• American Bariatrics is a free online Bariatric Support Group. Register for your free account and get access to all of our great features!

How long was your total journey from beginning to the surgery ?

K

KathyLev

Member
I think I need a little inspiration . I feel like the time is just dragging and I'm slowly losing my enthusiasm .It's been 5 months from my first appointment until today. Everything seems to be wait wait wait. I finished my sleep study and will find out the results this week. (I'm sure it'll be fine ) Then I have to wait for an endoscopy . Then I have to wait for insurance clearance.Who knows what else I'll have to wait for. I'm at the lower end of the BMI , I probably could lose 50-60 pounds. A little part of me wonders if I should just give up and go it alone . Thanks for letting me vent :) and I appreciate every reply !
 
KathyLev said:
I think I need a little inspiration . I feel like the time is just dragging and I'm slowly losing my enthusiasm .It's been 5 months from my first appointment until today. Everything seems to be wait wait wait. I finished my sleep study and will find out the results this week. (I'm sure it'll be fine ) Then I have to wait for an endoscopy . Then I have to wait for insurance clearance.Who knows what else I'll have to wait for. I'm at the lower end of the BMI , I probably could lose 50-60 pounds. A little part of me wonders if I should just give up and go it alone . Thanks for letting me vent :) and I appreciate every reply !
Click to expand...
The process generally take a year for insurance to pay for it you have to get sooooo many things checked off. Mine journey took a year and it was the same for friends I kn that had the surgery. But believe me it will be well worth the wait. I kn this probably isn’t what you want to hear I hope maybe others process was shorter. And maybe yours will be too. Good Luck
 
It was 6 months from my consult to my surgery. I also was low BMI and just barely met my insurance requirements, but my hypertension, sleep apnea, high cholesterol helped with that. I lost 30 lbs before surgery and thought hard about just continuing that and forgoing surgery. I had lost weight before over & over & over, but failed to keep it off so I didn’t have confidence I could do it on my own. The bypass was definitely the right choice for me. All the testing they put you through really is necessary to for surgeon to make the best decisions possible for your care. Use this time to mentally and physically prepare yourself for what is to come. It’s not an easy road by any means, but is so worth it. Take advantage of all the experience and knowledge that everyone here has to offer.
 
KathyLev said:
I think I need a little inspiration . I feel like the time is just dragging and I'm slowly losing my enthusiasm .It's been 5 months from my first appointment until today. Everything seems to be wait wait wait. I finished my sleep study and will find out the results this week. (I'm sure it'll be fine ) Then I have to wait for an endoscopy . Then I have to wait for insurance clearance.Who knows what else I'll have to wait for. I'm at the lower end of the BMI , I probably could lose 50-60 pounds. A little part of me wonders if I should just give up and go it alone . Thanks for letting me vent :) and I appreciate every reply !
Click to expand...

From start to surgery will be just over 10 months. I felt my enthusiasm dragging a bit too, but now that I'm starting my pre-op diet tomorrow and my surgery is 3/29, I'm feeling all the excitement (and nerves) I did at the beginning of starting this. Once I was approved by surgery (which took only 2 days) I was scheduled for 3 weeks later! Don't give up hope- it's definitely a process! Good luck to you!
 
I was very fortunate and I was only 3 months from first visit to surgery and that was because of my schedule. My employer has a wonderful program called surgery plus and I went through that which cut through all of the red tape. It is worth it!! Stick it out you will be happy you did.
 
Hi Kathy, my time was from first phone call to Surgeon's office - August-then followed through on my appointments, and had the surgery January 9th. I only wish I had called them years earlier but feared I wouldn't be covered by insurance. Two months out, I am SO GLAD I followed through.
 
My time from seeing my surgeon until surgery was just a few days. But that was 15 years ago. They didn't need to follow the constraints of the insurance companies, only the doctor. I think the way they do it now is good, but a little too long. The main reason for the long uptake is to habituate you to a new way of eating. That's obviously a problem all obese people share--dysfunctional eating. Good luck and congratulations.
 
I went to my pre appt seminar in July 2019. I was scheduled for surgery in March 2020 but ..covid, so I actually had it June 2020.

It seems long, but you can really use that time to prepare. I made slow changes to my diet and my habits. Which I believe, helped me immensely, since giving up everything at once sounds like hell.

Changes to consider making weekly or monthly:
Give up pop/soda
Drink 64 oz of water ( this was a hard one for me)
Start reading labels and using them in determining what you eat.
Start cooking at home, using healthy ingredients. If you don't know how, learn. (Cooking classes or even you tube videos can really change they way you cook/eat)
Add an additional veggie serving a day.
Determine your needed macro nutrients and start tracking them. Protein, Carb and Fat percentage are the ones I was told to use.
Give up coffee/caffeine ..at the last possible second lol

There can be more depending on your programs guidelines. So you can see how you should not think that you are just waiting around. You're preparing for success. And it takes some practice. Good luck
 
KathyLev said:
I think I need a little inspiration . I feel like the time is just dragging and I'm slowly losing my enthusiasm .It's been 5 months from my first appointment until today. Everything seems to be wait wait wait. I finished my sleep study and will find out the results this week. (I'm sure it'll be fine ) Then I have to wait for an endoscopy . Then I have to wait for insurance clearance.Who knows what else I'll have to wait for. I'm at the lower end of the BMI , I probably could lose 50-60 pounds. A little part of me wonders if I should just give up and go it alone . Thanks for letting me vent :) and I appreciate every reply !
Click to expand...
Hi, I am 1 month post-op. It took 6 months from consult to surgery, gastric by-pass. I felt discouraged also. It seemed like after completing one task another would pop up for me to complete and every appointment seemed to take weeks to get. So my last consult with the surgeon was on a Monday with an all clear to set up surgery, Monday afternoon the scheduling coordinator called and asked if I wanted to do the surgery the next day. Well, I went into shock ,not knowing what to say. I had friends in town that were leaving on Tuesday so I said No, and when was the next available date. She said how about Thursday? My Jaw dropped as I said Yes. I got off the phone and sat in shock. I was really going through with it. So, I say all this to let you know that it was the best decision I ever made and to tell you to hang in there, yours will come and you will look back after a month has gone by trying to figure out where all that time went. Good luck and keep us updated.
 
close to a year since I started the journey. Had my surgery yesterday at noon.. so I'm almost 36 hours post op. Spending second night in hospital, I probably could have gone home today, but the mini nerve blocks they did on my abdominal muscles has worn off, so I'm moving slower that I was last night. I'm also off some of my regular meds and one of them is my bipolar medication and I'm starting to struggle. So, I will be glad to go home tomorrow...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top