I dont know whats the hold up, but im patiently waiting for my next appointment. which im assuming it will be pre op stuff based on what i have been reading. How long did it take u guys to get surgery date and pre op appointment after approval or what is next in the process?

From first appointment to surgery date was about 6 months for me. All surgeons are different. Mine wanted a TON of prereqs. 10% weight loss with dietician and nurse visits, lots of testing, psychiatrist, fitness and healthy cooking classes, etc.

Some will just schedule you.

I remember thinking it was an unfair pain in the butt at the time....but all of the prerequisite hoops I had to jump through have been invaluable. It was a much bigger undertaking than I imagined, and I've appreciated the support.

Mine took 10 months for completion. I had to do all the pre requirements, and when I was done, I also had to fight with the insurance company. It would have only taken 6 months otherwise.

37 minutes ago, Creekimp13 said:

From first appointment to surgery date was about 6 months for me. All surgeons are different. Mine wanted a TON of prereqs. 10% weight loss with dietician and nurse visits, lots of testing, psychiatrist, fitness and healthy cooking classes, etc.

Some will just schedule you.

I remember thinking it was an unfair pain in the butt at the time....but all of the prerequisite hoops I had to jump through have been invaluable. It was a much bigger undertaking than I imagined, and I've appreciated the support.

I see that everyone process is different which is a trip. I already did UGI, psychological evaluation, nutrition visit, nutrition consult, letter of support, met with surgeon,got approved for surgery through insurance. So im like next....lol

So I first made contact with someone about surgery on February 8th. I had someone message me back from the office on February 9th and set me up with my first video visit with the surgeon on February 25th. I also had a few calls in-between with the nurse about various things such as insurance and when things needed to get done. Once I met with the surgeon on the 25th, he and the nurse listed a ton of required tests I needed to get done and also appointments.

The tests included.......

Tons of blood work (walk-in/DONE)
HPylori test (walk-in/DONE/was also negative)
EKG (walk-in/DONE)
Chest X-ray (walk-in/DONE)

Also had to meet with.........

Dietician (video session/DONE)
Cardiologist (in person/DONE/didn't require any further tests)
Pulmonologist (appointment made/April 5th)
Mental Health (appointment made/April 2nd)

Aside from all of that I also had to.........

Watch 12 different videos pertaining to the surgery itself, recovery, and videos on mentally preparing myself, goals to meet, etc. Each video ranged from 30-55 minutes in length. Then, after watching all of those, I had quizzes on ALL of the videos that I had to complete online or on paper then had to submit them to the office. Also had to pass them all, which I did.

I consider myself lucky because, aside from the program and their own requirements, my insurance DID NOT require me to attend any other classes. Just needed to get certain tests done. I know a lot of people complained about Covid making their process harder but in all honesty, I think it's made my experience easier/faster because I can do most everything online, through video, or phone calls. FOR ME it's easier to make a call/video calls rather than having to actually go somewhere.

As you can see above, most of the tests I needed to get done could just be done as walk-ins and no appointment was needed. That too made it all that much easier/faster. I am also staying within network, which again, makes things easier as everything I do is available for all my docs to see in one place. No need to gather results and truck it around to other offices. All of my results also came in within the same day that I got the tests done. All but the HPylori. That took a few days extra.

So yeah, at this point in time it's March 16th and I ONLY have two appointments left. Providing the pulmonologist doesn't need or want any testing himself, I will have completed everything by April 5th (also assuming all goes well at the mental health appointment) . At that point my nurse navigator said she will submit all my paperwork, results, etc. to the insurance company for final approval. If the rest of this goes smoothly then I will have gotten all my stuff done within about a month/month and a few weeks time. Not too bad. Then it's just waiting on surgery date/day!!!

My insurance pretty much gave me this surgery for free with no catch (i.e. no minimum weightloss, or comorbidities necessary), and I'm relatively young so I barely needed any tests. BUT it still took me 6 months, probably due to COVID, but also every department related to Bariatrics is honestly so antiquated. I've been through the process in NY and Boston and it's always been 5-6 months.

12 hours ago, Creekimp13 said:

From first appointment to surgery date was about 6 months for me. All surgeons are different. Mine wanted a TON of prereqs. 10% weight loss with dietician and nurse visits, lots of testing, psychiatrist, fitness and healthy cooking classes, etc.

Some will just schedule you.

I remember thinking it was an unfair pain in the butt at the time....but all of the prerequisite hoops I had to jump through have been invaluable. It was a much bigger undertaking than I imagined, and I've appreciated the support.

Thanks for your response. It was very well appreciated?

1 hour ago, MissSmartyPants said:

My insurance pretty much gave me this surgery for free with no catch (i.e. no minimum weightloss, or comorbidities necessary), and I'm relatively young so I barely needed any tests. BUT it still took me 6 months, probably due to COVID, but also every department related to Bariatrics is honestly so antiquated. I've been through the process in NY and Boston and it's always been 5-6 months.

Thanks for your response. It was very appreciated?