I titled this post "Jumping through hoops" because for 9 weeks, that's how I felt. I knew from watching the orientation video for my preferred surgeon at Piedmont Hospital, Atlanta, that I was in for a few appointments to get cleared for surgery. What I was not prepared for was the difficulty in getting these procedures scheduled in a timely matter. Due to Covid, many people had put off their medical visits, and now are feeling safe to make those visits happen. As a result, scheduling appointments was a nightmare.
This is my pre-surgery checklist:
- Clearance from primary care doctor
- Clearance from cardiologist
- Clearance from pulmonologist (sleep apnea)
- Barium swallow test
- Endoscopy
- Colonoscopy
- Psychiatric evaluation
- Two registered dietician visits (which insurance requires but will not pay for, go figure)
- Initial visit with surgeon
Finally all boxes were checked off and my surgeon's office began to put the proposal together for insurance approval. Let me also mention here, if you have not met your deductible be prepared, each step came with a significant co-pay. The good news is that now I have met my deductible, so the pain for paying for my part of the surgery will be lessened quite a lot.
As an added bonus, each procedure was reassuring when completed, because they all came out with positive results. Now we wait for insurance approval and surgery scheduling.
Next: How did I get here?