Hi there! I have my first appointment with Dr. Gandsas at AAMC on August 1. I've been to the seminar and I am dying to have this done ASAP. My insurance won't cover anything that has to do with obesity surgery so I'll be paying on my own. Its worth it to me!

I was wondering if anyone here could tell me a little bit about what to expect once I see the surgeon, the types of tests he requires, and how soon they will schedule my surgery knowing I do not need insurance approval. Any advice would be very much appreciated. I'm very impatient and I was hoping I could do some things on my own before my appointment that might speed things up!

Thanks everyone!

I am scheduled to have surgery with Dr. Gandsas on October 4. This is what you can expect:

Lab Work

EKG

Chest XRay

Psych Eval

Upper GI

Ultrasound

sleep Study

Anestesia Testing

Monthly Nut meetings (NLT 3)

I have insurance and its costing me an arm and a leg. I couldn't imagine without insurance. The labs alone were $1,800 w/out insurance and I went through LabCorp.

I had surgery at AAMC with Dr. Glandsas...and my insurance covered everything except my psych Eval. Add a cardiac Eval to the above list. I also had a pulmonary function test...not sure if that's required now...unless you're a smoker...which I wasn't.

Thanks ladies! My surgery is scheduled for October 28. I can't wait!!

Are you home Angie? How did it go?

Whoops missed the oct, thought I saw aug.

Whoops missed the oct' date=' thought I saw aug.[/quote']

I wish!

How long do we have to be on the liqued diet? Is it 2 weeks?

Ive also asked for an estimate but haven't been able to get one. Did they provide you with one? My insurance will cover 85%. I'm just trying to figure out what I will be responsible for.

The pre-op diet isn't that strict - you can do 4 shakes per day, or you can substitute a healthy, Protein rich meal. I kind of fast-tracked since my insurance won't cover the surgery so I got the rundown ahead since I won't meet with Arianne but 1 time before the pre-op appointment.

As far as an estimate, I am self pay. I called the hospital and got a quote of about $14K but that's just an average really and it could go up or down. There are actually several charges - hospital, surgeon, anesthesiologist. Each bill separately so I had to get quotes from each and total it's about $20k.

Oh, forgot to mention that the pro-op diet is 2 weeks

Angie how did everything go. How has your weight loss been? I'm a patient of Dr gandsas and would love to get more info.

Angie how did everything go. How has your weight loss been? I'm a patient of Dr gandsas and would love to get more info.

I'm going on my 2nd visit with Dr. Gandsas June 4th. My surgery date should be August/September...I hope August.

How was your surgery Angie? Sonja when is your surgery. I really like Dr. Gandsas.

I hope to get my surgery date on June 19th. I was hoping for the surgery to the place in august but I guess it will be like September or October. I'm praying my insurance goes through without a hitch.

Dr Gansas seems ok. But I've heard good things about the office and the nurse however I haven't really spoken much to either one of them to make a decision at to how they are. There are a lot of test which I'm grateful for so going into it I know how my health is.

Dr Gansas seems ok. But I've heard good things about the office and the nurse however I haven't really spoken much to either one of them to make a decision at to how they are. There are a lot of test which I'm grateful for so going into it I know how my health is.

I went to see Dr. Gandsas today I'm not able to have the gastric sleeve done because I have Barrett's esophgus so I'm getting the gastric bypass done on August 18th. I'm a little disappointed...