How long from initial appointment to banding?

[ambaloosa 0]

Hello!

I am wondering if you could give me some idea of how long it took from when you had your initial appointment with your surgeon to when you had the surgery. Did you hit any roadblocks and if so, what were they?

I am seeing my surgeon for the first time on Thursday and I'm very excited, but I want to have a realistic idea of how long everything takes and what kinds of obstacles there might be. I have insurance and they do cover the surgery (although I don't know yet if they have any requirements).

Thanks!

Amber

[Mamasahn 0]

Hi Amber,

I can only speak from my experience. I have insurance and they covered the surgery too. In order for me to get it covered I had to go through a pre qualification process.

First I had my consult with my surgeon and began my pre-qualification "behavioral modification", then another consult, date set and surgery.

So, total for me was about 5 months. Your insurance may not make you pre qualify so maybe you will move a lot faster.

Good luck and congratulations!

-Augusta

[cj_ole 0]

I've been going at it for about 5 or 6 months. Just today had my last appointment to confirm that I'm not crazy! They really had me wondering about that though! My insurance also covers the surgery, but they have many hoops to jump through and quite a few mazes that I must go through to, I guess, prove that I am willing and able to make the changes necessary.

Good luck to you!

[Kami63 215]

Hello. Everone's experience could be drastically different. I jumped through hoops in the insurance circus and finally have a date of 10/17/07 and I go for my prop appointment this thursday 10/04/07 to get my pre-op diet. I started on 06/30/07. so I guess your answer would be 3 1/2 months. It will all be worth it in the end. You may be one of the lucky ones and get through quickly! Good luck on your journey!

[juliegeraci 7]

Mine took about 10-12 weeks. I had to do the nutritional, psych eval and bloodwork. My insurance originally denied me but because there were no bariatric surgeons in my plan they reapplied for me and I was accepted. Good luck.

[KarenG. 0]

It was about 3 weeks for me but I have a good insurance company and I was extremely proactive about setting up all the pre-op tests etc.

[make33 2]

I started my Quest in March, with all my tests (a ton!) in April and May. But my insurance company required six monthly visits with a nutritionist, which I finished in August (to make sure that I couldn't lose the weight by myself--I only wish!!!).

Took a month to get final approval from the insurance company, saw my surgeon last week and my date is OCTOBER 9TH!! (In the liquid diet phase since last Friday.....)

Seven months for me--looks like it depends on your insurance company, if you're lucky enough to have one!!

[AngelSoftSnow 0]

I had to go to an informational session before I could make an appointment to see the surgeon. Once I went to the informational session, I had to wait 2 1/2 months for the earlies appointment to see the surgeon. He said that I would be a good candidate for the surgery, so they scheduled the surgery right then and there, but it's not for another 2 1/2 months. I still don't know if the insurance is going to cover the surgery, which is on December 17, 2007

[mtndew_42 0]

My first appt. was the first week of July and I had to meet with a dietician once a month for 3 months, do the psysc. eval. and a Bariatic Surgery Prep Class and then get approved from insurance. My banding is scheduled for October 15.

[jenncore 0]

Hi, I went to my first information and support group meeting on August 27th. Since then I have had a psych. eval., nutrition consult, and a consult with the surgeon on Oct. 15th. After that my info. will be submitted to the insurance co. and i was told it can take anywhere from 1 - 4 weeks for approval. It's differant for everyone since insurance companies require differant things. You may want to call your insurance company and find out what criteria you must meet in order to be covered for the surgery. It seems like a lot of insurance companies required 6 months medically supervised weightloss.

Good Luck!

Jenn

[secretstolen 4]

I went to the information conference on 8/23, then had my first appointment with the bariatric surgeon around the middle of September. Because I was diagnosed with melanoma (Stage I) when I was 19 (and it'll be 4 years since my diagnosis/treatment in 12/07 with no recurrences), the surgeon wanted some documentation just verifying that I haven't had any problems since then and there is no current cancer. They called me a week later and set me up for my second appointment with their clinic which was yesterday (10/1) and gave me the list of pre-op stuff I've gotta have done. Mine consists of the following..

-abdominal/gallbladder ultrasound (routine) (sched. 10/12)

-EGD/endoscopy procedure (routine) (sched. 10/15)

-sleep study due to AM headaches (sched. 10/22)

-pulmonary consultation and clearance (routine) (sched. 11/2)

-psychiatric evaluation (routine) (yet to be scheduled)

-CBC/CMP/TSH lab work (routine) (can be done walk-in, doing tomorrow)

I was hoping I'd have a surgery date possibly before Thanksgiving, but it looks like the pulmonary consultation is going to keep me from it. I'm calling every couple of days to check for cancellations.

So, yeah, it varies. It's a little discouraging 'cause once you make up your mind that you're gonna do this, you want it immediately. (At least I do. *lol*) I have to remind myself to be patient.

[M Taylor 0]

I went to the informational seminar in mid-April, first meeting with the surgeon May 1st , nutrition and psych evals at the end of May, paperwork with documentation of 6 months of supervised weight loss sent mid-June (which spent the next 30 days sitting in the wrong department at the insurance company, despite the surgeon's office calling every week and being told my case was still being evaluated,) FINALLY got to the right department end of July, surgery approval August 3 :clap2:, had to wait 4 weeks to get in to see the pulmonologist (routine), who then calls me THE EVENING BEFORE my appointment to cancel for no reason :mad:. Pre-op testing done on October 1st, and the surgery is scheduled for October 12.:whoo: Six long months!:faint:

[odamay 4]

My first appointment was at the end of July.Did everything they told me to do asap. Went and seen the Phyc and the Nut. And I got the insurance approval in the begining of September and scheduled the band date for October 26th. So it was about 3 months.

[angelnurse 1]

Hello!

I am wondering if you could give me some idea of how long it took from when you had your initial appointment with your surgeon to when you had the surgery. Did you hit any roadblocks and if so, what were they?

I am seeing my surgeon for the first time on Thursday and I'm very excited, but I want to have a realistic idea of how long everything takes and what kinds of obstacles there might be. I have insurance and they do cover the surgery (although I don't know yet if they have any requirements).

Thanks!

Amber

My appoinment with my surgeon, after I had been to the informational seminar, was 11/10. My surgery was on 12/21. It helped that I was Self-Pay, as I didn't have to jump through any hoops before getting the band.

[Flipper64 0]

The process for me was speedy.

Seminar on 6/28/07, all the other stuff I had to do in-between, banded on 9/27/07.

I have federal BCBS, no insurance delays whatsoever.