Prep time

From some of the info I have found, some people wait over a year for surgery.  Is this common and what would make that time necessary?  Is it true you must lose 10% of wt before the surgery?

I think the highest reason would be insurance requirements.  Some insurance companies require a 6 month Dr. monitored weight loss program.  Then there are the surgeon's requirements such as certain test and procedures.  Check with your insurance company first to see what their requirements are then with your primary Dr. because he may have to refer you and he may have a preference to surgeons or programs.

It depends on your insurance, your doctor, the surgery you choose. Someone just posted they had waited 8 years, for others it can be a few weeks.

It does depend on insurance. I have blue Cross Blue Shield PPO and I didn't have to do a pre-diet at all. The nutritionist at the hospital did try to implement a 3 month diet for me anyway, but I just followed her instructions to the letter and she eventually signed off on the surgery after two visits. I did my online orientation in December 2013, and just had my surgery June 23, 2014. The pre-tests go as fast as you go. As soon as I got my list, I was scheduling tests. Some times back to back. I had to to an EGD, Upper GI, Blood work, EKG, sleep study, and ultrasound of gallbladder. When they found out that I was overdue for my regular health tests, they also added PAP and an Mammogram to the list. I just scheduled them and did them ASAP. Also I learned that letting your doctor's office know that you are open for earlier appointments in good. For example, my initial visit was scheduled in April due to a waiting list. I told the office that if anyone cancelled  to just put me in and call me with the date. Doing that shaved off a good 2 months. I was scheduled for a surgery date in July, and ended up getting the 6/23 date. 

My insurance company required 6-months of primary care doctor visits and 6-months of nutritional counseling, both done concurrently.  From the time I asked my PCM for a referral to the surgery date it was 10 months.   During the 6-months of appointments and testing I lost 12% of my starting body weight, which is what they want you to lose.  In my opinion, the 6-months was all about educating me on the new lifestyle thats required after surgery.  At first I never thought I'd make it the 6 months, but looking back it really did fly by and I felt very prepared for the surgery.  I'm 4 days post-op and doing great.  Before surgery I was walking 3-4 miles each day or riding my recumbent bike 45-60 min, today I walked a mile with no problems (not moving fast, but moving). 

Hope this info helps a bit. 

Every insurance, and every specific doctor can have their own preferences and requirements here. I have Kaiser and my BMI is what qualified me to be referred (I just had to ask), then the only requirement was a 12-week course. In the course I had to fulfill its requirements to complete it (they asked me to lose 10% body weight, but I didn't, and I'm still fine and completed it). It was really just a way to give us time to get in the mindset of being on this journey, so it's not such a bad learning curve after, and we're set up for more success. I really felt like some of the info I got was common sense, but some people in my class really learned from those things. Then there was a lot of info specific to the surgery that I wouldn't have gotten on my own. So, even though I wanted to get surgery quickly, I am grateful I had to go through my class.