I'm trying to get an idea of how long this takes from my first informational seminar (I believe thats step 1, right?) to the day I would actually have surgery (given that my ins doesn't require a 6 month monitored diet).

So from the first seminar, nutritionist, psych, eval, all the way up to surgery.... what kind of time frame are we talking?

I get 10 hours of vacation time per month, and I've got about 20 accrued right now. I'm trying to figure out when would be an ideal month to shoot for because I've also got a few other things I need to do (that require paid time off) over the next few months... and I'd like to take a vacation in aug/sept at the latest.

PS- ya think if I'm a trooper I can have surgery on a Thursday and be back to work the following Monday?

I made my first appt in Jan most of the appts were in Feb had a a couple in Mar and two this month.

For me I didn't have to do the supervised diet because it isn't a requirement of my surgeon (or insurance cause it is a military hospital) but the coordinator wanted us to lose roughly 10lbs. Now I had accomplished that but because they didn't record my initial weight loss at my first appt she didn't think I had. Oh well, she gave me a note book to fill out and wanted to see my food diary on the next appt after my psych appt.

No biggy though, surgery is May 7th *dies happy*

I'm trying to get an idea of how long this takes from my first informational seminar (I believe thats step 1, right?) to the day I would actually have surgery (given that my ins doesn't require a 6 month monitored diet).

So from the first seminar, nutritionist, psych, eval, all the way up to surgery.... what kind of time frame are we talking?

I get 10 hours of vacation time per month, and I've got about 20 accrued right now. I'm trying to figure out when would be an ideal month to shoot for because I've also got a few other things I need to do (that require paid time off) over the next few months... and I'd like to take a vacation in aug/sept at the latest.

PS- ya think if I'm a trooper I can have surgery on a Thursday and be back to work the following Monday?

I am in the same boat as you...my insurance does not require 6 months of supervised diet either.

I started the process on 3/17 with the seminar. I called and scheduled my next required appoinment with the nurse (first one was 2 weeks after seminar) and we went over my insurance requirements. It took her another couple of days to "type out my plan" with the names and phone numbers of the doctors and such that I had to see to get clearance and the approval. I called right away for the pysch appointment and it was 30 days out. Nutrition was 25 days out. Cardio was 21 days out. My pulmonogist (sp?) got me in right away to give me clearance..so I thought!! but he wanted to do a sleep study first, that was scheduled 30 days fromt he date I called. My pcp did my first appointment to "talk" about what I wanted, what I thought, and what was expected. I have a follow up appointment next week with him for my physical and history (required by surgeon and insurance) so I am almost 5 weeks into process and I have only gotten my cardio clearance at this point. I am figuring that by the end of May, I should have my paperwork submitted to insurance for approval. It is not a fast process and I believe it should not be. I have been practicing living like a "bander" by eating Protein first, then veggies, then healthy carbs. I am also doing the small bites 20-2-20-2 process (chew 20x...put fork down for 2 seconds...then next bite...chew 20x...you get it) and not drinking 30 minuets before meal or 60 minuets after...that is reallyyyyyy hard...start working on that if you have not yet....and no soda. That sucks, it is hard...but being fat is worse.

Hope this gives you a bit of insight as to what I have to do...not by any means saying you will have the same experience!

So if I get the ball rolling within the next week or two, ya think I could have surgery early July?

Even without the six month diet, it sometimes takes awhile to get an insurance approval. My first visit with the surgeon's office was February 27th. I completed all the prerequisite nutritionist & therapist stuff, and the office submitted to my insurance for pre-approval on April 2nd. I have been waiting since, and each day feels more like a week. I wait for the phone to ring, and it hasn't yet. I also called my insurance company three times to check on the status and all they will tell me is that they have up to 30 days to do this.

I DON'T WANT TO WAIT ANOTHER MINUTE. It's time for my life to start changing, RIGHT NOW.

Anyway, it all varies, but I think you could do this in July if you do everything you need to do quickly and your insurance doesn't slow you down.

-Theresa

I don't remember exactly but I think it was 2-3 months to get through the nutritionist, ekg, psych eval and bloodwork. I didn't have to have a sleep study.

For me, it was 6 days total. I was self-pay and didn't need to do any pre-op diet. I went in for my initial on a Tuesday and my doctor has a freak opening the following Monday morning. I did the nutritionalist thing after my surgery. It happened so fast I didn't even have time to get nervous before the surgery.

If I remember correctly, I called for an appointment sometime in the end of June, got my all-day appointment in July (nutritionist, psychologist, seminar). Then I waited about three weeks for insurance to approve it (I had a few complications due to missing paperwork, but that was all). I met my surgeon in the beginning of August and my surgery date was September 6, 2007. So I guess it was about six or seven weeks? Something like that.

3 months... had to do visits, tests, exaluations, blah blah blah. The paperwork takes the longest.

...and it would have been sooner if I hadn't gotton cold feet in January.

my process took about 6 weeks from the first appt to my surgery

I went to my seminar on 10/24/07, had my first appointment with the surgeon on 11/28. I had testing done in December, saw dr again in early January and he gave medical clearance. I had to get a letter from my PCP then they submitted to insurance on 1/29 or 1/30. I had surgery on 2/28. So from seminar to surgery it was 4 months, from first appt to surgery, exactly 3 months. I didn't have to do the 6 month supervised diet either.

I think when you go back to work will depend on what you do. I work in a very slow paced office where I mostly sit at my computer all day. I had surgery on a Thursday and probably could've returned to work on Tuesday or Wednesday. I planned to be off a whole week, but then my boss required me to bring a release from the doctor and I didn't see him until 10 days post op.

here is what i did.........first seminar 11/27/2007meet with doc 12/5/07various doc appts 1/1/08 thru 1/6/08submitted to insurance 1/24/08insurance approval 1/31/08surgery 3/5/08Hope that helpsg2s

mine was about 45 days---self pay.

Mine took about 4 months

I was self pay and it took 18 days from consult to surgery. It was a jam packed 18 days though, went to some doctor of some kind almost every day for those 2 weeks.

Seminar first week in January...then all of the appointments/insurance crap...surgery April 23rd!!!!! So not quite 4 months for me.