More and more I'm convinced that I need WLS. I'm holding out for Thursday when I have a follow up appt with my primary doc, but in my heart I think I've already decided that I need to do this. I don't see any other way and I want to get it over with as quicky as possible.

How long after you decided to get the surgery were you actually able to get it? Including insurance authorization and pre-op stuff. psych eval, nutrition classes, etc.

I'm taking a couple college classes and I still have a couple months left to the semester and I wonder if I will be able to get the surgery before they finish. There are a lot of factors I realize, I'm just trying to plan whether I need to drop the classes and take them back up in the fall (which is certainly an option).

It's strange, now that I've convinced myself to do this I'm also feeling quite nervous about it. Not nervous about complications or something. I want to get it over with. There's so much I want to do this summer and I don't want to spend it recovering from surgery.

Depends on your insurance. I am currently going thru the six-month pre-op dance required by Aetna. It seemed like forever at first, but is actually going pretty fast. And thankful to have insurance that covers it so will do whatever it takes. Good luck!

More and more I'm convinced that I need WLS. I'm holding out for Thursday when I have a follow up appt with my primary doc, but in my heart I think I've already decided that I need to do this. I don't see any other way and I want to get it over with as quicky as possible.

How long after you decided to get the surgery were you actually able to get it? Including insurance authorization and pre-op stuff. psych eval, nutrition classes, etc.

I'm taking a couple college classes and I still have a couple months left to the semester and I wonder if I will be able to get the surgery before they finish. There are a lot of factors I realize, I'm just trying to plan whether I need to drop the classes and take them back up in the fall (which is certainly an option).

It's strange, now that I've convinced myself to do this I'm also feeling quite nervous about it. Not nervous about complications or something. I want to get it over with. There's so much I want to do this summer and I don't want to spend it recovering from surgery.

I am unusual in that I was self pay. I probably could of had the surgery the same day if I showed up at the clinic with the money!

As it was it was only about 4 weeks from my initial inquiry to my surgery.

With Kaiser it will be about 10-11 months total. 5 months is spent just waiting for the next process to start.

I was self pay and from the seminar to the surgery was 2 months. I could have had it earlier but because christmas was around the corner I chose the date to be after christmas.

My schedule looks just like Humpty's. I started in July 2010 and hopefully will have surgery March or April 2011. I am glad to have insurance but there are requirements.

I also had kaiser but northern is much different than southern kaiser. I went to my overview on sept 10, orientation sept 27 and had surgery on dec 13th 2010. Mine went very quickly. I was lucky though.

I have BCBS- Fed and they require a 3 month "diet"... so, I started the process in Jan and will be having surgery in May.

It really depends on Insurance.. I had Aetna when I had my surgery and they had 2 options for the supervised diet. The 1st option was doing 3 consecutive month with your pcp, dietician, and an exercise therapist, and of course the pych eval. Or the 2nd option the one that I did was 6 months charting with my pcp, 1 meeting with a dietician and 1 meeting with the pychologist. I made my decision in January of 2010 that I was going to go through and have surgery to loose the weight I couldn't loose on my own. I had my first meeting with my 1st surgeon in March. In April I had to have surgery which kept me away from the gym so I quit tracking my weight for a couple of months. I started back on June 3, we submitted to insurance on December 8th. I was approved for surgery on December 10th. My surgery date was December 21st, and it has been the best decision..

My insurance thus far has been pretty good (but then again I've never needed surgery either). I am going to break down and cry if I have to wait 6months for surgery. There is so much I want to be able to do this summer and I just know I won't as long as I'm still like THIS.

I wonder if I can document my past supervised diet programs and get that waived. I really hope so.

You should be able to call your insurance and find out the requirements. Or talk to your the surgeon's office as they are usually very familiar with different insurances. I know how you feel though, my surgery won't be until at least June and summer will be half over before I get my groove back. Then again, it took me years to decide to do this. it's all good

My insurance thus far has been pretty good (but then again I've never needed surgery either). I am going to break down and cry if I have to wait 6months for surgery. There is so much I want to be able to do this summer and I just know I won't as long as I'm still like THIS.

I wonder if I can document my past supervised diet programs and get that waived. I really hope so.

I am having my surgery tomorrow. It has been exactly 4 weeks since my first visit with my PCP.

I have Anthem BC/BS. My employer required 5 years of weight history with a BMI over 40.

Thats it... I went to the Psych, NUT, etc. BC/BS approved me within 20 minutes after the surgeon's office submitted for insurance.

On top of that, only 1360.00 out of pocket. I feel very blessed.

I have Western Health Advantage, 6 weeks from first meeting to approval. I waited 3 months for surgery because of vacation plans and my husband being out of town. My insurance allows for Drs discretion about the supervised pre diet stuff and I was at a low BMI and didn't need to lose any weight... others did and took more time.

I started the process in Dec. getting all the required paperwork and tests. I had my first meeting in Feb. and I have to go through 6 months before I can even talk with the surgery team. I was hoping to get this done before summer because I am super busy with football season starting in July. Looks like my total time will put me at August for my surgery. Just in time for my hectic lifestyle to start. I am so not happy with having to wait so long, but I have Tricare so I have to do what they say.

My insurance requires only that I satisfy my doctor's requirements. I need to go two two seminars- which I have done, and be signed off by a psychiatrist and a nutritionist. My nutritionist agreed to try to help me have the surgery in April as I am a self emplyed wedding photographer and need to be ready to work at least partly in May. I have logged food going way back and will see her twice in the next month to show I know the principlesI have a psych appointments, had a sleep study for apnea last night, am having a treadmill test tomorrow, an upper GI on Thursday with a chest xray, and will have a colonoscopy next week since I am due for one (I hoped they would not notice but they did....). I am crossing my fingers April will be my month! I have Blue Shield of California. I will also do a liquid diet for two weeks before the surgery.

Hi. I originally inquired to the bariatric clinic and had all day appt for psych eval/nutritionist/MD for physical 11/10/11. I was required to do counseling as the psych assessment indicated. I don't regret this since it helped me examine when I overeat and how to minimize that. I already had a sleep study done in April 2010 and have been using a CPAP since that time. Completed 3 months of diet counseling (as required by Aetna) on 2/9/11. Had written my diet intake everyday and kept track of exercise. Started Vit D in Nov since my level was 21 (No surprise since I live in Ohio.) Had an EKG in there somewhere just for cardiam clearance. Didn't need any upper GI done since I have no problems. I took a little while for the dr to sign off on things and for the office to fax things but once Aetna had all the info (Feb 22?) they approved it within a couple of days. I have a BMI of approx 43 with sleep apnea. Aetna said they called the office with my approval on Feb 25th but noone there knew anything about it. I found out March 1st via phone call to Aetna and now I have my preop appt tomorrow March 3rd, will be on a one week liquid high-protein diet to shrink my liver, and have surgery 3/16. It all moved fairly fast to me. So...from start to finish....it has been four months..... Like other people said, check with your insurance company with what their requirements are. If you are self pay it will go quicker. Good luck.