How Long Does It Take To Get The Surgery?

[loseordie 0]

I'm 20 years old over 300 lbs. And I've chosen to get the lapband. I'm signed up for a information seminar thing December 1st. How long does the process from there to the surgery take?

[DELETE THIS ACCOUNT! 12,703]

It all depends on your insurance requirements and your surgeon. Some people have to do a 6 month supervised diet before surgery, others don't and get it almost immediately because of it.

I didn't have to have a supervised diet so it was only a month between the seminar and when I had surgery.

[loseordie 0]

Wow I would love that. How much weight have you lost?

[DELETE THIS ACCOUNT! 12,703]

Wow I would love that. How much weight have you lost?

Almost 160 pounds in 10 months

[a1990 55]

I went aug 27 for my first appointment and had surgery oct 3rd

[loseordie 0]

how much is the insurance cover I don't have thousands of dollars I'm only twenty lol

[dwilliams 25]

For me, it was 11 months after seminar, I didmy 6 month diet - the hold up was the lazy scheduler in my MDs office( that was fired for not doing her job). Based on my insurance I paid co- pays only. So far only about $200.00 thought the whole year.

surgery- 8/27/12 ........ down 40 and counting

[jen_1381 446]

Loseordie - it really all depends on your insurance. I have United Healthcare, and my out-of-pocket portion was $2900 for the surgery and $125 for the surgeon. It took me six weeks between seminar and surgery, and the WLS surgery coordinator said it was one of the fastest she's ever seen.

The process takes time for a reason though - - besides insurance, I felt like it was vital for me to see the nutritionist, take the classes, see the psychologist, etc before surgery.

Good luck to you!!

[cj008008 8]

From my first office visit and the day of surgry it was about 7 months. My husband on the other hand his was only 1 month as we will be paying out of pocket for most of his. Take your time and make sure this is right for you.

[GodsTyro 63]

I had 5 month doctor supervised diet I had to do for insurance after I met all my requirements it took another month for approval. Once approved I was scheduled within a week so I could do my per op diet.

My friend whom got it a month prior from me didn't go thru insurance and had it pretty immediately minus a week or so

Just depends on your insurance or if you aren't going with insurance

[mkb805 23]

It took a year until I got the surgery date. It went through insurance (Blue Shield of California) I only had to pay the $100 hospital copay to get the surgery. Of course there is all the copays for the many doctors to see before it got approved. But thankfully my insurance was good to me. Well worth the year wait!

[kah1213 311]

Mine was about 3-4 months. I tried to go thru insurance, but got denied so I did self-pay.

[FLORIDAYS 3,040]

how much is the insurance cover I don't have thousands of dollars I'm only twenty lol

in some cases it won't cover any of it.... I am not 20 and I weighed 377 lbs and my insurance denied me because I had no medical issues except borderline high blood pressure. So I had to pay for it myself.

It was worth every penny. I ha e lost 215 lbs.

Best wishes to you as you make your decisions.

[4sweeties 63]

For me, it is about how long it took me to see all the specialists and get tests done. Working full time, trying to get late appointments slowed it down. If my schedule was more flexible I could have gotten done faster. I went Aug. 29 to meet the dr. and came home with a folder of info and doctors to see. I thought 5 doctors was a lot little did I know, some of these doctors needed to do 3 tests, appointments on seperate days etc. It was really the heart dr who made me meet him, have 3 tests which I was told at the time came back fine, and then a 4th appointment to tell me my heart is healthy enough for surgery. My seminar is once a month and I coundn't go to the early September one so I waited to October. I was pretty much done with my appointments by then. I didn't know some people go to the seminar before seeing the doctor, but a lot of people in the room did. Then I had to make sure all the doctors sent the right tests/letters etc. back to the bariatric surgeon. THen it takes my doctors office about a week to review the folder and your surgery is scheduled in 4-6 weeks (and they add 2 more appointments: a second nut. one, a pre op and you go to your own dr for pre op. That was all without a 6 month diet- I just had to wrote about my diet history/time line for the past 3 years. Then, I am waiting 3 weeks after the first surgery date offered, because it works better for me. So it will be about 3 and a half months from when I met the doctor to surgery day. I'd say I could have rushed, rushed it and got it all done in 6 weeks. I think it depends on your schedule and tests required. Now I have 6 weeks of waiting for surgery so I am all over these boards!

[4sweeties 63]

I am fortunate insurence is covering this, but my co pays are adding up quickly. So many doctors appointments and lab tests in a short amount of time = lots of co pays. I'm not complaining, it's worth it, but I did not think about that and should have budgeted better even though health insurance is paying. And now I go to order shakes on line that the nut. recommended, and I'm broke. So instead of just going the easy route and ordering the sample one she suggested, I've been reading a lot about Protein Shakes on here so I can make informed choices and get my monies worth.