Need to Start ...

So I talked to the nurse at the Dr office and she told me whatever I lose from now til the"Big Day" is just a bonus...so its time to start Walk Walk Walking!! and Now I have conquer all the water I need to drink to stay hydrated!!

The Beginning...

My Journey 6/5/2010

Hi Im Nicole and Ive begun my journey-
My doctor and I talked about the bypass in the fall of last year (2009) . We are currently at Ft Riley Kansas and my referral went to Dr Hachem and the Innovative Weight Loss Gals - huge thanks goes to them! My approval wasn’t easy although I had other problems and was 100 lbs overweight tricare didn’t recognize my other problems ..gallstones being one of the ones they denied. Tricare denied me twice then my doctor diagnosed me with high blood pressure and they finally approved but I had to call everyday or they keep returning it to my doctor saying it was a duplicate of the denied one or that I had to appeal. Finally they pushed through the new diagnosis it was just a matter of getting the right person at tricare and being very persistent. If you are 100 lbs over and been denied, three high BP readings qualify you for a diagnosis of high pressure and low dose meds which tricare accepts as a qualifier . Also the readings can be done by you at Wal-Mart’s machine I was told! I had a friend who was a nurse do mine but I’m sure the pharmacy gals could record it to make it more legit. This was a very emotional process from I’m going to get approved to denied to mustering the energy to try again. All I can say is IM APPROVED took three tries and me being a pain in the arse but I’m the one who cares about my future so I felt it was my responsibility to stay on top of the faxes and paperwork being sent and the progress of them through the tricare system. In the end it paid of and Ill be having surgery soon, I find out my date next week! Good Luck on your journey!


P.s.
My friend had no trouble and was approved with no problems!
I’m tricare west prime
Both of us received a phone call from a tricare RN telling us we were approved

*I’m not saying this is how Tricare always works just how it worked for me!*

PCM Referral: 11/09
Sleep Study: 12/10/09
*the months in between sleep study and next step is because I got denied and had to build up the courage to fight it( gallstone diagnosis pushed me to do it)
WLS Seminar: 5/11/10
Nutritionist Appt: 6/10/10
Psych Eval: 5/20/10 delayed to
Pre-op Appointment: August 5
Surgery date:August 10