Insurance approved!!! WooHoo!!! 9/3 date! Any Sept. buddies?
Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2013 5:00 pm
After only a single additional request for information, insurance approved!!! (Anthem BCBS) I've been schedule for a 9/3 date for a few weeks, and was on pins-and-needles about the approval. I'm in a financial position where I could cover it out of pocket... but ouch; it'd still be a hurt to the wallet.
I was really glad when my employer's insurance switched from Cigna to Anthem, as Cigna requires you to have horrible TMJ, uncorrectable Sleep Apnea, significant speech impediment, or such trouble chewing you are losing weight before they'll approve. My medical problem (indeed, the whole reason I'm going through this) was malocclusion causing gum/bone recession; that's not on any insurance company's list. Anthem BCBS will approve for all those things OR if you simply have asymmetry over a certain threshold, which apparently I do.
My surgery will be with Prof. Blakey at UNC-CH. I don't know yet if I'm getting upper (2-piece LeFort I), lower (BSSO), or both. My last pre-surgical appointment is next week for final models and the normal pre-op workup stuff. The following week I'll be getting my hooks fitted, with surgery the day after Labor Day. I've already arranged to be off of work for a couple of weeks, and my Mom is coming down for a week to give my wife a hand while I recuperate.
The morning of my last pre-op workup, I'm going to have to shave my goatee, as they'd really like to know how my asymmetry actually looks from the outside (on x-rays, my lower jaw is almost comically canted to one side), and my cleverly-trimmed goatee does an excellent job hiding it. I've had the goatee almost continuously since a month after I started dating my wife (so, almost 13 years now) and I think she'll barely recognize me!
Any fellow September surgical buddies?
I was really glad when my employer's insurance switched from Cigna to Anthem, as Cigna requires you to have horrible TMJ, uncorrectable Sleep Apnea, significant speech impediment, or such trouble chewing you are losing weight before they'll approve. My medical problem (indeed, the whole reason I'm going through this) was malocclusion causing gum/bone recession; that's not on any insurance company's list. Anthem BCBS will approve for all those things OR if you simply have asymmetry over a certain threshold, which apparently I do.
My surgery will be with Prof. Blakey at UNC-CH. I don't know yet if I'm getting upper (2-piece LeFort I), lower (BSSO), or both. My last pre-surgical appointment is next week for final models and the normal pre-op workup stuff. The following week I'll be getting my hooks fitted, with surgery the day after Labor Day. I've already arranged to be off of work for a couple of weeks, and my Mom is coming down for a week to give my wife a hand while I recuperate.
The morning of my last pre-op workup, I'm going to have to shave my goatee, as they'd really like to know how my asymmetry actually looks from the outside (on x-rays, my lower jaw is almost comically canted to one side), and my cleverly-trimmed goatee does an excellent job hiding it. I've had the goatee almost continuously since a month after I started dating my wife (so, almost 13 years now) and I think she'll barely recognize me!
Any fellow September surgical buddies?
