NEWBIE!

mydarlingdumpling
on 3/30/16 6:46 am

hey guys im sure theres a place other then here that im supposed to be posting but i am new so bare with me. i jsut have a few questions, im from hamilton and im in the early stages, my doc has sent off the referral to st.joes and im just waiting to hear back with my appt date. what im curious about is what happens after that? it sounds like theres ALOT of appts but after that im not too sure. any feed back would be great!!

thanks guys!

RNY0615
on 3/30/16 7:53 am

I think it's different for every program/surgeon/insurance policy.

For me, I had 3 months of a supervised diet plan before we could submit for approval to insurance. During that time, I not only did the 3 month supervised diet plan with my own PCP, but I got the ball rolling simultaneously with my surgeon's requirements, so that by the time the 3 months was up, everything was satisfied and I could go ahead with getting a surgery date nailed down and approved.

My surgeon required a couple of appointments with him to discuss the surgeries, post-op life, etc... He also required a psych evaluation (most insurance companies require this, too), a few meetings with his NUT, and for me to attend both his office's orientation and a WLS support group meeting.

My insurance basically just required, psych eval, 3 month supervised diet, referral from my PCP, and submittal through a surgeon saying I'm a good, healthy candidate.

Good luck!

mydarlingdumpling
on 3/30/16 8:03 am

So helpful! thank you!

maybe ill start looking into what im going to have to do aswell after the supervised diet plan so it goes as smoothly as possible.

thanl you so much!

Sparklekitty, Science-Loving Derby Hag
on 3/30/16 8:52 am

RNY on 08/05/19

Your best bet would be to call and ask, since programs are usually different. Speaking in general, though, the timeline looks something like this:

Initial appointment with surgeon-- discuss history, pick surgery
Pre-op diet meetings (if required), generally a monthly check-in with surgeon, GP, and/or nutritionist
Pre-op testing, which may include: blood work, sleep study, cardiac clearance
Psych evaluation
Submission of paperwork to insurance and wait for approval decision
Surgery date scheduled
Final check-up
Surgery
Follow-up appointments at roughly 2 weeks, 1 month, 2 months, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, 1 year, 18 months...

Sparklekitty / Julie / Nerdy Little Secret (#42)
Roller derby - cycling - triathlon
VSG 2013, RNY conversion 2019 due to GERD. Trendweight here!