Hey all ! how long does it usually take to have the surgery

I'm kinda scared to have the surgery , but i'm ready to make a life change ... How long does it usually take for everything to process before you can get a date ?

Everybodies time is different.. it took me from Jan until April to get approval from my insurance company.... then my surgeon was booked until June!!!

It is normal to be scared, we all were. I started looking into the surgery Oct 05 per my PC doctor,,, ended up self paying March 06. Worth every single penny

It can take a very short time as in my cousins case. She was a self pay. She plopped down 21,000 dollars and had the surgery in 21 days from the first call to the surgeons office. Once she was done with some lab tests and psych evals and nutritionist screenings, she had the surgery the very next week. BTW that surgeon is currently operating with a 5 week wait from insurance approval to surgery date so go figure.... Like I said previously ....Money Talks and BS walks. In my case I have been jumping through the "hoops" since February with no real end in sight. The whole process to me seems very long and arduous. I hope I am at the tail end of this whole process and that I will be approved in the next few weeks. Of course Ive been telling myself that since July.... Go ahead and contact a surgeons office, there are three in Fayetteville alone that I am aware of. Sign up for the next seminar they have and go. While you are there ask the tough questions... What is your complication rate? What types of complications do your patients generally experience? Have you had a patient die? What happened? What is the patient prep for surgery? Do they require a liquid diet prior to surgery? Can you set me up for all my pre op evaluations or do I do it? BTW If he/she wont or doesnt fully answer your questions about complications, complication rates, mortality rates, etc LEAVE!!!! Even a good surgeon will have experiences with all of these but if they wont tell you fully about them they are hiding something. Get your Primary Care Physician on board. If they are reluctant to help you through a long process of insurance approvals, tons of paperwork, etc then find another doctor. Go ahead and start your 6 months supervised diet. While your at it find out what your insurance requires for approval. YOU CANNOT EXPECT TO JUST SAY DO IT AND HAVE ALL THESE PEOPLE DO IT FOR YOU. YOU WILL HAVE TO DO 90% OF THE WORK AND KEEPING UP WITH EVERYTHING. This is a long and relatively complicated process. Most if not all insurance companies rely on this fact to discourage you and get you to quit. Keep copies of EVERY single piece of paperwork. In the end you may find yourself just throwing it away but more than likely you will have to supply these copies to someone who lost a fax or misplaced some paperwork and this will save you a lot of time. As for me I didnt do this and although I have about 120 pages of documentation now I didnt always have it. Try to keep a positive attitude. This is life changing surgery and not by any means a quick fix. As for me Ive tried to stay positive and not worry so much about things. Its not been easy and I cant say Ive been 100% successful at it. Seeing my cousin have this done was a very depressing thing for me as I know she was never as prepared as I am now but in the end she had some equity in her house and I dont.

Money talks and BS walks..... ---- Well every month I make that huge payment for my surgery I will think about other's having to jump the loops to get insurance to help them, BUT more inportant than that I WILL BE Happy for them , not show jealousy. Remember all the test everyone else needed I needed also, the difference was each and every penny I financed,,, every drop of blood , all the x rays everthing. So please do know , My journey although may have been quickier than some, it has been just as painful. MY 2 cents ( not one of my best shinning moments )

Please dont be upset. I am not jealous of someone who paid cash. I was giving advice to someone who is thinking about this surgery and trying to tell it like I wish I had heard it. I said that not because I am or was mad or jealous of my cousin. My problem is with a "system" that has such strict rules with insurance but basically none when you go to them with 210 hundred dollar bills in your hand. I have seriously considered everything with regard to my surgery. I have my protein for every stage of the recovery, clear liquid protein drinks all the way to whey protein. Ive got the magic bullet blender for the puree stage. Im ready!!! More importantly Im not going into this with the intention of not following the advice given by my surgeon. My cousin is around 10 days out and she is already eating solid foods. She isnt walking at all. Ive already seen McDonalds paper wrappers at her house and Im pretty sure she didnt buy it to feed the dogs. LOL She doesnt even have dogs. Dont you think if I could have done this I would have paid for the surgery too? To tell the truth I am not even sure Ill have this surgery anymore. I try to maintain a positive attitude but after 11 months with no end in sight I have this feeling that in the end I will never get this surgery. Not sure if I have really explained my situation but oh well. Maybe it is best to say how would you feel if you didnt have the financial means to pay for this surgery and you were still trodging through trying to get insurance approval while you watched others plop their cash down and go through with it with no real planning and no real plan of following through with their treatment? All the while knowing that your chances of having this surgery were less than good? MY 2 CENTS.....

In defense of myself and the couple of others I know that are self pay, I have done EVERYTHING my surgeron and nurtritionist have told me to do, remember if I had any complcations I would not have had insurance that would have helped me , I am so thankful I had no problems , and I think being a good patient is why,,, IF I had to have stayed a week in the hospital like some of the others I know,,, my bill would have been so high I would have lost my home as it is now my husband and I both have had to work 2 jobs just to pay for the RNY itself. I will asure your cousin has more money then sense, if they are already eating McDonlds, or solid foods at all, it was several weeks before I had a egg. Please know that I personally have done everything I could to make my journey a success, I go to Curves 3-5 days a week ,,, I eat only what is on " the list" ,,, I take very good care of myself , so just because you may think I have a bundle of cash , gosh I don't , I am poor. BUT Praise God, I am not Obese anymore.. Starting out at 312 pounds I am now 175 since March 14th 2006, so that alone shows I am a good RNY'er. It took me several months to get my surgery , with cash, so don't give UP,,, STAND Strong, if nothing else show your cousin how this should be done. Do it the right way. As far as getting protein drinks etc.... after the 2 week liquid diet you will hate them all, don't buy anymore, trust me, on this.

Can I put my 2 cents in? I have medicaid, and got denied the first time around. I had to go through a six month supervised documented diet with my pcp and without asking anyone if i should, i went to a dietitian after every visit with my pcp. so i had back up. I know that you RM have medicaid too and I am not sure what the problem is but it might not be a quick process. maybe its just not your time. people get denied all the time and in a few years they try try again. and Pug mom, I can only imagine the big bill you have to hand over every month. I know it was worth it but its got to be steep. lets all be thankful for what we have and just get a long. BTW Pugmom, its not fair you had your surgery 1 day after me and your smaller than me now. i started at 325 the day of surgery and i am 204 now. I guess i wont be mad at you cause you had a 13 lb lead on me. Lol Adrienne

Adrienna, I am so proud of my weight loss, I could talk all day about it ( I know that is terrible ) For me I have been so lucky , I have had a couple stalls but they don't last for very long, and again I exercise alot Be proud of yourself .... you have done great. Monthly payments are high, and other family emergencys have really put a strain ,,, BUT again, we must always look on the bright side of life , remember Job , all the pain he had to deal with, mine is small stuff. I am with you ,,, if it is your time surgery will happen, just keep on the people that make surgery happen. For anyone even looking into the surgery START today , making better choices, prepair yourself for the life change, remember the surgery is a TOOL not a ANSWER take care

Hello Adrienna and Pug Mom... I wasnt denied. They sent a letter to my surgeons office that stated that I needed to demonstrate a motivation to lose weight, and a few other things. I called Medicaid and was told that I wasnt denied that it was just "on hold". That was in early August and Ive been working to demonstrate what they want to see. I now have 9 months of supervised diet history. I joined the YMCA and started walking now in preparation for after surgery. I saw my nutritionist several times to fine tune my diet and I saw a therapist to get a better understanding of stress eating. Im hoping that will be enough. There is one more appointment tommorrow to see my PCP and then it all goes to my surgeons office to be resubmitted. They are going to test my A1c again, give me a flu shot, get some more paperwork, etc. Im also going to ask him to put me on insulin. I am eating very healthy now but my blood sugar hasnt come down. Its running from 170 to 470. Stress has a lot to do with it I think. At any rate Ive deleloped neuropathy in my right foot. Im kind of partial to that foot as I need it to walk you know? I went by my cousins today and she gave me all her protein drinks. She is doing ok it looks like. She has lost 16 pounds so far. I watched her eat tuna and mayonnaise and she was fine with it. She said she ate too much and could feel it in her throat. She is already back to work.