I feel for you, I do. I had to wait a long, long time to get my surgery. I was working toward having it done at a previous job and then was downsized and lost that insurance. There's no way I would have been able to pay the $1500 a month COBRA premiums to keep it.
So then I get a new job and their insurance expressly prohibits weight loss surgery. I was crushed. I had to start working toward self pay. I was horribly overweight and miserable. I decided while I waited I was going to do every single thing I could to lose weight and work toward learning about the sleeve to prepare myself. I lost 85 pounds before surgery and was just sleeved at the end of June.
The surgeon is waiting because that's what is best for your health. It would be highly irresponsible for them to put your health in danger to do the surgery before they feel you are ready for it. In the meantime, start taking steps and making plans to tackle the surgery head on.
Learn all you can about the sleeve. Find out what makes it work and how to best utilize it. Find out what it takes to be successful with the sleeve for life so you don't have to go through another surgery. Make sure your expectations are realistic as well. Don't look at it as losing a year. Look at it as spending a year researching, preparing, and working toward a goal because the surgery isn't the end of the journey. It's just a tool along the way.