Insight

I am scheduled for my initial consultation with Beth Israel on the 30th. I am hoping to be able to get the Lap Band. Has anyone had their surgery there? I am told from my initial visit it will take approximately 3.5 months before the procedure is actually performed, is this accurate? I am very anxious to have this completed because I have agonized over this decision for a very long, long time. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

You might want to post this question on the Lap Band board: http://obesityhelp.com/forums/LapBand/a,messageboard/board_id,5359/ Insurance approval with be a deciding factor as to how long it'll be before you have the surgery along with whatever the surgeon requests for testing. Good luck.

I had my lapband over at Brigham and Women's and that timeline is more or less accurate. I started seriously considering it in Aug, went to info session in late Sept, first Dr. appt I could get was mid Nov. and had surgery late Dec. Once I had decided that I wanted WLS I talked to the surgeon's office about what tests were needed and pushed to schedule a bunch of the tests around the same time as my Dr's visit to cut out weeks of waiting for appointments. At the time I was doing my testing they had a big (6 week?) backlog for the psych eval so I got the info and found an independent psychologist to do the eval and brought it with me to my initial appt. After I'd finished all my tests and gotten my approval I was very forthright with the office staff and Dr. that my schedule was flexible and I'd take an early surgery slot if someone cancelled. Once I was approved (but 4+ weeks from my scheduled date) I started my dr's pre-op diet so I could ask for an early slot and one did open up! Good Luck, Kim

Hello Laura I had my first appt. at the BIDMC on 06/28/2006 and we just scheduled the surgery for 09/27/2006, as long as my insurance pays for it. Good Luck!

Thank you and good luck! Please let me know how it all works out for you.