Scam Artists - Surgery Update

You would not believe the day that I had! After giving M. (the director at V.ista) a few days because I had not heard from her,(refer to this post for the details) I called her back on Thursday. She said that she did give my info to the provider relations department, and that she was waiting for them to contact her. She said I should hear from them by the end of the day, but if I didn't to call her first thing this morning. I returned her call, and she said that the surgery was approved and the provider relations department would call Dr. Char.les' office to let them know that I should not be paying anything up front because, 1) I have no deductible, 2) they are a contracted provider and no money down is required, and 3) the procedure was approved. She said she would call me when she heard from the department after they made the call.

Well, she did not even get a chance to call me back. At 11:11 am, Bar.bara called me. After our initial meeting and having that niggling feeling in the back of my mind, I had started writing down everything she told me as she spoke. Just in case something came up, I wanted to make sure I had my ducks in a row, so to speak. Larry called me paranoid when I started doing this, but now I am glad that I took these measures. These are Bar.bara's exact words - " we have decided that we are refusing to perform the procedure because of their policy and due to the fact that they will not argue with an HMO. We are cutting off any and every association with you and V.ista and will forward your files to whomever you want. You know, you are going to get pregnant again and V.ista is going to make your baby die because they will not cover the procedure". Yes ladies, you can say it, I said it too - "WHAT THE HELL??????????????"
I was quite calm and gave her a piece of my mind and let her know what I thought about her (forgive me Jesus!). She further stated that even if we pay up front, they will still not perform the surgery.

I then called M., a little, no scratch that, A LOT pissed off. I let her know exactly what Bar.bara said and she echoed my sentiments. She sad to me, "you know Marie, even if they change their mind, I would not want them to touch me." She was appalled and said that basically what Bar.bara is basically saying is that they want to terminate their contract with V.ista.
I then went on to tell her that there is no one else in Fl with experience that performs this procedure and I refuse to be anyones guinea pig.
She said that she cannot advise me as to who to see, but she will speak to the medical nurse/director and have her give me a call. Again, she said that if I need any assistance to call her back. She then requested that I fax what I had written down in regards to what Bar.bara said. I gladly and gleefully (I know, its redundant) did!

At around 2:00 pm, the nurse R. called me. i told her my history, the fiasco with Bar.bara (M. had already given her the run down), the fact that I searched everywhere, I told her of Dr. Dav.is - how it was originally scheduled with him and how V.ista denied saying I have no out of network benefit. I explained to her as well that I do not want to be anyone's guinea pig. I need an experienced surgeon that does this frequently. She asked if I was pregnant and I said no, that the specialists state that doing it pre-pregnancy increases the chances of a successful outcome. She said she could not believe it and that she will see what she can find and call me on Monday the latest.

The general consensus after this post from all of you, was "trust your instincts". I knew there was something fishy about this Dr. I remember saying to someone that he is too confident, how he told me my CL was 1 cm, and how Bar.bara just rubbed me the wrong way. What a witch! She's so lucky I'm saved!
They are scam artists! They were going to be paid by the insurance company, but just because I would not give them my money, they refused to do the surgery, even though they were getting paid. It makes no sense to me.
Bar.bara met her match! She obviously has not met anyone like me. I am so cheap I would reuse the cheese used to catch mice! I don't part with our money easily. I make my money work for me and make it last. Probably in her experience, other women just give over the money without a thought. Not me! I am glad I made sure that I spoke with the insurance company first. After all, like V.ista said I would not have gotten my money back from them because they would have said that I should not have paid them.

I am not done with Dr. Char.les or his wife/office manager Bar.bara. I have written a letter to them, the hospital that he works out of, and the American Medical Association (I will share the letter with you in another post). I have e-mailed "Help Me Howard" a local news segment that exposes frauds and helps to solve problems. I am posting my experience on Abby.Loopers and the IC Forum. It is my wish that another woman never uses them. Yup. They crossed the wrong mother. My voice will be heard and they will be exposed.

So for now the surgery is once again put off until further notice. I am bummed out that it is postponed yet again, but I am not disappointed that Dr. Char.les won't be the one doing it. I remember saying that whatever the outcome, God's will will be done. Obviously it was not his will for the surgery to be done with Dr. Char.les. I am relieved, because I also remember saying to you all that I felt like I was settling for second best. I was nervous about the LAPTAC and the fact that it can fail.

I e-mailed Jessica to get her advice (Luv u girl! You are the best!) and of course I had to update all of you. Keep those prayers coming girls that His will be done throughout it all. I will keep you all posted.


Don't forget to help me reach my goal by sponsoring me for March of Dimes. To those of you who have already donated, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Even if you can only give $1, that means the world to me. Let us work to end PTL, stillbirths and infant death.


FYI - Please ignore the typos in this post, my fingers are trying to keep up with my thoughts.

Awaiting my expected end.