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Hello everyone,

I'm still in the early stages of wls. I had my surgical consult and psychological evaluation on the same day is that normal? I've started my medically supervised journey. I'm so excited and nervous at the same time. I haven't told any of my extended, family or co workers. I just told them I'll have to be off in the summer or fall for hernia surgery. Can someone tell me the length of time from pre op to the actual surgery? I'm trying get a feel for when I should put in paperwork to request time off work

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Welcome aboard. This is a great community and there are a lot of people that are happy to answer your questions.

It's been 2 years, but I can still remember how nervous/excited I was when I committed to surgery.

The time from pre-op to finish is really going to depend on your insurance requirements and your doctor. From start to finish, I was done in less than 30 days. But, my insurance was Bariatric Friendly and I was already diagnosed with a co-morbidity (sleep apnea) that qualified me for VSG surgery.

Some insurance companies require lengthy doctor supervised diets, multiple sessions with a nutritionist, in addition to the normal pre-op tests done to prepare for surgery.

The best advice I can give you is to call your insurance company and ask them for a list of pre-surgery requirements and a list of WLS co-morbidities that they will accept before approving surgery.

Then call your surgeon and find out his expected timetable for your surgery.

Stay strong and keep on pushing on...and never give up on what is important to you, even if yesterday it got further away from you. Pull it back towards you today. Stake your claim. Change your ways. Do what is right for YOU!

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Pre-op to surgery time can vary anywhere from 30 days to a year. Average time for someone paying with insurance is about 3 or 4 months. If you are requires to have a medically supervised diet it could be anywhere from 3 - 6mths. Mine took 4 mths. I was required to attend an informational seminar before I even was allowed to schedule an appointment with the surgeon. I then was required to have 3 monthly appointments with the baratric team.

Edited by BLERDgirl

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Welcome aboard. This is a great community and there are a lot of people that are happy to answer your questions.

It's been 2 years, but I can still remember how nervous/excited I was when I committed to surgery.

The time from pre-op to finish is really going to depend on your insurance requirements and your doctor. From start to finish, I was done in less than 30 days. But, my insurance was Bariatric Friendly and I was already diagnosed with a co-morbidity (sleep apnea) that qualified me for VSG surgery.

Some insurance companies require lengthy doctor supervised diets, multiple sessions with a nutritionist, in addition to the normal pre-op tests done to prepare for surgery.

The best advice I can give you is to call your insurance company and ask them for a list of pre-surgery requirements and a list of WLS co-morbidities that they will accept before approving surgery.

Then call your surgeon and find out his expected timetable for your surgery.

Stay strong and keep on pushing on...and never give up on what is important to you, even if yesterday it got further away from you. Pull it back towards you today. Stake your claim. Change your ways. Do what is right for YOU!

Thank you for your words of encouragement. I've been heavy my whole life and was told by my family that I should just accept my size and that my whole family is "big boned" but I want to be healthier for myself and my children, I want to be around to watch them grow up. I know I'm making the right decision

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Ah yes the urban myth that some people are "big boned". Nope, we're just fat. The truth is the average person has the same size bones as the next person. There is only a small percentage of people with larger than average bones.

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Ah yes the urban myth that some people are "big boned". Nope, we're just fat. The truth is the average person has the same size bones as the next person. There is only a small percentage of people with larger than average bones.

I totally agree with you ????

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      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. LeighaTR

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

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        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
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