I have to be cleared by a pulmonologist prior to surgery. I called the office today to get an appointment and they said they will call me when the get to me on the very long list of people waiting for get appointments. They are scheduling appointments in to March now!!! I was really hoping to get my surgery done in Feb. I have a GI appointment in Jan. I thought that was bad. Im thinking about going to Phoenix to see if I can get into a pulmonologist sooner there. Flagstaff only has one Pulmonary Dr office. I know some of you have waited a really long time to get your sugeries done. Im anxious to get it done because I cant have my knee replacement until I lose weight. I really need that done ASAP. Oh well, patience was never my strong suit!!!

yea it can take forever to get in to see specialists. It took an especially long time for me to get in for my sleep study. But take advantage of the waiting time by doing as much research as you can. By the time I actually had my surgery, I felt VERY prepared for it...

Yeah, being in a small community, one often has to go to "the city" to see specialists quicker or are more specialized. Some complain that their surgeon is scheduling months out, to which my response is, "do you want a surgeon who is just sitting around waiting for you to come in the door, or one who is in demand?" But for a check the box type of specialist sign off like this, I see little problem with jumping the line by going out of town to get a sooner appointment. The only down side is if you wind up needing recurring treatment from that specialist, then you need to either continue with one who is inconveniently located, or transfer care to the local guy with the waitlist.

Either way, as cat suggests, waiting does have its benefits in being better prepared - I found that the extra time gave me the opportunity to work on changing my habits for the better in the long term - most of the dietary habits and disciplines that I evolved to while leading up to surgery stuck with me as things progressed post op - when I "cheated", I did so on things that were fundamentally healthy rather than just junk, and didn't have a significant transition from "weight loss" mode to "maintenance" mode.

You are both right about research and changing habits. I have been working on both. I figure the more weight I lose before surgery the easier the surgery will be. So I think I have made peace with waiting. Its just I had it in my head that I could have it done in Feb. I just need to adjust my expectations and come back to reality. Im still losing weight and I will still have the surgery when it is supposed to happen.

WOW that wait is as long as my pre-op entire bariatric journey was! Shame smaller areas have less access to care. But I do like the fact that you're using this wait to lose more weight! that's a positive way of looking at it

Arizona is on a long wait for pulmonary appointments. Post COVID issues and just not a lot of them makes scheduling difficult. I work oncology and even ASAP appointments take up to a month (shorter sometimes if our drs call the pulmonary). You can always see if they have a cancel list (usually means get told less than 24 hours if someone doesn’t confirm/cancels).