Hey everyone, the journey begins

Howdy everyone, I am beginning my WLS journey. I have talked to my PCP, Endo, and Shrink, all are for surgery. I am a 37BMI but have diabetes and sleep apnea. I am leaning towards DS, but not made a firm decision yet on doc or procedure.  So, on average, from the time you have first consult, to surgery is ABOUT how long?

Thanks,
Tom

Good Morning Tom, I have not had surgery yet but am pre op. I have sent one packet to one doc and am deciding on another for back up. I have read alot on this board and am by no means and expert but I would say time varies from doc to doc. There are tests to be done as well as I think nutritionist appointment's to be done. Then I hear you must have a shrink evaluation too. It sounds  like you have that though. Then their is paperwork and then approval. I just think it depends on how fast everything can get done. I wish I could help more but I just have learned so much from being here and have not took the plunge yet . Welcome here to the board and jump in and don't hesitate to ask anything. Most here are helpful and honest.... Good luck on your journey....

                                                                                      Julie

Hi Tom,

For me it was about 9 1/2 months from my initial consult. However, that included the documented weight loss attempts required by my insurance. I was initially approved in 4 months, but ran into a complication during one of my tests. I had to have that heal first before I could proceed with surgery. Hence the delay until later in the year. Many insurance companies require the supervised weight loss attempts. That seems to be one of the largest time obstacles. When it is in front of you, it all seems soooooo long. In hindsight, it really was not that bad at all.

No matter what procedure you decide is best for you, it is a wonderful, life altering experience.

Best Wishes!

Debbie

we started our looking in January.... no surgery has been scheduled yet...

thankfully our insurance does not require supervised diets like many do.  

best of luck to you

and welcome.

Hi Tom!

From my initial one-on-one consult to surgery was about 13 months i believe.  I had to still do the supervised diet and that ended up taking me 9 months instead of the required 6 because they didn't tell me that I had to see my dietician each month.....LOL  oh well.  I wish you much luck on your journey!

Hi Tom,

We had our initial consult in July 2008 and my husband just had his surgery this week. Im scheduled for next week, so about 10 months for us. Good luck and keep us posted. This is a great board for support and you will find lots of info here.

I started my journey in November of 2007, and had surgery in March of 2009.  My journey was a longer one than normal because I got side tracked by other medical issues.  From my one on one with the surgeon until surgery it was only from August of 2008 until March...  I could have had surgery in October but had plans to travel out of the country at Christmas, and the surgeon wanted to be sure I could get the medical help needed etc. if need be, so I put it off until January and then had some issues that had to be resolved before surgery could be scheduled, etc.

All in all, I will say the journey was worth it, and I am only 2 months out!  From the time I have been home from the hospital since surgery until now, I can say I have never regretted my decision!

And if you are interested I went from 5 shots, and oral meds for my diabetes daily to ONE shot of lantus in the morning now...

Welcome tom, I want to wish you the best on your new journey, I myself am waiting for the approval but I have had a long journey and cant wait, but as i say not all of us are healthy so it takes some longer then others, I wish you the greatest of luck and prayers will be here and friends on this board dont be afraid to ask any questions no matter how silly you might think or trivial personal or otherwise there are a lot of angles on this site and most of them been through what your about to partake in, good luck and god bless

Hello Tom! Welcome to the MD Board!

I had my initial consult with my surgeon in June 08 and had surgery Oct 08. I actually could have had surgery in August or September but due to work restrictions it had to be pushed back till October. I was one of the lucky ones and did not have to do a supervised diet. I had my approval from United Heatlh care within days of my initial consult and then it was just a matter of getting all my preop testing scheduled and done.

Best of luck on your journey!!

Welcome to the Maryland Board Tom.  I had my initial consult in March 2008 and my surgery was in October 2008.  The timeline depends alot upon what your insurance company requires before you can submit to insurance, how long they take to approve you, and then how busy your surgeon's schedule is.

Good luck on your journey!
Heather