How long does it take?

Hello Everyone. I'm in the VERY begining stages of WLS. I am waiting for my PCPs office to call me with an appointment so that I can discuss my decision to persue GBS. I have Maine Care (which I just got this week). I'm wondering how long it took you from your first visit to your PCP till the day you had your surgery. Is there anything I can do to help the process along? ALL advice is welcome. Also ANY info on dealing with Maine Care would be GREAT! Thanks so much. Julie

HI Julie, I want to say WELCOME!!! I to was very egear to have wls.....I went to my first information meeting at Southern Maine Medical Center in Biddford in Febuary 2005......Filled out an Application for Dr. Micheal Carroll.....I called and spoke to his nurse every 2 weeks and was lucky enough to get an appointment with him March 23rd....He only does Laposcopic Gastric Bypass..... Then I had a phyc evauattion....meet with the dietian several times.....did blood work...eeg.....and had to lose 30 lbs.....Dr. Carroll typically makes you lose 10% of your body weight........I did EVERYTHING DR. Carrolls officed asked of me...and then I still called to see if there was more I could do.......(Squeaky wheel gets the grease)......The office sumitted to Maine Care ....June 13.....I recieved a call from Lynda the nurse on June 27 saying I was approved and there was a surgery date of July 18 avalible.......That is the 1st day of the rest of my life.......My situation is unquie in the fact that I was able to follow everything to the tee....when I first went to dr.carroll I was told it would take me about 6 months...to a year! It took 5 months from my informational meeting till surgery! I am almost 3 weeks post op and I have lost 17 lbs....I feel great I have been to Buffalo NY, when I was 9 days post op.....my brother in law got married....I have been to a bridal shower , birthday party.....and food does not seem to bother me.....Hope fully it stays that way.....If I can help answer anymore of your questions feel free to drop me a email! Good Luck!

Wow Rebecca! Sounds like you are doing really well. Congratulations!! Thanks for responding so fast. Your reply definitely makes me feel optimistic about my own journey. I have been afraid to get my hopes up about the surgery. I just feel like if I get too happy about it, I won't be able to have it done. I'm really happy that you were able to have your surgery in only 5 months. That's fantastic! You and your family must be so happy. I hope you continue to do well and feel even better. I can't wait to get things started. Waiting is so hard. But as I've read so many times on here, patience is a must for this process. So, I'm trying. I'm so glad that I found this website. You all have such good information to share. It certainly helps me a lot. I will most likely be emailing you during my journey. It's nice to be able to talk to someone who not only has been through it all, but who also lives in my state. (I'm in Kittery.) Well, I've got to go, little ones are making my room looke like a tornado just blew through. LOL Thanks again and I'll be in touch. Julie

HI Julie, My whole process took about 8 months, But i ran into a few snags that caught me quite a bit off guard. The surgeon i had been going to see up and retired rather suddenly. There was another surgical office in the augusta area, but they were overloaded with patients. And it took about 3 months to get an inital consult I deceided to look around in New England. I found Obesity Treatment Center in Manchester, and Dr. Campbell was willing to take me on basically transfering everything i have done. My first appt with her was on July 20th, and my surgery is scheduled for 8/25. But again, Speaking with Melanie the process is about 5 yo 6 months toget everything done. Have you picked a surgeon yet? or a procedure you are looking at? What i can say is stick with it, It can be a bumpy road, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and it will be wirth it

Hello Amanda. I'm planning on having laproscopic RNY and am hoping to have it done at Portsmouth Regional Hospital. My sister works there (she steralizes all sergical equipment) and says that the surgeons are great. They've had 0 deaths and few complications. Also, it's only about 10 minutes from my house. (My main concern is obviously quality of care, the closeness is just a big bonus.) They are having an info session on September 22nd and I am going to call on Monday to register for that. I know pretty much what I want and am TOTALLY commited to doing whatever is necessary to make it happen. I just got Mainecare this month and don't really know what their requirements are. Am hoping my PCP will help me find out and that she will also be supportive of my desire to have this surgery. They were supposed to call on Friday with an appointment but didn't. So, looks like I'll be bugging them tomorrow. I hope that I can get things moving along. It would be great to get it done in the 5 to 8 months that you and Rebecca were able to. You must be so excited with your date nearing! I will be thinking of you and wishing you all the best for sure. With all that happened early on in your journey, you certainly deserve the rest of this to be stress-free. Your first surgeon needs a kick in the butt for leaving you and his other patients like that. That is so not right. I'm just glad things are working out for you. If you wanna talk feel free to email me. I gotta run for now. Take care (and thanks for your reply.) Julie

Hi Julie, I called for my first appointment in June of 2002, had my group consult in November, got all my appointments done quickly and had my lap rny Jan 6 of 2003. My surgery was done by Dr Aslam in Augusta who is retired now. My only suggestion for speeding up the process is to get all the required appointments done as quickly as possible. Once you decide if you're gonna do it and find a surgeon maybe you could check with your surgeons office and ask what is required and if you can do them before your initial visit. Just a thought! Good luck!! Meredith

Hey Julie!!! Congrats on your decision and determination to have GBS. I began this journey in Febuary with a call to my primary insurance, the dreaded CIGNA (EEEEK!!!!). Cigna gave me "6 months of supervised diet" excuse so I expected this whole thing to take about 18 months. Cigna was thru my husband's work, and had MaineCare as 2nd ins. Well, with other's advice, I dropped out of hubby's Cigna plan and now have MaineCare primarily, eliminating the 6 month diet thing. I called MaineCare and they said they cover WLS if medically nessesary. It seems that if the surgeon and PCP approves the surgery, it would be because it is medically nessesary. Since having MaineCare, this process has been very quick compared to alot of experiences here. My Dr.s referral was in April, first bariatric appt. July 25, my second appt is Oct. 3, and my surgeon said the surgery would be 4-6 weeks after that. So ref. to surgery, in my case was 6-7 months. So far, without a glitch. I know that may seem long (I was soooo frustrated with waiting for that 1st appt.) but I experimented with blended foods, did more research on the post-op lifestyle, and time flew. As for MaineCare, I haven't had to do anything with insurance so far. They covered all consults and tests so far. I know MaineCare is very open to WLS because they recognize the benefits vs. obesity related care in the long run. I chose to do this now while I'm lucky enough to have MaineCare. I was told by my Bariatric Center that they cover everything if medically ness. and I would'nt be in the program if it wasn't. Good luck with this. It's so exciting and rather quick once you reach that 1st appointment. Congradulations on your new path in life!!! And if you're like me, (I've been morbidly obese for about 15 yrs.) waiting a few months for this is a piece of cake considering what we've been through for years!

Thanks for all your support. I can sure use it. My PCP doesn't seem to want to take an active role in my weightloss. She had me do the bloodwork and got the results back. My cholesterol went from 237 to 215 ( yay me ) and she said it is still "very high." She does not plan to have me come in to discuss anything, she's just going to redo the bloodwork in 6 months and if my cholesterol is still high, she will put me on meds. I made it clear that I want help losing the weight and am open to ANY suggestions she has so I do not understand why she isn't helping. I am going to look for a new doctor..one that will help not just sit back and see what happens. My family has a history of heart problems and diabetes on BOTH sides...I need to do something and I know I need help doing it. If you know of any doctors in my area that will take an active role in my healthcare, let me know. I'm going to make some calls tomorrow and see if I can come up with something. My sister suggested Kittery Family Practice, so I think I'll start there. I'll let you know how it goes. Again, thaks for all your support. It means a lot to me. Julie

im 270 ounds and i need help to find how i can get lap band done. ihave a hpothyroidism and i have rhumatoid arthritis and im only 31 years of age ,i also have Maine care.I donot want to get any heavier than what iam, so please someone could help me with some information.Iwould highly appreciate it. sincerely patricia a murrray of wilton, maine