Richard15

I'm tomorrow too! I hope all goes well.

Yeah I'm anxious. Plus I have a twenty year class reunion next summer that I'm all the sudden optimistically excited to attend.

Thanks guys. I'll be following your process too. :-)

Just found out today I'm scheduled for September 15th in Nashville

Just got the call I've been waiting on for months. Surgery date September 15th!

I thought I'd come out of hiding and make my first post. I have found it very helpful to read about the various processes people must go through prior to surgery. So I thought I'd share mine.

• May 23rd (While camping memorial day weekend) I told my wife that I was curious to learn more about weight loss surgery options. I was expecting her to be hesitant about the idea, but to my surprise she was open to learning more about it.
• June 6th we attended a wight loss surgery seminar at our local hospital. I went in completely closed to the idea of anything except the lap-band procedure. After talking with the surgeon and several others in attendance I left feeling not only comfortable with the idea of a sleeve, but excited at the opportunity.
• That same day I met with the insurance specialist at the surgical weight loss clinic and got my "to do" list of things I needed to do for approval. I was pleased to find out that my insurance (BCBS of MI PPO) normally requires a 6 month supervised weight loss program prior to approval. But if your BMI is over 50 the 6 month waiting period is waived. My BMI was 51 so no waiting for me. I guess that extra cookie paid off!
• The checklist of things required prior for approval included a letter of recommendation from my primary care doctor, blood work, a physical, psych evaluation, appointment with a dietitian, attend a surgical weight loss support group, and a precautionary endoscopy. The support group and endoscopy were required by the surgeon/clinic (not insurance).
• June 23rd I got my physical, blood work and letter of recommendation taken care of.
• July 7th I had my psych evaluation.
• July 14th I had my dietitian appointment.
• July 21st I attended the support group. I'm glad I did too. It's always nice meeting people going through the same stuff.
• August 7th I had my endoscopy.
• August 14th I received medical clearance and my list of required documents was sent to my insurance for approval.
• August 21st (today) insurance approved my surgery and I have officially been scheduled for September 15th
• I am thrilled to finally have the surgery on the calendar! From the time I initially inquired about weight loss surgery, to the actual surgery was about 3 months.