I don't know if this is the longest research project in history, but I started seriously looking at Lap Band in around 2001. I researched and researched and decided two things:

1) Lap Band not Gastric Bypass

and

2) Dr. Hadar Spivak was my surgeon.

So, I waited a year and changed my insurance to one I thought would cover it. Nope, only Bypass. Then I waited another year and changed to another I thought would cover it. Nope, only Bypass. In the meantime, I went to a seminar w/Dr. Spivak and was convinced. I did my checkout with him, and all was ok, but for the insurance. He did try to push towards the Bypass -- I think it's about the instant gratification weight loss -- they don't want you to be disappointed. Waited a year, changed again. Wrong again!

Finally, the one I chose (same as earlier change) had begun to cover the surgery, but, now Dr. Spivak was no longer on the list for BCBS. So, I changed surgeons to Dr. Garth Davis. Hadn't seen much on him, but went to their first seminar at Methodist hospital that year. Unfortunately, I was delayed after that by dealing with a lot of back pain issues, and finally was able to get back to the many dr's appts., evaluations, etc., that were required. Because I was taking Fortamet for "pre-diabetes", I also had to get a cardiologist evaluation which involved an echocardiogram and a stress test. I finally got all of the paperwork in! It took awhile, but then I got a letter from my insurance that I was approved for surgery on July 4, 2008. Since that's a holiday, I thought it was unusual, and called the dr's office. Turns out I hadn't been talking to the right coordinator for scheduling, but she did tell me that they just put a dummy date in there.

So, I called and got a date of August 8. I could have done it as soon as July 30, but my doctor said I had to be in a situation where I wouldn't be travelling, particularly overseas, for 3-4 weeks after surgery. This is unfortunately difficult for me to accomplish because of my job, but I did manage to find a slot where it would definitely be true, and stuck with it. Later, I found out that I could move it earlier, but never did get a response from the Dr's office when I asked.

When I went to do my pre-op, I did not realize that it would take HOURS! Fortunately, it was all within walking distance. That's also when I found out about the 2 week liquid diet prior to surgery requirement. They had previously mentioned that it was 1 week of 1000 calories/day which is quite different from the 800 calorie a day shake thing.