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How Long did you wait for surgery?



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Hello,

I'm new here and am seriously leaning toward lap band. My question is how long did you have to wait until the surgery was performed? I have read around that the wait can be as long as a year.

Thanks,

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It all depends on who your insurance is and if they cover it or not..If you are a self pay you can be scheduled in as little as a week or sooner. I shceduled mine very quiickly, I went to MX for mine and was a self pay.

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Hi,

I too am waiting to have surgery. I have to do a 6 month supervised weight loss, plus the 1st date I could get with my sugreon is in Feb 2006. From what his office has told me..I should have a surgery date early April. So for me it will be 7-8 months. It flies by trust me. It is actually good time to fully absorb what you are about to do IMHO.

Good luck!

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Well I was very lucky. I saw my surgeon on January 6th and was operated on January 19th. I am in Australia so the Insurance thing is different...but I also got funding from my Superannuation account which came through in 10 days ..so that was FAST. I sort of think it must have been meant to be as it all fell into place so easily.

Thérèse

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robinem, just wanted to let you know that the time period varies. I was concerned that I would have to wait 6 months or more according to info. that I read and what the surgeon's assistant told me, but I started everything on August 8th, I was approved yesterday, and my surgery is scheduled for the 7th of November. So, it only took 3 months for me. I'm guessing that it all just depends on your insurance coverage and where you live. I could be wrong, of course. :)

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I spoke w/ my patient coordinator this past Saturday, and she gave me the option to schedule as soon as Oct. 25. That's not enough time for me to finish getting my funds together (self pay). So, I chose a later date of Nov. 17.

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I was a selfpay-called doc on a thursday-spoke with coordinator on friday-was scheduled for surgery in Tijuana on the following wednsday;-) -didnt have time to blink-thank goodness I had money in savings and ebayed me some flight tickets.

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3 months for me. Insurance gave the approval pretty quickly, but there were so many tests to do beforehand. It gave me time to mentally prepare.

Good Luck

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Guest Deb H

Who did your surgery?

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Since I had the cash, the only thing I had to wait for was the proctor who was assisting my doctor with the surgery, since I was my doctors first lapband patient. Hey I looked at it this way, two doctors for the price of one.

I was originally scheduled for Nov 18, but was postponed until Dec 6.2004, almost a year, boy time passes so quickly.

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I was self pay in the US. Same thing for me, I got scheduled in very fast. I could have done it within a week but chose to wait a month just to be sure this was something I truly wanted to do.

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My consult was in Mid-Dec, and my procedure was in Mid-March. The only thing that make it so I had a long wait was tht I needed to wait until Spring beak. I'm a full-time student and my husband has awesome insurance.

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
      · 0 replies
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    • KimBaxleyWilson

      Three months and four days ago... I was in Costa Rica having a life changing surgery! Yesterday we had a followup visit with Dr. Esmeral via video chat and this morning my middle number changed.  I'm down 47lbs and two pants sizes. I can wear a Large tshirt for the first time in like... 14 years! Woot!! Everything is going great. I have zero regrets. I went down to the riverwalk with a friend and walked 2 miles on Monday without even getting fatigued. And no more snoring or chugging pickle juice for crazy leg cramps! I need to go to the gym more... I'm making new shirts next week so that will motivate me. LOL But I'm also just not as TIRED all the time! I have a LONG way to go...but seeing the progress on the scales and in the mirror is a huge motivator!! Thank you all for cheering me on and supporting me!!
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
    • bellaamey

      https://alluniqueguide.com/java-burn-coffee-reviews/
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      1. This update has no replies.
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