Sara's psych evaluation

[Guest guest]

Dearest Sara,

My heart goes out to you as I feel you sitting across from this

obviously non-enlightend health professional. It sounds like she

took a look at you and already had a preconceived notion as to

whether you 'needed' this surgery or not. I would have hated sitting

there, (someone that had apparantly never been fat a day of her life)

having to defend the MGB.

As far as I am concerned you paid this woman to do a service for

you, right? Call her office and ask her how long it takes to make a

determination for the insurance company. Tell her that everyone else

has approved you for surgery and you need to know if you can continue

with your plans to follow through with the surgery.

My doctor's letter was very short and sweet. She gave me a

history and physical form and said that I was all checked out to have

general anesthesia and that she would take care of me

postoperatively. My surgery is scheduled for the 19th of July, if

that is any indication of whether my doctor's letter was 'right' or

not. I do not know Rexanne (MGB 9/13) as well as a lot of people on

this site do but I think she has something to do with being a

psychologist/psychiatrist...I am not sure...maybe you could post a

letter to her attention. She may be able to find a more

understanding psychiatrist. My prayers are with you for what you are

going through. It is a struggle, Sara and will be worth the trials

in the end. Take care!

Love,

> Hi Sara,

> I just had to write and tell you how very sad I was to read of your

losing

> your child--I cannot imagine anything more devastating in life. It

seems to

> me that the psych person you saw will recommend you--I pray that

this is the

> case, anyway. As for the physical, there is no required form and

I've heard

> that some have been very " short and sweet. " Good luck to you,

sweetie! You

> have been through so much and it is a shame that so much of the

s*** we deal

> with as obese people is so humiliating. We just have to grin and

bear it,

> knowing that that it will be worth it in the long run. Again, I am

so sorry

> about the loss of your child--you deserve health and happiness!

Hang in

> there! I will be praying for you, Sara.

>

> Regards,

> Debbie in IL

> Cigna approved on 3rd appeal for daughter (BMI 45)

> Counting on Cigna for Debbie (BMI 40)--online form submitted 6/22

>

> n a message dated 6/28/00 10:16:07 AM Pacific Daylight Time,

> vaschutz@c... writes:

>

> << Hi,

>

> My psych eval (required by my insurance) was Monday, and it wasn't

as

> smooth as I had hoped. The psychologist obviously thought that I

must have

> some serious psychological problem that makes me fat (she was

about a size

> 2), and she kept asking me why I thought this surgery was going to

change

> my eating habits?! I kept explaining over and over that the

stomach is

> made much, much smaller, so you cannot eat as much, but she just

kept

> saying, " well what if you still can eat as much? " !! Apparently she

knew

> people who had the old stomach stapling surgery and gained their

weight

> back. I tried to explain that this surgery is not the same as the

old

> stomach stapling surgery, but she acted like she knew all about

the MGB

> (which she doesn't because she had no idea, apparently, that there

are

> different kinds of weight loss surgeries.) I knew I was in

trouble when

> she asked me at one point if I had tried Metabolife!!!

> I think she thinks I am looking for some easy, quick fix, and that

I have

> chosen an option which she believes will just fail, because for

some reason

> she thinks I'll still be able to eat just as much (she also seems

to

> totally overlook the malabsorbtion caused by bypassing the

intestines), and

> so I have to somehow be able to eat a tiny amount on my own

anyway, without

> any help, and if I could do that, or if any of us could do that

continually

> for the rest of our lives, then none of us would need the surgery

anyway.

> It was just a frustrating experience.

> I had said at one point that I wouldn't try any other weight loss

drugs

> because of them being very ineffective and often dangerous, and she

> translated that into meaning that I might not be willing to take

the

> medicines I need to take after the surgery!!! I said that of

course I

> would take the medicines after the surgery, that I am committed to

> following Dr. R's instructions exactly. Finally she said she was

worried

> that if (and according to her limited understanding, it almost

surely will

> be) this surgery is a failure for me, that I won't be able to

handle it

> well because, according to her, I seem to have " so much hope " that

this

> will solve my health problems. I said of course I have hope that

this will

> solve or improve my weight related health problems!! Why would

anyone have

> surgery unless they had hope that it would solve some problem??!!!

> I finally told her that if it did fail for some reason, if I had

to have it

> revised for some reason, or if I just didn't manage to lose

weight, or if I

> gained it all back, that certainly I would be sad, but I would get

through

> it. I told her that I had had a child die (which was another

thing that

> she wanted me to deal with in this session - something which has

been dealt

> with years ago with other therapists and really had nothing to do

with

> making sure I am competent to choose to have this surgery and to

care for

> myself afterward) and that I had lived through that, and that any

failure

> of this surgery would not even come close to being as hard to deal

with as

> the loss of my child, and that since I had dealt with that, that I

could

> deal with this surgery and whatever comes of it. She seemed more

satisfied

> after I said that, but I really don't know what she is going to

say in her

> report to the insurance company. Does anyone know if she would

have been

> ethically required to let me know if she intended to tell the

insurance

> company that I am not a good candidate for this surgery, because

she didn't

> say anything like that before I left, she just said good luck, and

that she

> hoped I would do well? I'm hoping that means she plans to say I'm

OK.

> I could use some prayers, please! My packet to Dr. R should be

ready by

> Friday, if I can get just what I need from my family doctor. His

letter to

> Dr. R was supposed to be ready yesterday, and he thought it was,

but he

> hadn't included anything about being willing to follow me after the

> surgery, so he has to add that, and, of course he is not in his

office

> today, so it will be tomorrow before it can get done.

> This has been so long (sorry) maybe no one is reading anymore, but

I have a

> question. I have my medical records from my doctor and he did a

physical

> and bunches of tests a few weeks ago when I told him about wanting

to have

> the MGB. Well, I have those records, but they are just a bunch of

test

> results. My docs letter lists my health problems, and says he

thinks the

> MGB will be a good thing for me, but I am wondering if all those

test

> results and the letter from my doc (which is short) will be enough

to count

> as my history and physical from my doctor for the packet? Does

anyone know

> if it has to be in a certain form? I'm not sure I'm asking this

clearly

> enough, but any advice along this line would be appreciated.

> Sorry again for the length of this. I love you all out there!

>

> Sara

>

> >>