I'm almost there!!!

Well, I just had my 5th visit with my pcp and one to go in Aug.   Yeah!!!  I also have already met with the psych at Duke and I have an appt. with the nut and Dr. Sudan on Aug. 9th.  But was wondering if that's when they have me to go and do lab work and test, if so what kind.  How long does the labs or test take.  Not sure when to expect to have the surgery? If the insurance does approve the surgery I don't know how quickly they would get me in?   Just not sure what will happen when I meet with Dr. Sudan.  If anyone can help that would be great.  Thanks, so Much

Wendy

Hi Wendy,

I had my surgery at Duke a little over 3 years ago and my husband had his about a year and a hal*****he way they do things has changed somewhat, so I'm not sure what the process is now. That said, I can tell you what we did. Both my husband and I had to 6 month diets with our pcp's. While doing those, we had our testing done so that it was all done by the time that we finished our 6 month physician supervised weight loss attempt. We had sleep studies done, ekg's, blood gas test, barium swallow,.... hmmm... I don't recall what else. Once we had all of our testing done and the weight loss attempt was done, we met with the psych and nutritionist. Then all of the reports were put together and reviewed. That took about 10 days or so. After that, it was submitted to the insurer for their 'determination' with a placeholder 'dummy' date. We had United HealthCare and they took a couple of weeks to return their 'determination' or approval. Once the approval was in, the scheduled the surgery with the real date. I saw the surgeon 3 weeks prior to surgery and met with the Nut and Psych the week prior to surgery, as well as having some blood work done and meeting with the anesthesiologist. 

I don't know if the time line or activities are the same now, but hopefully that gives you an overview of the types of things to expect. 

Wishing you all the best,

Thanks Barbara,

This helps.  

After my pre-op appointment I went straight to Durham Regional and spent a few hours getting all my testing done....blood work, chest xray, met with anesthesia, etc. 

Once approved, I got scheduled pretty quickly.