Day one here

Hi Everyone, My name is Marie and I am a 37-year old mom to four great kids. I need to lose weight so I have chosen to go with the Lap-Band procedure. My first appointment with my doctor is on November 28 at 10:30 and I can't wait! My question is how long after your first ever appointment do you get the surgery done? I have heard that there are liquid diets and group meetings to attend, etc. What were some of your timelines?? Can you tell I am anxious?? Thanks! Marie

My first informational meeting was on April 19th 2007 and my surgery date is November 13th 2007.

I had my 1st informational meeting and consultation Sept. 26th. My surgery date is Nov 19th.

It took me 18 months to get all the way through the process. My insurance company requires a 12 month doctor supervised diet history (most insurance companies require either 6 or 12 months). I DID have that diet history, but my doctor hasn't documented my efforts ... so even though I thought I was all set to go, I found out that I had to start over from the beginning. Have you called your insurance company yet? Find out all the things you'll have to fulfill before you can be approved. Normally it's the diet history, psych evaluation, various tests based on your medical history (sleep study, cardiac clearance, etc.) and a letter of support from your PCP. This will give you a better idea of what you need to go through to get approved. Good luck, Pam

Its all gonna depend on several factors: how fast u get ur psy eval done and all ur paper work in and the approval time and u cant leave out your doctors schedule. if he's a popular doctor, it can takes months to get schdeuled in. SO get in everything as soon as u can!

I had my first informational meeting at the end of August and then on the 24th of Sept. I had all appointments (with the surgeon, dietician, nurse and psychologist) My clinic has patients lose 5% of their excess weight and complete 5 (of 10) of the classes before they submit for insurance approval. I got approval 2 weeks ago and my surgery will be on the 15th (next Thursday). I have a PPO that didn't really require a whole lot of hoops to jump through. Christina

My initial seminar was on 6-4-07. My surgeon consultation was 9-10-07. Preadmin testing on 10-18-07. Surgery 11-06-07. There were lots of other appointments and stuff going on during this time, these are the highlights. Deb