Ambie 1 Posted July 29, 2016 (edited) Hey y'all! I'm new on here and I'm super excited about going on this journey getting the VSG surgery and all! I am far ahead of schedule just getting started so I actually have to do 6 months of a program for my insurance to cover the surgery. I'm down to 5months now and I'm feeling great I should be done by December with my last appointment. The thing that gets me is I got an email from my surgeon's office with a tentative date of my surgery and I'm confused. I'm just wondering why it's for March 20th 2017!!! I feel like that's kind of far away I was gearing towards something more like mid-January maybe so I'm a little disappointed. That seems just like so much more time wondering has anyone else have this problem? Why would my surgery date be so far away, like almost 3months our after I complete my program ???? Yes, I know I have to get things approved from insurance and do the two week pre op diet but other than that I still don't understand why it would be so far away. My last appointment that I have to do is on December 8th, 2016, so for my surgery to be March 20th, 2017 that's a bit ridiculous to me. I don't know, someone Cheer Me Up! I want a sooner date, Help! ???????? Sent from my SM-G930T using the BariatricPal App Edited July 29, 2016 by Ambie Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jadane_dm 34 Posted July 29, 2016 I wouldn't worry too much about it. You would probably benefit from talking to your insurance coordinator or who ever is in charge of your paperwork and ask them how far out are they scheduling surgeries. It being tentative means it's an unsure date the system could have just automatically set that date for you. I started my 6 months at the end of January and my last weigh in was July 21st and I'm looking at a date of about mid August. So about 3 months out is a little far out there typically people get scheduled within one month atleast that's the trend of the people on here. Your insurance company requires 6 months either way but if your hospital confirms that date of March you may want to look into other hospitals within your network that could get you a sooner surgery date. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Djmohr 6,965 Posted July 29, 2016 @@Ambie Honestly that is kind of the way it works. Once you get through the 6 month process they a lot for time to insurance submission and then they are usually another 4 to 6 weeks out on the schedule. You are actually lucky they gave you a tentative date. My 6 month process went exactly 9 months to the day from day to day of surgery. It's not uncommon and honestly I am now glad I had that time to get all of my changes in place. It takes a while to build a habit and I leveraged that time like crazy and I think it really helped me set myself up for success. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nickisleeve 127 Posted July 29, 2016 Also ppl do tend to chicken out and cancel their surgery which sometimes mean they'd move down the list to other patients Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ssflbelle 829 Posted July 29, 2016 My last visit for my 6 months was the Monday before Thanksgiving. I had to wait until Jan 26th for my surgeries. They may have given you a dummy date as sometimes the insurance or in my case the PCP requested it before he wrote my medically necessary form to the insurance. I took the whole 8 months I had to wait to change my bad habits I stopped drinking coffee as I had stopped drinking soda over 4 years ago. Also started taking smaller bites of food, getting in more Protein, chewing my food slowly, and not drinking during meals and at least 1/2 hour after your meal. All those changes took time and made it so much easier after my surgery to cope as I had done it all before the surgery. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
trmertz 8 Posted July 30, 2016 I appreciated the time between when I started the journey in February to August 10 when I'm scheduled for my surgery. I enjoyed having the time to mull things over, search the internet for information read recipes and about others journeys, and watched "My 600 lb. Life" on cable TV which has inspired me to no end. Also, coping with the changes to my approach to eating and discovering my weak spots / triggers etc. Yes, if you have no control over the scheduling, make the most of it. The time will pass quickly. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JustVanessa 9 Posted July 30, 2016 I started my 6 months back in January. Had my final weigh in/nutritionist appt. on June 27. It was submitted to insurance around July 5 and approved the next day. I just did my pre-op testing this past Wednesday and my tentative surgery date is August 24, so pretty much exactly 2 months from my final weigh in appt. I am going through a center of excellence so they see a lot of patients. I had hoped that things would move much more quickly but since I can't do anything about it, I'm just embracing it as part of my journey and the process. It will go by faster than you think! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ambie 1 Posted July 30, 2016 I started my 6 months back in January. Had my final weigh in/nutritionist appt. on June 27. It was submitted to insurance around July 5 and approved the next day. I just did my pre-op testing this past Wednesday and my tentative surgery date is August 24, so pretty much exactly 2 months from my final weigh in appt. I am going through a center of excellence so they see a lot of patients. I had hoped that things would move much more quickly but since I can't do anything about it, I'm just embracing it as part of my journey and the process. It will go by faster than you think!Thank you so much I totally get it I believe they have a lot of patients too where I'm going but 2 months is way better than 3 almost 1/2 I feel like but I'm going to try to enjoy it all. ???? Sent from my SM-G930T using the BariatricPal App Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ambie 1 Posted July 30, 2016 I wouldn't worry too much about it. You would probably benefit from talking to your insurance coordinator or who ever is in charge of your paperwork and ask them how far out are they scheduling surgeries. It being tentative means it's an unsure date the system could have just automatically set that date for you. I started my 6 months at the end of January and my last weigh in was July 21st and I'm looking at a date of about mid August. So about 3 months out is a little far out there typically people get scheduled within one month atleast that's the trend of the people on here. Your insurance company requires 6 months either way but if your hospital confirms that date of March you may want to look into other hospitals within your network that could get you a sooner surgery date. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App I'm actually the one saying it's a tentative date they didn't actually say that they just gave me the date on the paper but I'm actually going to email back and see if I can get a sooner date or what's going on because you're probably right the computer system may have just appointed me that date! Thanks so much! ☺ Sent from my SM-G930T using the BariatricPal App Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
