my insurance company and they have denied my surgery as medically unnecessary. They put in a code I haven't been able to find any where on the internet and of course I didnt get my mail until it was to late to call. now I am upset and feeling like a total failure. I very sad right now and want to cry. It always feels like everything is a fight in my life. I take 1 step forward only to be kicked back 5 steps. Now I have no clue if I will even be having my surgery.

I have chosen to have the Biliopancreatic Diversion With Duodenal Switch as my surgery. Chosen is a lose term really, it was strongly recommended and then rarely talked about any more. My Surgeons office reticently hired a new Nurse Practitioner who is very new to all of this and does not seem to have many answers. Well ok she doesn't have any answers other than "I will have to look in to that an get back to you." I find this oddly uncomforting and even a little nerve racking at times.

Because of this lack of knowledge it has lead me to do my own internet research, every video so far goes like this' 3 minutes of good things and 45 minutes of everything that can go wrong. This tends to freak me out so I go and ask more questions and he says she has more stuff to lookup, this vicious cycle of lack of information we share never seems to lead to any followup information! So maybe others here can help me understand what to expect i]from the weeks, months and life time following this surgery?

1. How soon after you eat do you need to go poop? I have this image of only making it to the bathroom like 50% of the time and exploding the other 50%.

2. How many times a day will I have to go? Should I carry a man purse now with toiletries for emergencies and spare underwear?

3. I was told that when you do go #2 it smells god awful. Will I need to tart being extra conscious of this start looking for water sanitizers to mask the smell?

4. Will I feel any different; meaning will i notice my plumbing has been rewired and it makes me lean to the right or walk different or anything like that?

5. What can I expect for pin levels right after the surgery and how long did they typically last

I will have many more questions as these are answered but honestly I just want to know what I am getting myself in to from those who have already gone through it. Any advice will be incredibly helpful. I ask with love and respect and fear.