Had first appointment with DR. Surgery next week!

I'm in a state of shock! From everything I've been reading online it should have taken much longer! I thought I would have to lose weight before and be on a liquid diet for two weeks. I will be on a liquid diet for one week starting Thursday. Surgery next Thursday!

I guess it's because I'm self paying ?

Anyone have any advice?

wow... honestly - I would be worried..

I was self pay and I chose a well known doc .. and he was busy.. it took me 5 months to have all done testing done, all required support groups and simply getting on his very busy schedule..

Your doc is not busy because.. he is not good? or just starting the practice?

I learn the hard way - the good, experienced docs - have typically longer waiting lists. But it is worthed to wait..

I have to agree with Hala on why they scheduled you so quickly.

Even when I had my lap-band done in 2003 in Mexico I still had to wait 3 months and get some things done in the US. I was self-pay back then.

Is this a well know doctor that you are going to?

Whoa, whoa, whoa! Is he having you meet with a nutritionist or anyone else to discuss the requirements of what you'll need to be prepared for post-op? Is he offering any other tools to help you through this process?

I'm scared for you because I did months of research on the procedure and surgeons before picking one (you probably did too). And then I did months more research about what to expect. But it was my surgeon's office that prepared me for how to live life after surgery.

Self-pay does take all the insurance rigamarole out of the picture like the 6 months supervised diet. But some of those required things you still want done ie. testing for H pylori; testing to detect any hiatal hernia issues; pre-op chest x-ray; EKG. Is he having you do any of that??

I would be in shock too. There were several hurdles and tests I had to undergo before they would even consider surgery.

During your meeting with the surgeon, did you ask him/her how many VSGs they have performed? Success rate? Mortality rate? I've never heard of surgery being scheduled so quickly, even with self-pay.

Do you mind if I ask who your surgeon is?

Ditto what everyone above has said!

Initially I was kind of pissed I was required to go thru the 6 months of nutrition classes and all the pre-op testing, but it paid off! I had already made the decision to have the surgery, but the waiting time gave me time to prepare my long-term lifestyle changes, experiment w/meals, learn as much as I could from these boards and make sure I was medically sound.

There is ALOT of information to absorb. No way could I have learned half of it in such a short period of time!

Having it that fast I think I would have had a bigger case of "WHAT THE HELL HAVE I DONE!!!" then I actually did! There just isn't enough time to wrap your head around the new lifestyle changes you're committing to.

Even taking into account the self pay aspect fast tracking you, this would have only taken 1 week off for me (the time it took for insurance approval to come back). I would be more concerned that they aren't requiring any sort of medical tests. How do they know you are healthy enough for surgery? As the others of stated, I would be leery.....

I was also a self pay patient. I was scheduled for surgery exactly 1 month after my initial consultation from my surgeon. I was required to take 2 nutrition classes which I did during that month and had 1 day at the hospital for pre-op testing (EKG, blood work, lung, etc...)

Perhaps you got in quickly due to a cancellation?