Hi all, i am yet to have my surgery,but i decided to join the site so i could pick others brains on this , as the doctors can only tell you so much and there is no one better to pass on information than someone who has been through it themselves., but reading some of your posts, it seems to me that you guys in america have to jump through alot of hoops to have the surgery, tests, colonoscopys, pre surgery diets, classes, WOW, all i did to get the surgery was, i went to my local doctor and told her i wanted this, she gave me a referral to the surgeon, i went and saw him, he weighed me and said yep, no problems. The one thing that really stood out to me was the after surgery diet, most of the posts i read said that you had a liquid diet for 2 weeks after, over here,(australia) we have to have a 6 week liquid diet..... I would like to wish everyone a happy new year, party hard but party safe

Hi all, i am yet to have my surgery,but i decided to join the site so i could pick others brains on this , as the doctors can only tell you so much and there is no one better to pass on information than someone who has been through it themselves., but reading some of your posts, it seems to me that you guys in america have to jump through alot of hoops to have the surgery, tests, colonoscopys, pre surgery diets, classes, WOW, all i did to get the surgery was, i went to my local doctor and told her i wanted this, she gave me a referral to the surgeon, i went and saw him, he weighed me and said yep, no problems. The one thing that really stood out to me was the after surgery diet, most of the posts i read said that you had a liquid diet for 2 weeks after, over here,(australia) we have to have a 6 week liquid diet..... I would like to wish everyone a happy new year, party hard but party safe

Over here it has alot to do with insurance. I have not hear of anyone having to do a colonoscopy.

A lot of the issues I hear about are in regards to insurance. With my insurance, I didn't even need a referral! I went to my surgeon, got my psych & physical the same visit, and got the go ahead. I got my pre-auth last week, and am having surgery on the 19th. My sister in law has Kaiser, and she had to go through 6 months of nutrition training and was waitlisted for another 4 months. From the time I went in for my consultation, until my surgery date was less than 2 months. I could have had it done in December, but my health plan goes Jan-Dec, so it worked better to do it in Jan, otherwise it could've been just a few weeks!

Gosh!! Sounds like some of y'all have had it easy. I've been through a number of tests--a required education class offered by the doctor's office, chest x-ray, EKG, ABG, lab work drawing numerous viles of blood, endoscopy, sonogram on gall bladder, echo cardiogram, upper barium, nutritionist visit and psych visit, plus 3 doctor's visit, one to meet doctor and see if he thinks I'm a good patient for the surgery, then a decision visit to decide if I want gastric bypass or lapband, and my last visit will be my support visit where the person who will take care of me after surgery has to go with me to meet the doctor and I also will have a physicial and any additional blood work done at this visit--I think that's it. I started in Sept. 08' and now I'm at the point that I have a verbal okay from my insurance and now my doctor is waiting on the written so we can set my surgery date. I have to do 2 weeks of liquids before the surgery and of course 2 weeks after. So is it the insurance company's that make you either jump through the hoops or not? It's amazing to me what I have had to go through to get to this point compared to someone that has hardly had to go through anything. Not meaning that in a bad way I would have loved to have not had to do all these tests for a number of reasons. I live about 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes from my doctor. Plus the expense of all these tests. Although it has been frustrating at times and expensive--I hope and PRAY that it will all be worth it in the long run!!! Hope to have my surgery date set for Feb. 9th, 2009!! Will keep you posted!!

It seemed easy for me. I met with the Dr, Psyc, & Dietician all in the same visit. Went for 3 months in a row to meet with dietician. I originally had show 5 years of previous weight history, but Aetna changed there rules and I only needed 2 yrs previous weight history. Once the dr's office submitted all the paperwork 12/4, I had my approval letter on 12/24. It seems like such an easy process compared to what I've heard others go through. The hardest for me was lossing the 5 lbs the dr said I needed to lose for surgery. Finally managed to do that with Slimfast optima. Now I'm set for surgery on Jan 23rd...

Wow, what insurances do you all have. It seems to me that I may need classes as well, and some have told me that it is up to a year for a referral to have it done.

Wow, what insurances do you all have. It seems to me that I may need classes as well, and some have told me that it is up to a year for a referral to have it done.

I have Aetna PPO... It was an easier process than I expected...

My only problem was the Dr's office waited so long after the approval to schedule my surgery it put my surgery right in the middle of the Spring Semester & being a senior graduating in Dec 09 I couldn't take a chance of any complications that could keep me out of class.

So, I rescheduled the surgery mid-May after finals...

I have Aetna PPO... It was an easier process than I expected...

My only problem was the Dr's office waited so long after the approval to schedule my surgery it put my surgery right in the middle of the Spring Semester & being a senior graduating in Dec 09 I couldn't take a chance of any complications that could keep me out of class.

So, I rescheduled the surgery mid-May after finals...

Did you go through your primary doctor or a seminar/center?

Did you go through your primary doctor or a seminar/center?

I didn't need a referral with our Insurance... I was recommended to Dr. Pilcher by everyone I talked to, so I just signed up for the seminar with New Dimensions Weight Loss Center here in San Antonio, Tx... I had to go through the formal seminar & then I had my first appt.

I was scheduled for Jan 23rd, but I'm a student & I couldn't do the surgery with the Spring semester starting, so I've rescheduled for Mid-May after Finals...