Hi, Im contemplating the band...how long does it usually take from your 1st doctors appointment till surgery date? And is it outpatient?:confused:

Depending on who is paying for it, it could take anywhere from a month to a year.

It is usually outpatient. That depends on the surgeons policy.

Thanks! I just made an appointment for a seminar on Monday, so I'm sure that will answer all my questions!

Sounds great!! Good luck to you -- best decision I ever made! :confused:

Catherine

I have Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield and I have a 6 month wait with numerous doctor clearances (cardio, psych, gastro, pulmonologist, sleep study) and 6 nutrition visits over the 6 month period. That's my experience so far..... My date is April 9th (I pray it gets approved) Good luck to you!!

I have AETNA POS and I had my first visit for my nutrtition consult and have a surgery date of Feb. 24th(next week!!!!) Good luck, the journey is kinda stressful but hopefully worth it.

Time-wise, it depends on the insurance and, more specifically, your group policy. I had BCBS of La and it was approved in one day and I had surgery 3 weeks after my consultation. Mine was outpatient, but if there are any complications at all, they keep patients overnight.

From my first consult with the surgeon to the date of my surgery, it was a little over 3 months...and a zillion appointments. Never saw so many specialists in my life!!

It hinges almost completely on what your insurance requires. Mine required a 3-month diet supervision (checking in with the surgeon every month x 3). During that time, I took care of all of the other clearances, with specialists (cardiologist, pulmonologist, psychologist). After the 3 months was wrapped up, it took almost a month to get approval from my insurer, then another 3 weeks or so for a date (it was holiday time). So, all told, about 5 months from the surgeon's seminar to the operating room.

Hi, Im contemplating the band...how long does it usually take from your 1st doctors appointment till surgery date? And is it outpatient?:sad:

My PCP made a referral in Jan. 2009. I had my consult with my surgeon in March 2009. Completed all of my pre-op requirements for both the surgeon and the ins. co. by late June 2009. Approved by surgeon and ins. co. in July 2009. Had surgery Aug. 11, 2009. My surgery was inpatient -- spent one night in the hospital. My surgeon will not do the procedure on an outpatient basis. Quite frankly, I could not have imagined going home the same day as my surgery.

Edited February 19, 201016 yr by TSB

It really depends on your insurance. I had my first consultation with my surgeon on Jan. 7, 2010. I finished my last pre-op appointment on Feb. 8. I was approved Feb 17. My surgery is on April 07, 2010. The reason why my surgery is in April because it works around my schedule and my mom's schedule. I could have had it in two weeks from now, but that's not the case.

if you need more information you can contact Nina - she's Dr. Aceves patient coordinator and she'll gladly give you more details - goodluck!!!

Nina Eguia

Patient Coordinator, Dr Aceves

888 344 3916 toll free

nina_eguia@yahoo.com

I did the initial seminar in October 2009, had my consultation in November, and because of the holidays, was not able to finish all my pre-op appts until January. These were all requirements of the bariatric program at the hospital where I'm having my surgery and after I completed all these requirements, they submitted my stuff to the insurance company who approved within a day and I got my date a couple days later and that is March 18. So all in all, it took about 5 months. But, if I would have went elsewhere like a coworker of mine did, I could have had the surgery long ago because the program requirements are different for different surgeons in my area. I'm glad for the wait though because I have had time to make sure this is really what I want, and even now, I'm having some second thoughts just because I've never had surger and despite how minor it may be, its still a major event in my mind.

I went to the information seminar in january and had my first consultation in feb. Now I'm working on all my consultations. My surgery date isn't set yet, but April is looking like the month. The big thing is your insurance. Mine wants 6 consecutive months of documented weight history, which thankfully is retroactive, so I can submit my work physical and gyno appts etc...

I have BC/BS of MI and they approved me 2 days after I had my psych eval, which was the only requirement they had. Oh they had the usual 'proof of previous attempts at dieting' (WW, etc.), but my surgeon's office filled out all those details after I told them I'd tried every known diet that came down the pike and had no clue what month or year I tried them.

Getting the psych eval took longer than anything else because most psychiatrists wouldn't do just a one time evaluation and there was a longer wait for an appointment at the few who did.

However, from seminar to day of surgery, it was only 6 weeks.

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As many people have mentioned, it depend on your insurance. I have United, which requires 5 years documentation of having a MBI of 40 or greater, or 35 with co-morbidities and 6 months in a doctor supervised diet. Luckily for me, I happened to have all of that before I had started to look in this.

I had my first appointment at NYU on January 11th. It took a couple of weeks to pull all my paperwork together. I had everything to turn in (including nutritionist consult and Psych approval) on February 5th. I had insurance approval in 1 week (on the 12th). I have my pre-op testing on March 4th. It could have been earlier, but my birthday is the 2nd and I didn't want to be doing the liquid diet on my birthday. My surgery is March 18th.

So, if you have all the necessary "qualifications", you could turn it around in under 6 weeks.

Good luck to you.