newbie

[ckelly37 1]

hey everyone,

my name is cindy and i am goin for my 1st consultation visit wit the bariatrics clinic in langhorne, pa. i am very excited and hope i can get some good advice from everyone here. how long usually does this whole process take?? hopefully i am not lookin at a long time i cant wait a couple of months but hopefully its nothin like the gastric bypass where u have to wait like 16 months...any advice or questions u think i should ask my doctor.

thanx

[go_big_girl 2]

hey and welcome to the site! it's going to take me ATLEAST 6 months, not including any wait lists at my surgeon. with my insurance, i have to be on a doctor supervised weight loss plan for 6 months.

[ckelly37 1]

wow really! i didnt think that long..also how do u get those weight tickers in ur profile im havin a hrad time wit that 2!

[general_antiope 189]

Hi Cindy! Nice to see another PA person here.

Mine didn't take 6 months, as I already had lots of documentation with my doc of trying to lose weight. I think it took about 1 month to get the physical and paper work together, another month to go to info sessions, psych eval...then I met with the surgeon and had a surgery date for 6 weeks later.

It depends on your insurance and your doctor...but hang in there, it is TOTALLY worth it :rolleyes2:

[Mel de Lane 0]

Hi Cindy, I went to the same place your going to. The first consult took about an hour. It was a group setting. I had like 6 in my group. Dr Boe was my doctor and I got to see him for a few minutes after the consult. From consult to surgery took me 8 weeks. It all depends on your insurance and what they want and what the dr wants you to have. I had to have a psych consult and clearance from my cardiac dr as well as a report from my sleep study (which I had done a year ago) He's going to ask you if you snore...Dr Boe is the only one there that does the bands. He goes over gastric bypass also, but I had already made up my mind what I wanted. I did not want to have permanent removal of some of my stomach. I know the weight loss is slower, but thats ok. It's the best thing I've done. Dr Boe is very nice and you can tell he cares about his patients. The only thing I can complain about is that with all the other stuff, I felt like I was in an assembly line. From the nutritionist to the pre-op testing to the nursing care. Good luck and If you have any questions, message me.

[jojopom 0]

Hi. If you are going the insurance route, get ready for a few months to battle! Otherwise, if you are not involving insurance, you can get through the consultations in as little as a month to 6 weeks and be in surgery shortly thereafter. I went to a couple of meetings that were recommended, met with a surgeon, had an apptmt with a nutritionist, another apptmt with the surgeon, then had to lose weight (they encourage this to reduce the fat in the liver pre-op), then had my pre op tests and was in surgery. All of this took approximately 6 weeks.

[ckelly37 1]

hey melody,

thanx for the information..i already had a sleep study test and metabolic blood work done by my family doctor and where i work i see a nutrionist do u think the stuff i have done will make the process go quicker or will i have to do everything over again..i also have a thyroid problem so i hope that doesnt mean anything..im glad i have someone to talk to that went to the same place.

[Froggi 4]

I started my process in April and My surgery should be in November It would have been around June or July but my insurance requires a 6 month diet

[ckelly37 1]

really i have aetna insurance i hope i dont have to go thro that process ive been on a diet my whole life and its a stuggle already what if i dont lose the recommended weight they want then what??

[Mel de Lane 0]

Cindy, it depends on your insurance. Some insurances want you to diet a while before approval. I had BCBS Personal Choice and was approved in less than 2 weeks. And the psych consult, I was able to do right away. There is a women I saw in Newtown who only charged me 100.00. And she knows all about what Dr Boe wanted in the consult. They will give you paper work before you leave your consult telling you what you need to do. The center will contact your insurance for you and try to get approval for you. It was up to me to get my clearances. I started right away getting my clearances. I was pretty sure my insurance would cover it because I researched what their guildlines were for surgery and I knew I had what it took for approval. I am VERY lucky to have the insurance I have (thank my hubby) and would not of had the band put on without it.

[ckelly37 1]

really well thanx for all ur help mel!!

[jennhen 0]

Hi, my name is Jenn I have 3 kids, (9,6,4) and have been married for over 10 years. I had the lapband on April 26, 2008. I am down 22lbs so far. I seem to be in a rut, but I have my first fill on 6/10. Not sure what to expect from it. Can anyone help me. I have Aetna Ins. It was about 6 months. I had to go through all the pre-testing. But once that was done it went very fast. I would love to hear from anyone else. I live in sussex county, NJ. not that far from PA. I started at 312 and now weight 290. I would love to get down to about 190. LONG WAY TO GO. I have been working out, but I have to up the workout. Hope to hear from everyone. :crying:

[Froggi 4]

I've been dieting my whole life too but this is way different. It's helping me prepare for surgery.

[Aphrodite1984 2]

I am self-pay so I am going to Mexico to have it done. I called the surgeons office and gave them all of my information. The next day the patient coordinator emailed me to let me know that I was approved for surgery. I called her that day and scheduled my surgery for 3 weeks later. I am leaving for Mexico tomorrow!

[ckelly37 1]

Well my consultation is Friday and im so excited!! I cant wait for the process and my new life to begin!!