Thinking about having this done!

Hello everyone! I'm new here! I wanted to ask about the surgery and what you have to do beforehand do you have to lose a certain amount of weight before having this procedure? Do I need a dietitian? The only one near me is an ahole so I'm trying to find a new one but its hard to find one near me!If anyone could answer these questions I'd be grateful! Thanks!

it totally depends on your surgeon and your insurance company - they're all going to have different requirements. So check with them. Some require weight loss, some don't. Some require a diet supervised by a dietitian or physician before surgery, some don't.

I'd definitely start by checking what is covered by your insurance, what their requirements are, and then look for a surgeon in your network. My insurance required a 6 month medically supervised diet including consulting with a nutritionalist, consultation with a therapist, and attending support group meetings. My surgeon also required cardio and pulmonologist consults, an upper endoscopy, and also participation in the support groups. No required weight loss, but I lost by following advice here and starting to adjust my diet to more of a post-op way of eating (lowered carbs, logged and tracked all of my food for calories, protein, fat, and carbs, reduced portions to what is actually recommended on the nutrition labels).

I feel like my requirements were rigorous but not uncommon. I've seen a few people who just got a referral to a surgeon and we're booked for surgery within a month, but those people could have been self-pay.