Hi All. I'm 32 years old and have been obese all my life. It has been very difficult to lose weight and my husband and Best friend in the world are saying I should get the surgery. It's taken me a few months to come around to the idea of getting the surgery but I have no clue where to start. I have an appointment with my Doctor and I've contacted my insurance comany (Tricare) to see what the requirements are and I meet them. They just need a referral from my doctor.

I have alot of questions but I was wondering how long does it take after insurance approves the surgery to have the surgery? How long are you on the pre-op diet? Even if the insurance company approves, how long after you meet the surgeon and everything will they clear you for the surgery? Also, I have depression and am on medicine and seeing a therapist for it, will that hinder my chances of getting the surgery? How long were you in the hospital after the surgery?

I know I have more questions but this is a good start.

Thank you all!

Danita

The questions you ask can't be answered easily. It will be different for every patient and every insurance company. Even BCBS has many different rules. it will depend on what modules your employer added to their insurance when they were pricing insurance quotes.

Every doctor has a different protocol for preop and postop diets. You're going to have to feel your way through this with meetings in seminars and nutrition classes.

Most band surgeries are same day. You should be home before dinner.

tmf

As tmf wrote, insurance policies have many variations in their requirements and coverage...and the surgeons do have variations in their treatment protocol for their patients. You will need to find out specifics with your surgeon for their treatment protocol after you have chosen which one you want to do your surgery.

As for the psych eval, if your mood disorder is stable with the medication you are taking, it should not interfere with the approval process. The psych evaluation is looking for realistic expectations on the part of the patient, tendencies towards eating disorders, and history of substance abuse/dependence. All of these conditions can negatively impact your treatment outcome with bariatric surgery. Having any of these conditions does not necessarily mean that you would not be approved for the surgery, however you might need to be treated for it, and have a qualified professional sign off on their approval for you to proceed with your weight loss surgery.

Though my surgeon wanted me to stay in the hospital overnight, I was able to have the surgery and leave the same day.

Best wishes...

Hi all, sorry for the complicated questions!!! Just trying to figure out a timetable and such for this. I am nervous and scared but I know its the right choice.

Hi Danita!!!

I have been seeing a therapist for depression and on meds and it did not hinder me at all.

When I got approved by insurance my doc had a 30 day window in which to get my surgery done. I have FED BC/BS and they are all different, best to ask your doctors office how soon you get scheduled after approval. I was in the hospital overnight, also a question your doc should be able to answer.

I was on a 10 day pre-op diet. This too is different for everyone and varies from doctor to doctor. The pre-op diet totally sucked for me and was very hard to get through, but was the best thing for me post-op. the point from my doctor is that the pre-op diet helps shrink your liver for the surgery. I have heard of people not doing pre-op diet and having to be opened completely up aka given a zipper because they could not do it laproscopically. Again though everyone and every surgeon is different. Best to ask your doctors office all these questions. I hope though that I was able to paint you some sort of picture of what it's all about. Good luck with your journey.