Hi!! I just got my initial consult scheduled and was wondering how long you had to wait before you had surgery. I will be a self pay patient if you need that information. I have heard some people were able to get in right away and have it done, and others have had to wait as long as a year. Let me know your stories and how long you had to wait please!!

Thanks!!

Self pay will be the quickest. It all depends on how busy your pre-op appointments are. Mine was about 2 months from initial to banding, with pre approval from insurance. My psych and nutrition was long wait, but you may not have to do that. Anywhere from a 4-8 weeks.

I was self pay as well, it took about 4 weeks from initial consult to surgery. Best thing I have ever done!!

I had my consult on March 3 and chose March 31 for a surgery date. I am self pay too, and (in my situation) once the Dr. has your money, he'll let you schedule your surgery. The availability will vary from Dr. to Dr., depending on his schedule and demand.

Good Luck! Let's keep in touch so we can monitor & cheer each other on!

Melanie

August to November (3 months) to see the psych and nut. and to see the surgeon. I was supposed to be a Jan surgery but my file was misfiled and I ended up February. So for me, and I was covered by my insurance, it was approx 6 months from my first phone call to my after surgery follow up visit.

my consult was on january 25. i had a band date on like february 22 and that date is march 12 - this friday! so for me it was like almost 7 weeks from consult to banding date. and i thought it was taking too long! what was i thinking? time flew by!!!

It really depends on the surgeon and the situation. Mine was paid by insurance, but from initial consult to surgery date was 2 weeks! I chose to wait four, but could have done it in 2. Best of luck!

It really depends on your surgeon. I went to a seminar in Sept '09. I filled out the surgeon's paperwork and submitted in November. I got a letter from the surgeons office in December telling which clearances that I needed to get. I had to gather my entire package before I could submit it to the surgeon's office. I started scheduling but due to the holidays, I didn't finish my clearances until the end of January but had to wait on letters from each of the specialists. I finally submitted the complete package on 02/17/2010. It was submitted to insurance on 03/03 and approved on 03/04. I got my dates - so my initial consult is until 03/18 and my surgery is 04/05. So about 6 months for me.