Hi Teach, I'm new too. Had orientation, met w/ surgeon on june 4. my psych appointment is tomorrow, followed by nursing eval on 22, and nutrition on 29. Back again to surgeon on july 2, where i expect my bmi will be up to 40 (i was a little short, but am fixing that). At that point they'll probably choose a surgery date, and submit my claim to the insurance. I also have to attend 2 mandatory meetings the end of this month, and the end of july. I'm looking at sometime in september. I had to quit smoking too, but i haven't had a butt in three weeks. I'm really excited about this, and i really think this will help me. So, back to you...Couldn't you just schedule your surgery at the first available time? I have heard that the recovery process is pretty easy...some people back to work in a few days.