hi ya'll,

I've decided to go with dr. spivak and i'm going to be a self-pay patient. I was wondering how long do i have to wait after attending the seminar to schedule the surgery? Do i have to go to a PCP (i don't have one...b/c i never go to the doctor!) to get clearnace and to have tests done?

thanks,

cutiern

Welcome to LBT! And congrats on picking a surgeon!

It depends on the doctor for wait time... the smallest I've heard of is 7-10 days from seminar to surgery.

Most doctors require some form of pre-op testing or consultations: psychologist, nutritionist, physical therapist, upper GI and/or endoscopy, etc. That varies from doctor to doctor & the time between appointments of course varies as well.

And some doctors have a pre-op diet for a number of days -- ours was 14.

Good luck! Hope it all goes smoothly for you!

It depends on the doctor himself. I was self pay, so I didn't have to go though all the pre-testing. It's usually the insurance companies that require the additional testing. I had to have updated blood tests though. I also had to make sure my yearly girly testing was up to date too. Good Luck!

If you have not had physicals lately is would be wise to go thru one before surgery just as a safety precaution.

hey!!

i didn't have to have anything done! dr spivak concurred that i'm pretty healthy and no pre-testing was needed. i had my seminar/consult with him on May 3rd...approved for loan on May 4th..and my surgery date is set for june 5th!!! their advise to me pre-op was to follow a low-carb diet. i'm trying really hard!!:phanvan

thanks for ya'lls advise! i'll let you know how everything goes.

cutiern:D

Congrats!!! I was just about to reply that since you are self pay... you most likely would be good to go soon!

Best of Luck to you!

It depends on the doctor I think. I cheated. I had an initial consult and my doc said to come back in about a month when I'd thought about it and attended an information seminar and give him my final decision (great, a $140 consultation for something I could have told him the first time I stepped into his office). When I went back he gave me referrals for the blood tests, the respiratory function test etc and told me when I'd had those, to call and schedule the surgery. I went straight out to the front desk and scheduled the surgery, THEN I organised all the tests. They were completed only about 5 days before my surgery, lol, but I wanted in before Christmas becuase I was impatient but also becuase it suited me time wise. So my wait time between the consultation and surgery was about 3 weeks.