Can anyone tell me how long it took from start to finish, first doctors visit to actually getting approved and a surgery date, also I am in Maryland anyone had surgery in my state that would not mind helping me, I am literally just starting. I had my initial visit with the surgeon at AAMC in annapolis, and have just started the nutrition portion.

Believe it or not, the time goes by really quickly. I had my initial appointment in October 2018 and had surgery May 2019. I actually went through GW hospital just because it was closer to where I worked and it was easier to get to appointments. But once you start the nutritional portion, it usually depends on what your insurance requires. I was required to attend 6 nutritional appointments and have a psychological evaluation. Once I completed my 6th appointment, I was scheduled shortly thereafter.

My husband went through AAMC several years ago and his time frame was similar to mines, so I think it mainly depends on your insurance and you not missing any required appointments. If you do, usually the time will start over. But both hospitals have good programs, I think AAMC was a little stricter in the after surgery eating requirements. I hope this helps.

Edited May 14, 20206 yr by lyladyp

5-6 months. I completed everything in April but corona hit in March. We were shooting for May but looks like June or early July. I'm in the Atlanta area.

I started on 10/7/19 with the first appointment with the surgeon. I had my surgery on 3/3/20 so right at 5 months. I had to fulfill a lot of appointments with others doctors in that 5 months per the required guidelines of my insurance. I was dedicated and got it all done within the timeline. Mine was supposed to take 6 months but I got it done in 5 months. Whatever your surgeon’s office asks you to do and whatever appointments you need to make, do it. Good luck.

My first appt was 10/7/19 and I had surgery on 12/18/19. I had a somewhat unique situation in that my insurance was going to expire on 12/31/19, so my surgeon's staff was awesome about pushing everything through quickly. I also stayed on top of things as far as getting all of my mandatory clearances (EKG, PFT, Cardiology and Psych clearances) completed ASAP.

Best of luck to you!!

My timing info will probably useful/of interest for anyone in Australia and who have a revision from ESG to sleeve.

ESG is not covered by medicare or private health insurance in Australia so no real requirements other than some blood tests. Could have had my ESG within three or four weeks of my initial appointment with the doctor, however, I delayed the procedure for some leave that was already planned a few months away.

18 months later for my revision to sleeve I went out of state to a surgeon who had already done ESG conversions to sleeve (some will only do bypasses). I was fortunate, the office arranged for me to have an endoscope the day following my initial consult and from there it was less about one month to my sleeve. I had some bloods taken in between, Medicare/private health insurance covered this one but I did have out of pocket costs. There were no required to lose weight prior to the surgery or pysch clearances. There was one appt with the dietician (did that the same day as my initial consult) and two appointments following the surgery.

Many take 6-7 months start to finish. I was fast tracked. First surgeon consult May 20 - surgery Sept 4. Of corse, I do think it took 1-2 months from my PCP to get to the surgeon.

3 months

Well I've seen people self pay and get surgery in weeks other people have very strict insurance or doctors and can take years... There is many many factors involved...

The length of time, consult through surgery, is largely dependent on your insurance carrier. Your doctor's office can affect it, but the insurance plan may require a 6 month (maybe more) monitored diet. They may also have a history of back-logging or slowing down processes for elective procedures.

For me, my initial consult was in September 2017 and I had the surgery April 2018.

I started the process 01/02/2020 and should have had my bypass on 04/07/2020. Because of Corona its been moved to 06/30

I started in August 2019, had a health scare in September 2019. I was on blood thinners so I had to wait until Jan 2020 to continue my appointments. My estimate schedule date was May 2020 then COVID hit. And my surgery date was pushed out to June 17th. So my timeline is not as streamlined but a typical person takes about 6 months.