How long after doing all pre op appointments/ prerequisites did you get your surgery date? My job gives a hard time with taking time off, can you give your surgeon date preferences ?

27 minutes ago, DanielleQ said:

How long after doing all pre op appointments/ prerequisites did you get your surgery date? My job gives a hard time with taking time off, can you give your surgeon date preferences ?

Mine was within a month, but we had to move it up ASAP from 3 months out because I need another surgery in December for my shoulder. You can absolutely give your surgeon your preferred dates! They may not be able to schedule you on the exact one you request, but if you give them a window they should be able to work with you!!

I was scheduled two weeks after my final meeting with the dietician, I was able to choose the ballpark dates for my surgery. If you have a date range you'd like, mention it to the doctor, I can't see it being an issue.

My surgeon is booking 3 months out. I guess it just depends on how busy the surgeon is?

5 hours ago, DanielleQ said:

How long after doing all pre op appointments/ prerequisites did you get your surgery date? My job gives a hard time with taking time off, can you give your surgeon date preferences ?

Well as long as some moron at the office doesn't lose your paperwork, and never returns your calls for 6 six weeks, it seems like it will take on average a month or two after completing all pre-req's.

And you should be able to FMLA for your surgery, so maybe ask your HR department about it.

I'm going the self pay route with Blossom Bariatrics, but was given similar timelines when I spoke with folks with Dr Shillingford and the Nicholson Clinics, but generally scheduling could be done 3 weeks out with 2 weeks of pre-op diet for a Sleeve procedure. From first call to the surgery is generally 1 month, but sounds like it could be less in some cases. RNY, DS, and revisions required considerably more time to plan for. Far fewer hoops to have to jump through going this route, though.

I'm only going this route because my insurance declines anything related to bariatric surgery. My previous employer's insurance would only cover a lap band, and it required a year of meetings. If I missed one, or gained any weight between sessions, I had to start over, which is ridiculous. Also they didn't cover any counseling, which I definitely recommend signing up for! It's just as much mental as it is physical! I'd rather not have the equivalent of a car payment hanging over my head, but my health has been declining significantly the last few years and I need a change.

My job isn't forgiving with PTO either, and it was all I could do to take the 3 days off for the week of Thanksgiving to get mine done next Monday. It's a small business, so FMLA isn't an option, so I have to go back to work the next Monday.

Apologies for the novel I'm about to write, and thanks in advance if you bother to read it all! ? TL;DR it took me ~7 months total to go from first appointments to surgery.

I went through my local university's health system and am using insurance, so my timeline will likely differ from those who are self-pay or outside the USA! My program is roughly 5-6 months, with 4 group classes and two check-ins with Nutrition & Psychology where they determine if you're approved to move to the next part of the program (or send you for additional counseling or nutrition, if not approved). I also had to do 2 extra appointments with Nutrition & Psych to keep insurance happy, as mine requires that you have some sort of contact or follow-up every month until you get surgery.

Here's what my personal timeline looked like:

April 27th, 2023 - First appointments with Dietitian, Psychology, Surgeon
May 2nd - First group class
May 16th - Second group class
June 6th - Psych check-in
June 15th - Nutrition check-in
July 5th - Third group class
July 27th - Fourth group class
August 1st - Nutrition check-in
August 10th - Psych check-in
**CALLED IN LATE AUGUST TO SCHEDULE! (see below)
September 19th - extra Nutrition & Psych check-ins to keep insurance happy
October 3rd - GP visit for physical and approval for EGD (the hospital mandated this due to high BMI requiring monitored anesthesia for the EGD)
October 4th - EGD (scope of esophagus, stomach, upper bowel)
November 8th - Started 2-week liquid only liver-reducing diet (LRD)
November 9th - Pre-op Readiness Visits (basically meeting w/surgeon again, nurse practitioner, coordinator, etc. to make sure I have all the pre-op information, etc.)
November 22nd, 2023 - SURGERY DATE!

**So, they DID call me in late August to schedule my surgery. At my initial appointment with my surgeon, he wanted me to get an EGD to make sure I don't have silent reflux or anything funky going on, as I get occasional reflux with certain foods. When I scheduled my EGD back in April, they were scheduling out into OCTOBER ?, so I scheduled it for October 4th. In late August (after finishing all my classes and check-ins), my surgeon's office called to let me know the surgeon reviewed my file and was fine with skipping the EGD since I don't have a history of chronic GERD and asked if I wanted a date in September. Well, at this point I was used to the idea of having surgery towards the end of the year, AND I already had a big ol' wedding planned for October and wanted to be able to at least eat solid food for that and have my dress fit properly, so I told them I was fine with keeping the EGD appointment just to be safe and that I'd prefer a date in late November, as I had a HUGE thing scheduled at my work for this week (11/13-11/16) where I pretty much had to be there. They had no problem scheduling me out that far, so if you need a particular timeframe and need to push back for life reasons, I've heard the majority of programs have absolutely no problem doing so. Just know that your insurance (if you aren't self-pay) might want you to make an extra check-in visit or two so you have some kind of contact monthly.

Thank you guys for all the help , as of yesterday I have completed all pre-op appointments & am currently waiting for my case to be reviewed by patient navigator so I can meet with my surgeon. Hopefully no issues arise & I can book my surgery