Question:
The waiting game drive anyone else nuts?

I have been approved by my insurance company and I have completed all the pre-op tests. Blood, X-Ray, EKG and I even went to see the man with the ink blots. Everything is in and ready. I have been told by my doctors office that I will not be called to schedule for another 4-8 weeks. Is there a reason for this?    — debbie11092002 (posted on October 5, 2002)

October 4, 2002
Wow!! That seems like a really long time to have to wait. You might check with other people who've used your surgeon. I know that wasn't the case for mine. I was scheduled to see the pulmonologist (which took about 6 wks) and my surgery was scheduled for the week after that. That all made sense to me since the pulmonologist was a pre-op screening and they'd naturally want to do the surgery asap after all the pre-op stuff lest it be out of date by the time of the surgery. Good luck and God bless.
   — Jenni K.

October 4, 2002
Surgeons nationwide are overwhelmed with work. Delays although unpleasant are happening. I KNOW as a pre op speed was what I wanted. Now over a year post op I think the delays are good. It weeds out those who arent really dedicated to doing this. If someone gets discouraged and changes their mind during the wait, then they werent ready for surgery anyway. Please be patient, ask to be put on a wait list in case someone cancels, and try to relax and enjoy some last suppers. Believe me once you have a date the time will pass fast....
   — bob-haller

October 4, 2002
I don't think it's that unusual. It all depends on how busy/popular your Dr. is. My Dr. here in Dallas has a long wait, but he's the best and I would rather wait than take a chance with my life on someone that can see me quickly. It's probably the most frustrating thing ever. Everyone feels that way. I'm playing the waiting game right now, so I can sympathize with you. All I can say is, it will happen and be here before you know it. Hang in there!
   — Kathy S.

October 4, 2002
As Bob said, bariatric surgeon across the country are overwhelmed. At the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, there are 500 pre-ops in various stages (that figure is several months old - it may be smaller or it may be larger). One of the two surgeons that does WLS at HUP does around 10-12 WLS a week - the other (my surgeon) does 3-5. Then, of course, emergencies come up to cause surgeries to get postponed. It was about 6 weeks from my insurance approval until I had my RNY and that was only due to someone else cancelling their surgery - otherwise, I might have had to wait until the end of August. <p> Consider yourself lucky, from what I have read here in the Q&A's, the WLS pre-ops in our neighbor to the north have to wait 1-2 years for their surgeries because there are so few Canadian surgeons doing WLS...JR (open RNY 07/17 -84 lbs).
   — John Rushton

October 4, 2002
As Bob said, bariatric surgeon across the country are overwhelmed. At the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, there are 500 pre-ops in various stages (that figure is several months old - it may be smaller or it may be larger). One of the two surgeons that does WLS at HUP does around 10-12 WLS a week - the other (my surgeon) does 3-5. Then, of course, emergencies come up to cause surgeries to get postponed. It was about 6 weeks from my insurance approval until I had my RNY and that was only due to someone else cancelling their surgery - otherwise, I might have had to wait until the end of August. <p> Consider yourself lucky, from what I have read here in the Q&A's, the WLS pre-ops in our neighbor to the north have to wait 1-2 years for their surgeries because there are so few Canadian surgeons doing WLS...JR (open RNY 07/17 -84 lbs).
   — John Rushton