how long

how long did it take everybody to get their pre-op stuff done and how long did it take for insurance approval on surgery date?

Hi, I went to the surgeon's seminar (Dr Aranow) in early May. Had my first appt with him in mid June. Did all of my pre op stuff during July and early August. I got my insuance approval last week and am having surgery next week on the 28th. So, about 4 months total for me. paula

It took me about 4-5 months also. I learned a lot during that time, so in a way, I'm glad I had the wait. My insurance company approved me the first time, and it took just a few days. Good luck to you!!!

Hi Lauren... Dr. Ehrlich is my surgeon too!! My first seminar was early June and my surgery was last Monday 9/12. So it took me about 3 months to get through all the testing, etc. After I had completed all the testing and had insurance approval, they scheduled me for surgery 3 weeks out. It would have been sooner but Labor Day got in the way (he only operates on Mondays out of Norwalk Hospital)!! Good luck!! You chose a wonderful group of surgeons to work with and I can't say enough good things about Dr. Ehrlich!! Kim K.

I had my initial appointment with Dr. Crum in July, by the middle of September I had completed all my consultations and Dr. Crum's staff had obtained all the necessary insurance approvals. My surgery was scheduled a few weeks later for October 9th. I found a lot of comfort in Dr. Crum's method-- where his office takes care of all the insurance issues (you just provide your card and sign a release). Although attending a support group meeting was mandatory, I was thankful that they were held the first Wednesday of every month and that I didn't need to have an appointment to attend a meeting. Having failed at every prior weight loss attempt, I was relieved to not have to jump through more hoops to demonstrate a pre-operative weight loss (some surgeons actually require that a new patient lose a certain percentage of weight to prove that they would be a good candidate). Overall, I found that the ease of seeing him initially, and the minimal pre-operative hoops helped me to focus on why I was having the surgery-- and the short time between initial consult and surgery helped me to go into surgery with the same enthusiasm with which I had started the process.

I am probably different from everyone else but from the time I went to the seminar (Dr. Valin) to the day of surgery was about a month, if that. Once I decided that I really wanted to do this I lined all my appointments up and got everything done quickly. I think that it all worked out so well b/c Dr. Valin seems to have less "hoops" to jump through than other Dr's and I had zero issues with insurance. Good luck to you! Keep us posted.