general question

Ok thanks

Call your insurance company and find out what their requirements are. The thing that takes the most time (for most people) is the required medically-supervised diet. It's really common to need 3 or 6 months of visits before you can submit paperwork for approval.

I had to do a 3 month diet. I attended my first seminar in late August, and had surgery in December.

Thanks

It really depends on the surgeon & your insurance. You'll really have to call both of them to get a better idea how long it'd be for you to get the surgery. Even if you are self pay they're gonna want to run tests on you to make sure that you're healthy enough to have surgery.

It could run anywhere from a few weeks to a few months depending on how many hoops you have to jump thru.

Thanks for letting me know

If you do have to wait a little, try not to get too frustrated about it. The six months I had to wait was not time wasted. On the contrary, it gave me time to identify my eating triggers and develop strategies that I could use in future to cope with stressful situations when I wouldn't be able to use food as comfort.

Thanks

8 months for me. Id be weary of having surgery too quickly. Use this time to see a nutritionist, make some lifestyle changes and get prepared mentally. That will make things easier for you post op.

Thanks

Looks like you got plenty of responses, but I'll pitch in too :P my insurance required a 6 month supervised diet in which I had to weigh in and see a nutritionist each month. Other clearances my surgeon required included cardio, pulmonary, psych, an EGD, bloodwork, participation in a support group, and some people have a sleep study as well. All of those clearances can take time to get scheduled also, and depending on how hard or easy it is to get seen by them, it can delay the process further. If you have sleep apnea and use or get prescribed a CPAP, I think someone might have to sign off that you are compliant with using it for a certain length of time (so I'd get that done early on if it's a requirement)

I used that time to change my habits, develop new ones, and identify eating triggers with help from a therapist who helped me come up with other coping strategies and ways to keep occupied (I eat out of boredom). I weaned myself off soda and started eliminating carbs.