how long from first consult to surgery?

**julia78** · 01-16-2014 12:30 AM

Hi guys! I was wondering how long the process takes from first consult to actual surgery date. This question is for folks who have used insurance. My sister had it in Mexico and she had surgery in no time. Thanks so much for any info!

**Bufflehead** · 01-16-2014 04:56 AM

It completely depends on what your insurance requires (supervised weight loss program, and for how long? Nutrition counseling classes? psychological testing? etc.) and what your surgeon requires in terms of pre-op testing (sleep apnea study? Upper GI? Chest x-rays? H. Pylori test?). I've seen everything from as short as three weeks to as long as 18 months. Mine took a year, thanks to my insurance messing up and telling me to do the wrong things and then me having to start over, then wait until summer when I could have the surgery when school wasn't in session.

**WayLessInNH** · 01-16-2014 05:18 AM

There are many factors that play into the answer to this question.

1st is your insurance. Many insurance companies require doctor supervised visits. typically 3-6 consecutive months. A few don't require any. You will need to contact your insurance and fin out exactly what they require of you in order to proceed.

2nd is your bariatric team (surgeon). Many will require certain tests, psychological evaluation, nutritionist appointments, EKG, some weight loss (to shrink the liver), etc....

3rd is you. How long will it take you to fulfill all of the requirements of the previous two?

From my experience, I started this journey Nov of 2012 when I inquired about weightloss surgery with my PCP. She referred me to my bariatric team. My initial info meeting with them was Dec. of 2012. I started my 6 month supervised visits with my pcp in January of 2013. By the end of June I had completed all of the required hoops to jump through. It took a few weeks for my insurance to send my approval. Then my surgery was booked a few weeks out. I was sleeved on August 26th of 2013. All in all it took about 9 months but the time flew by.

During the nine months I did a lot of research. I wanted as much info as I could find. This website was a great help and source of some really great info. I started a journal and I would recommend it to anyone starting this process. I've kept everything in it. The sections that I have in it (3 ring binder) are....NSV's (non-scale victories), monthly photos, notes from meetings, Sleeve info, Dietary, My Surgeon, Psych, PCP, Step Program, Measurements, Hospital and lastly my insurance info.

I am great-full for the 9 months. It took me that long to train my brain so I could be a success at being sleeved. I started to watch what I ate and started to exercise early on. I was able to lose 23 lbs prior to my 2 week pre-op liquid diet. During my pre-op liquid diet I lost and additional 15 lbs. This gave me a huge head start.

I am now down a total of 88 lbs and I am 5 months post-op. I am 5'8" tall and I am now wearing size 14 jeans down from a size 24. I've got about another 40 lbs to reach my goal but my weightloss has slowed a bit but the #'s on the scale do keep dropping bit by bit.

Best of luck to you.

**irisg77** · 01-16-2014 06:09 AM

It took 3 months I had no diet required by my insurance

**Wrightone111** · 01-16-2014 07:05 AM

It took me just under 4 months from first meeting with surgeon to surgery date. My insurance also did not require any supervised diet.

**ximmia** · 01-16-2014 07:34 AM

It took me five months from consultation to OR, but 64 days of that was waiting for my surgery date to come around. My BMI was literally almost off the chart and my insurance company waved me right through. In retrospect I was glad of all the wait, even though I wasn't at the time. It allowed me to be super prepared by the time I hit my date. Good luck and keep us posted.

**missemily516** · 01-16-2014 09:51 AM

My referral from my PCP was in January 2013 and my surgery was December 23, 2013, so almost 1 year.

**AHLButterfly** · 01-19-2014 08:45 AM

I had my first consultation in October 2012. I did switch surgeons and I did have a few months in between, but I had 6 months pre-op nutrition required. During that 6 months, I got all other appointments out of the way. The day of my last nutrition appointment, everything was submitted. With the insurance hurdles (which turned out to be the front desk lady making a few errors, ugh) approval took one month.

If I didn't run into any bumps with the staff, the whole process for me would have taken about 6 and a half months from first consultation to insurance approval and receiving a date. My date was for about a month down the road.