Tell me a story about your long preop process?

[Katrinakit 139]

My surgery just got delayed by 3 months and I'm really having a hard time dealing with it. I need to hear stories about people that had a really long preop process (like almost a year of continually weighing in and going to support groups) and made it through and got the surgery and are now getting healthy and losing that weight!! Thanks

[Inner Surfer Girl 12,015]

My surgery was delayed due to financing issues. My insurance didn't cover the surgery but I discovered a program through our state's vocational rehab office. It was a great option, but it meant I had to go through their application process. Ultimately, it delayed my surgery and I even had to repeat some of my pre-op testing.

The good news, by the time my surgery date came around I was extremely prepared: mentally, physically, and emotionally. Everything went well and I couldn't have asked for a better experience, recovery, and results so far.

Everything happens for a reason.

[James Marusek 5,244]

It took me 9 months from initial consultation until surgery. This is fairly typical. The entire pre-op time was full of quite a bit of activity, most in a positive direction. Dealing with insurance companies was the most stressful.

[achappex3 346]

I had my official consultation yesterday and will be having my surgery sometime in November. My insurance requires a 6 month supervised diet and because I can't see a dietician until May, everything was pushed back.

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[Katrinakit 139]

I'm on month 8 now. Probably will get surgery in late July or early August. So frustrated.

[Thecloude1 342]

My first consult was in early Oct. surgery was Feb 17th ...My insurance required 3 months diet and exercise and my surgeon wanted me to lose 20 lbs [emoji106]

[Joanne_Can 12]

I live in Alberta and it is an extremely long process to get surgery. I have been attending the bariatric clinic for about 13 months and will finally have my initial assessment with the surgeon on April 28. After that I will still have to wait 12ish months for the surgery. They only do about 400 surgeries a year here, that are paid for, I can't afford to pay for it myself.

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[Katrinakit 139]

Wow! That is a really long road!

[MRSKLUCERO 3]

My surgery just got delayed by 3 months and I'm really having a hard time dealing with it. I need to hear stories about people that had a really long preop process (like almost a year of continually weighing in and going to support groups) and made it through and got the surgery and are now getting healthy and losing that weight!! Thanks

It took me 2 1/2 years to get my surgery...my pcp sent me to the nut (of course it took a couple months to get the referral and appt). I was required to do 6 months of nutritional counceling, because of scheduling issues it took 9 months to complete. Then the pcp told me I had to get psych clearance. That took another 3 months of visits and 2 more months to finally get the letter from the psych. By this time my insurance said I had to go back to nut counseling because it had been too long since I completed it...so another 6 months. Once that was done it took a few months to get the authorization to see a surgeon. As soon as I got the authorization I called for an appt., but of course I had to go to an orientation of type of meeting before I could actually meet with the surgeon. The next orientation was about a month out...I went, tried to schedule my appt only to be told that my insurance was not accepted by this surgeon( mind you the referral came from my insurance)...so back to the pcp to get a new authorization. Couple more months passed...Got my authorization, scheduled an appt. The surgeon said straight away that I was a great candidate for surgery, buuuut, I would need to get a sleep study first and clearance from cardio since I had previously had heart surgery. This process took about 3 more months. from there it took another 3 months for my insurance to approve the surgery and get a date scheduled. I did have to do a few more last minute tests, but nothing big, just an ekg, chest xray and some blood work. I finally got my surgery on 3/31/16, I'm 3 weeks postoperative and doing pretty well. I have had some minor dehydration issues, but otherwise doing great. I started out at a high weight of 265, by the time I met with the surgeon I was at 254, and the day before surgery I was at 238, at my first post-op appt. I was down to 216(-12lbs in 2weeks). The process can be long, frustrating and discouraging, but if this is something you really want you have to keep pushing forward. Best of luck to you! Hang in there!

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[j16 166]

Thanks for sharing this -I've been feeling really frustrated about the lengthy process. I finished my insurance requirements in mid Febr but my surgeon ordered more tests. I got the test results and signed the final paperwork ten days ago. They still haven't submitted it to my insurance because the doc who did the tests apparently won't return her call (or mine either) with a follow up question.

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