I have a question, once you made this decision to get the surgery how long did the process take to complete before you actually have surgery?

First Seminar- 12/6/2012

First Appointment- 12/11/2012

Request for Approval- 1/14/2013

Approval- 1/16/2013

Surgery- 2/6/2013

From start to finish my entire timeline was 2 months to the day!

First Seminar- 12/6/2012

First Appointment- 12/11/2012

Request for Approval- 1/14/2013

Approval- 1/16/2013

Surgery- 2/6/2013

From start to finish my entire timeline was 2 months to the day!

Wow..which insurance?

MagnaCare, but I also had to go through my Union which was the bigger hassle. Not only did my doctor's office do a great job talking with my union and insurance, but I also constantly called them both to find out who I could talk to in order to get this process on the road. I don't know how I got so lucky, but I did!

Between my first appointment up until they requested insurance approval I had to go to a psychologist, get blood work, a chest x-ray, UGI, an endoscopy, get a letter of medical necessity, and go to a pulmonologist. I managed to get that all done in less than a month!

I started the process in October 2011 and had surgery on April 16, 2012. My insurance at the time Cigna required a 6 month mandatory supervised diet. I have heard Cigna dropped this requirement down a while back to 3 months.

If you are in Canada (Province of Quebec), our health insurance covers it 100%, but the process is about 2 1/2 years. In my sitaution, the operation has been postpone many times over a period of 6 months so it brings me to 3 years total.

I started the process May 2012 and had surgery December 2012. My insurance BCBS required documentation from my doctor. Who in turn wanted to do a sleep study, EDG, and other tests before writing the letter. Another insurance requirement was to see a phychologist. Needless to say all of those things took a while.

My first seminar was August 23, then I had to see the psychologist then had a complete cardiac workup and pre-op stuff.I finally had the surgery January 7. My primary care doctor was amazed how fast I got cleared. I could have had the surgery in December except for waiting for appointments for all the requirements.

Thanks to everyone for your responses I am only waiting for my pysch eval and nutrition class which is taking forever

My first appointment was 1/15/13 my surgery is scheduled for March 27th.

Thanks everyone, I have my psyche appt today and my nutrition meeting next week,