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For the cash pay people what was your average timeline from your first appointment until surgery?

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For the cash pay people what was your average timeline from your first appointment until surgery?


That depended on where I was going. I started in my hometown and had a list of prechecks to complete...ekg, blood work, abdominal ultrasound, etc. It depends on how quickly you can get that completed.

I switched to Dr Illan in Tijuana, MX and was there in 2 weeks. Testing (ekg, blood, chest xray) completed same day as surgery.



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On 3/10/2017 at 3:18 PM, Ineedhelp2014 said:

For the cash pay people what was your average timeline from your first appointment until surgery?

first appt - June 2

surgery - June 28

amazing what can happen without insurance mucking up the works.

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I decided in early June to do this and I'm traveling to Las Vegas to be sleeved on Wednesday. July 19. It has been busy, getting all the prep work, so I think a month out is doable but not two weeks, that would be intense.

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Although I am not going selfpay, I would imagine it all depends on your surgical groups requirements. Based on those requirements as stated above, it will depend on how quickly you can accomplish everything.

I was able to complete all my insurance/surgical groups requirements within one and a half months (excluding the 6 monthly weigh-ins). BUT, I already was diagnosed with sleep apnea. If your surgical group requires a sleep study (visit with the pulmonologist) this itself can take a couple months. Back when I was getting diagnosed, it took me 3 weeks to get an appointment with the pulmonologist, 2 weeks to get a sleep study appointment (I did a take home test, as I would have had to wait another week for an overnight study), then another 2 weeks to go back to the pulmonologist to get the order for a cpap machine. After that another week to actually get the machine.

So, IF your surgical group requires a pulmonologist clearance, expect it could be a month and a half or more to actually get that process complete (you can accomplish all the other stuff during this same month). I would start this now, ahead of time. If your insurance will pay for a pulmonologist visit, and a sleep study, it wont hurt to accomplish this even before the surgical consult. since I was already diagnosed, all I had to do was have a quick appointment with my pulmonologist with my surgical order for a consult, he said great, and took the order. The next business day my surgical group had the signed clearance.

Edited by JT2002TJ

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I decided in early June to do this and I'm traveling to Las Vegas to be sleeved on Wednesday. July 19. It has been busy, getting all the prep work, so I think a month out is doable but not two weeks, that would be intense.

My surgery is the 19th too. Good luck!!


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