Waiting on an Appeal for a Reduction - Medina, OH

Have you spoken with your primary care provider about your back and neck pain? I didn't have a lot of documentation about my pain since I work in the doctor's office where I am seen, but the first provider I asked was more than willing to write a letter on my behalf and I think that helped a lot. Have you had a mammogram? Does the report mention the consistency of your breast tissue? Those were two of the things that I submitted that the plastic surgeon thought was very helpful. My insurance is Blue Cross.
As far as the drive home...I live an hour and a half away from where I will be having the surgery. I had no other options as I live in rural Iowa and the drive would be that far no matter where I would go.
My insurance does allow me to stay overnight in the hospital. If I lived in Des Moines, where the surgery will be, I may opt to go home and save the money, but my doctor will place drains and I need to go to his office the following day to have them removed and be re-evaluated and I don't want to have to make that drive again.
I have my surgery next Wednesday, so I will be able to give you more of an opinion afterward, but my opinion now would be to stay in a hotel nearby that first night if you are going to have to go back the following day. If you don't have to go back to the surgeon's office right away I would go home for a day or two and then make the drive back if that is an option.
Good luck! I hope your appeal is successful

Thank you for posting your story.  

I do remember my ride home and it was a bit bumpy and hurt a bit.  I think you would be ok on the ride home.  Just make sure your driver doesn't hit every pot hole in the road...LOL   I swear my hubby found all of them.  

You will feel like a new woman after this surgery.  It gives you a boost in confidence and takes a big load off the back, neck and shoulders.  

I had told myself that if my insurance did not cover it I was going to pay out of pocket.  I had to get this done.

Keep us up to date on what's going on with your process.

Thanks Kimmers! I'll keep you updated. I would pay a million dollars to get this done - if I had it - as it is, I don't have a pot to P in:) My mother offered to pay - but I couldn't take it without it being a loan. We'll see..

My PS thought the mammo reports were helpful as mine stated that 10% of breast cancers are undetected in women with very dense tissue. I can't believe with all of the documentation that you had that you were denied. Did they give you a reason?

Good luck on your appeal. Some insurance companies go out of there way to not pay. I didn't have grooves on my shoulder or constant rashes (I had a few)...but I wore a 40J bra. My HMO wouldn't even refer me to a PS...they referred my to a physical therapist and nutritionist. I switched to Blue Cross and was able to go directly to a PS. The main criteria should be the amount of breast tissue removed. If you feel comfortable with this resident program and can afford it....it sounds like a good deal. I was looking at the billed charges for my surgery that the insurance paid and my surgery cost about 3 times that.

Taking the two hour drive the day of the surgery will not be comfortable. I would say the first day was the most painful day for me. If possible, I would stay for one night. Talk to you doctor, I visited my doctor the day after surgury...but he kept the drains in over the weekend (I had them for six days due to the holiday weekend).

Best of luck to you Micki! Hope you get everything worked out:-)

Thanks Iowa - I'll keep you posted. Looks like two other ladies are scheduled the same week as me. It will be nice to compare notes:)

That's unfortunate about the insurance stipulation of not covering it unless it's cancer. Glad you were able to set up something closer, because I don't think a 2-hour drive back from Columbus would be very pleasant after an outpatient surgery--I had mine 10 minutes away, and got a little nauseous on the drive home! Just wondering which surgeon at Cleveland Clinic is doing it? You can message me if you don't want to mention it here.

I know - it was so frustrating; but I had to find a way somehow..I usually don't respond overly nauseous to the anesthia, so hopefully that won't be an issue. My surgeon is Dr. Armand Lucas. I really like him. How are you feeling? How long ago was your surgery? Happy? Done anything differently? YOU can message me if you don't want to answer here;)

My surgery was just over 6 months ago, and I am thrilled I did it, should have done it sooner! I feel great without those extra weights on my chest, have been able to wear things I could never wear before. I just wondered about the surgeon because you commented on my review a while ago that you had a consult with Dr. Andrews originally. Good luck to you!

I'm not sure that was me.....I had my first appt. with Dr. Christina Rotemberg - but it was too long a wait, so I found Dr. Lehman in Akron, but couldn't do it there because of the cost.

Oh--you're right, it was Lehman! I don't know why I said Andrews!!! Sorry.