I finally asked my doctor if I was a candidate for WLS and was authorized to begin the process!! I'm scared yet excited. I'm currently with Kaiser in Maryland. Anyone in that area that has gone through the process and can let me know whats coming and how long? I know I have multiple classes but I have no idea what to expect. I'm scheduled for the first 2 class/appointments which are 4 weeks apart.... help please!!!

Welcome to this wild wonderful ride! The process varies by insurance plan and surgical team but you should definitely get more details at the first appointment. To prepare, try contacting your insurance company and asking for the policy/requirements for bariatric surgery approval. That should give you some idea of what will be needed and timeframe - for instance some require 3 months supervised weight management before, some require 6 months and some don't require any.

I had my surgery June 17th (VSG) and here was what I had to do beforehand - some of this you may not need.

First appointment with surgical team Dec 8, 2015. Found out insurance required 6 monthly weight management appointments, this visit counted as the first. My last was in May.

Testing also needed included:

Psych evaluation - to make sure you understand the surgery and are mentally prepared, have a support system etc

Cardiac clearance - for me this meant ekg, stress test and echo

chest x-ray

upper GI (barium swallow test, i've seen others have to have an endoscopy)

abdominal ultrasound (mine indicated an aortic aneurism so then I had to have an angiogram which showed my aorta was fine)

Pulmonary function test

sleep study - to check for sleep apnea

Blood work

I also had to take a nutrition class - 1 session, 2hrs long

and my surgeon's team requires attendance at one support group meeting - they offer lots and these are great, i recommend finding one!

It seems like so much to do - but they want to make sure the surgery will be as safe as possible and understand any possible medical issues you have. And trust me - the time flies!

Good luck on your journey and keep us updated!

Thank you so much @@heidikat72 Im scared and excited but will update my journey

Welcome! I believe Kaiser has a pretty standard WLS pre-op process. My guess is that your first class will go over the process and requirements.

Best of luck!