How long from First appt until surgery?

[riemgirl 7]

I have my first appointment with my surgeon later this month. I'm anxious to get this process started but am wondering how long the process will take. How long has it taken you from first appointment until surgery? I know it really depends on the insurance company and what they require just wondering what most people's experiences were/are.

[BT816 82]

My initial consultation with the surgeon was on Jan. 20, and my surgery is the Friday, June 16th. I had an 89-day pre-op requirement from insurance when I had to attend a monthly check-in with the dietitian and exercise physiologist (and I took care of my PCP, cardiologist and psych requirements during that time as well to make sure my paperwork was ready to go as soon as I had my last check-in visit).

Edited June 12, 2017 by BT816

[Joann454 1,329]

My insurance required a year of telephone appointments with a coach. It actually took me two years because of some medical issues and my dad passing away. It felt like forever.

[mama3beartn 67]

May 9th was my consult and my surgery is scheduled for July 12th. That was his next available time. I do have two weeks liquid diet before the surgery. Fun fun *wink*

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[JT2002TJ 170]

I had my first appointment with my surgeon on 3/31/2017 (attended a seminar the same week before the initial visit).

My last weigh in appointment will be 8/25/2017. I assume approval will be 2 weeks after. Hoping the surgery will be in September. So about 7 months.

Edited June 12, 2017 by JT2002TJ

[MSinger 348]

My insurance did not require months of weight loss monitoring, just an eval from nutrition. Initial surgeon consult was 3/23/17, surgery was 5/23/17.

[BrandiJo2009 14]

I am actually at my first appt today. My insurance requires a 6 month pre-op requirement and I'll also have to see a dietitian once a month for the 6 months and see a physical therapist and a psychologist. I'm looking at December or January for my surgery.

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[OutsideMatchInside 10,166]

8 weeks.

[FabNFit@40 52]

My insurance requires a 6 months supervised diet, I attended a seminar in March, 1st appointment with surgeon was in April. I'm just 3 months in on the supervised diet and in between this time I have had pysch evaluation, EGD, go for sleep study this week. I will complete the 6 months in September and praying the insurance approves would like to have the surgery in Oct/November if at all possible. So I'm looking at 7-8 months from initial consult to possible surgery day.

[Diana_in_Philly 1,426]

My group required attendance at a group information session - did that at the end of April 2016. First appointment with the surgeon was 5/11/16. Surgery was 8/23/16

[d6g007 3]

I had my first consult on May 19th and was able to schedule my surgery for June 26th. My insurance plan specifically excludes bariatric surgery, so I could only do self-pay which eliminated any insurance requirements pre-op.

[belinda401 116]

6 hours ago, JT2002TJ said:

I had my first appointment with my surgeon on 3/31/2017 (attended a seminar the same week before the initial visit).

My last weigh in appointment will be 8/25/2017. I assume approval will be 2 weeks after. Hoping the surgery will be in September. So about 7 months./

You are almost on my exact timeline! My first appointment was 3/28/17 and my last appointment is 8/29/2017 so I too am hoping for surgery in September. Good luck and I am looking out for a post from you that says you have a date!

[bcl1628 26]

2.5 months. My insurance didn't require any dieting before hand, so my pre-op requirements went fairly quickly: 1) informational session, 2) meeting with surgeon's office, 3) meeting with dietitian, 4) meeting with psychologist, and 5) group dietitian meeting. Surgery is 6/28.

[Ivy383 33]

My intro to Bariatric Program conference was on 04-14-16. I met with the bariatric team Dr. for initial consultation. Then I had to meet with a psychologist for an initial evaluation. After that I had to follow a 6 week program with behavioral medicine. Then I had to meet one on one with the psychologist that ran the 6 week program. During that time they also had me meet with the nutritionist once a month. Nutrition and behavioral medicine gave the ok for the next step. I had more testing done, and had some issues with Vitamin and Iron deficiency. I also had h-pylori. After treatment for all that, I was informed I passed the program 2 weeks ago. My consultation with the surgeon is this Friday (06-16-17). On that day they will give me a surgery date. They are booking surgeries about a month out.

So, all this has taken me a bit over a year. Most of was a waiting game between test results and appointments.

[Rivka7NV 40]

I think I had to wait about a month for my first appointment after I finally made the call to start the process. I had my first office visit then, about 6 weeks later, I had my visit for my Resting Metabolic Rate and H. Pyloris, Psych Eval, and Bariatric Nutrition Consultation. At that point, I found I would have to be treated with a two-week regimen of antibiotics and acid blocker. Now I am waiting for a month after the antibiotics to see if the level of H. pyloris is at levels that are acceptable enough to do the surgery. If so they will schedule me out at least a month or more so I can run the full course of the pre-op diet.

This is not something you can have done at Zippy's In and Out. This is a journey, not a race so, on each step of your journey, take the time to learn and prepare.