differences in pre-op requirements

Sounds like you are paying with insurance. I paid out of pocket for my surgery. The doc explained to me there are a lot of hoops to jump thru with insurance and also, if you are 50-75 lbs overweight they do not need you to lose weight. I had no pre-op diet or anything. I am only 60 lbs overweight though. When using insurance they need to document that you have "tried" losing weight and that this surgery is likely to work for you. Same with the smoking thing. Its all about insurance. If you were paying out of pocket none of this would matter and you would have the surgery without any requirements ( like me). It is an excellent choice, just know that it is a HUGE stuggle for many of us and as much as you read about wieght just falling off of some people.... thats not often the case. I have only lost 30 lbs in over 6 months.

I paid out of pocket for my surgery and I had requirements to meet. No smoking, which I didn't do anyway. Smoking doesn't allow you to heal as well. I had to stop drinking carbonated soft drinks. I had a pre-op diet of a 2 week liquid diet. I had a psych eval that I had to pass plus nutritional classes and education classes. Then I had pre-op testing for labs and stress test. I went to my educational meeting in November 2009 and had the surgery May 2010 after going through the requirements.

Every surgeon is different, that's for sure. Just ask you doctor's office for specifics.

Good luck! It is definitely work all the hard work. Kelly is right, there is nothing easy about it. We all struggle in one way or another at one time or another. Well worth it though!