chsricha

First of all this is an amazing forum with so much information to read. I've just joined this and this is my question/dilemma and I hope someone can help me understand. I have a BMI of 36 and I have sleep apnea. I'm in the bay area and have already attended a seminar and met with a surgeon at Palo Alto Medical Foundation. I'm getting married in February and I wanted to get banded asap so I can lose some weight and also heal in time. However the earliest PAMF will operate on me is 3-4 months - and that's because of the mandatory 3-4 dietician sessions which are spread a month apart. Is the requirement of a dietician driven by insurance? I have Cigna PPO and I am trying to figure what are my options - if I lose some weight naturally by Dec or Jan (which is when they'll schedule me for surgery), i would have gone below the 35 BMI limit and not qualify for insurance. I've seen a lot of folks on this forum who only waited a month between their first surgeon visit and the actual surgery - are all those self pay options? Even when i enquired for self pay - PAMF tells me that I still would require the dietician session. Can anyone suggest what I can do to get a surgery sooner than that? Thanks and very much appreciated!

CrisM, Do you mind sharing the name of the hospital/surgeon? Thanks again!

Hi CrisM, Thanks for your response - as it turns out - the insurance doesnt even say anything abt having to meet with a dietician. It seems to be a requirement of the hospital that I am working with - even when I asked them about the self pay option - they tell me I still need to see the dietician. I've tried HMR - which a dietician supervised diet and I do have that documented. The surgeon that you chose for your banding - was he/she part of an outpatient facility - such as a hospital? Thanks!