Right off the bat I want to say that i'm seriously not trying to rush things, I'm just curious about how fast the process can be done based on my situation.

I had the initial consultation on June 6th. My packet says that I have to do two nutrition visits and one support group, plus a ton of medical clearances. I had one nutrition visit in June, and I have one July 24th. I think that for most people the medical clearances take a long time because it takes awhile to get in with a cardiologist or pulmonologist if you've never had one before. However, I had a pulmonary embolism in 2013 and already have all these doctors so I was able to get appointments with them right away. My sleep study, pulmonary function test, chest X-ray, bloodwork, endoscopy, EKG, primary doctor clearance and psych evaluation will ALL be done by the last day of July. Plus, by July 24th i'll have completed both nutrition visits and a support group meeting.

It seems like everyone is saying that if my first consult was June 6th, I won't have the surgery until early-mid September. But i'm wondering if thats true for everyone if the requirements are met. Do I just have to sit around in August and wait? The only thing my Amerihealth policy says is "The individual must participate in preoperative surgical care through a multidisciplinary preparatory regimen including: a thorough medical clearance, consultation by a professional on low calorie diets and mental health evaluation" So it doesn't explicitly say 3, 6 or 12 months.

Is there any way my doctor could submit the packet in August and see what happens?

I was self pay and my initial consultation was September 2nd 2014 and my surgery date was October 8th 2014... Being that I was a self pay patient they had a fast track program which made the process speedy.

Will be having surgery on July 16 th .... The whole process has only taken me 5 weeks to complete... But I am self paying

I've had all 5 or 6 prescreen appts. Finished almost 2 months ago. I've been waiting forever for Letter of Medical Necessity from PCP. Finally got today. Now having to wait for insurance approval. They surgical center submitted my surgery date along with packet. Surgery date is still 5 weeks from now.