WHAT??? Outpatient Surgery????

Okay .... I am starting to freak out here and need someone to come and calm me down.

I got a letter from my insurance, they approved my surgery but as outpatient surgery. That means 23 hrs or less in the hospital. WHAT??? You have got to be kidding me?

This is my 7th ... count them 7th abdominal surgery! They are older (last one was 6 yrs ago) and the hospitals where I had the surgery no longer have my surgical reports. Neither do the docs ... they store them with the hospital. So ... I was only able to obtain 1 of the 6 reports. Since its not the latest one .... they are going in to explore.

We are hoping for a LAVH but with my medical history my dr says its more likely I will come out with a TAH/BSO. I may get lucky and keep 1 or more ovary but its not looking good. They are probably taking my appendix too as that has been a concern lately. And a urologist is scheduled to look at my bladder and bowel, to try to clean some of the endo off of it.

How can that be outpatient? Will the hospital really kick me out if I am not ready to go home? Will they change from out patient to inpatient if we cancel the LAVH? Orders say LAVH with poss. TAH/BSO, exploration of append, bowel, and bladder. I just don't get it!

On top of that ... what do I do with me??? There is no one here to help me until Sun afternoon. A day and a half after I have surgery. UGH!

Hi blue moon-rose,
I was just wondering if you called your insurance company, maybe they think it's just exploring and not any surgery...I think once all the Drs. get in and do what they have to do you can be evaluated as to weather you can go home or not..Or maybe you should have your Dr. call the insurance...I had an Lavh and my insurance said it's usually out patient but....They would give me one day so I had mine in the Am and went home the next day around lunch..Take care and good luck

probably if you are able to have the lavh, that is outpatient. if it is converted to tah, your stay will be longer and the hospital will take care of calling the insurance company.

Thanks! I will call them Mon and see. It has the procedure listed on the page so they know its not just exploring but still......

	Quote:
Originally Posted by Bird46 Hi blue moon-rose, I was just wondering if you called your insurance company, maybe they think it's just exploring and not any surgery...I think once all the Drs. get in and do what they have to do you can be evaluated as to weather you can go home or not..Or maybe you should have your Dr. call the insurance...I had an Lavh and my insurance said it's usually out patient but....They would give me one day so I had mine in the Am and went home the next day around lunch..Take care and good luck

Talk to your doctor about your questions and concerns and be sure the insurance has all the information for the procedures being done during your surgery. I can tell you from persoal experience that your doctor should be able to extend you stay if needed. I was suppose to be in two nights for my LAVH and appendectomy. I was finally released on day ten but my doctor actually could have kept me longer but I wanted to go home, badly.

If your sugery is converted to a TAH, more than likely your stay will be extended.

It can be very frustrating trying to figure out just how everything will play out and it can be scary going home too soon after surgery. On the other hand, some of us do better once we are home out of a hospital setting.

I wish you the best and hope you and your doctor can make sure your insurance company has all the best information. in there!

my lavh and hernia repair was scheduled for outpatient too. in by friday morning, out saturday afternoon...things didn't go well, in that i lost a lot of blood and was just too sick to go home. they kept me til monday night. the hospital will take care of the insurance if you can't go home immediately(and yes, 23 hours is immediately) tell your doc you don't feel like going home...most likely he will extend your stay....hope all goes well for you.

I had gotten a letter from my insurance company saying they apporved 2 days in the hospital and I ended up in there 4 days. I was panicking but then got another saying they approved 4 days. I too think the hospital will make sure to deal with the insurance. They are experts at it and I can't imagine if there is a medical reason for staying in, they are going to send you packing. Insurance companies are a breed unto their own.

insurance companies truly are a breed of their own and dealing with them will only cause you more stress...let the docs and the hospitals deal with them...you just concentrate on going into surgery with as little stress as possible and get better soon.

I feel the same way but I dont want to sound like a baby my DR says he does at least 6 every Monday and they go home in 23 hours but I dont think its right I mean its major surgery. Things are coming out and they keep you 3 days for a c-section

everyone told me that lavh was so easy...NOT...the incision is at the top of the vagina and it is a whopper...don't make them "kick" you out. have someone stand up for you if you can't stand up for yourself....my hubby just told them on sunday i was not ready to go home and they let me stay another night....!! Give em that Georgia Bulldog attitude!!!