Pre-reqs will be finished this week, how long until surgery?

Hi everyone! This is my first post here, although I have been lurking for quite some time now. I wanted to know how long on average did it take for you to go through this final waiting period until your surgery date? I will have my 6 month pre-op diet finished this week and all of the other pre-reqs as well. (except the NUT and pre-labs, since they don't schedule them until I have a date) I am a little concerned that it may not happen this year, and the insurance coverage is making some changes as of January 1st. Do you think I will be scheduled by then, with all of the holidays coming up? How long was it for you? TIA :)

I was approved within 24 hours but my surgery date was 5 weeks later, my doctor was busy doing other patients' surgeries until then. It really depends on how quickly things get submitted, how long your insurance company takes to approve, and how busy your doctor and the OR are -- probably no real way to predict. Good luck!

Thanks!

I was approved within 48 hours of submission and offered a surgery date w/in 3 weeks. I chose to wait longer due to my work scheduling needs. However, every insurance company and surgeon are different. Your surgeons office can give you the best idea of how far out they are scheduling. 

Thanks! I hope he isn't booked too far in advance.

Definitely stay on top of the office staff at your surgeon's office and ask if all of the checklist items were faxed and ask when the insurance approval will be submitted! Insurance companies have deadlines (some mandated by the state) and I found it worked in my benefit to follow-up on every detail myself. If the doc office told me something, I called and ask insurance company. You can get the ball rolling and get some of the timeline info - just start calling around and asking questions! Best wishes and good luck to you!!

Thanks, I appreciate the advice. I guess I'll start calling them up and asking around. I haven't really asked too many of those questions yet, I didn't want to be a bother, but it has been 6 months and I feel like it's so close!

Funny, but I always envisioned the office staff and insurance companies with my file in their hands, working diligently because I did my checklist. But they are working on many other cases, too, so a little prompting is best to let them know you are ready and want that insurance approval sent! Also, the staffer I worked with was able to verbally go down the list of reports they received and then I knew what was missing, so I was made calls to the checklist docs to request reports be sent. Saved the staffer time, making those calls! It does take some time to gather everything. Don't be afraid to bug anybody - you could fall through the cracks. I saw it happen easily during my process and I was calling often, asked lots of questions, knew my insurance policy on WLS very well! I also learned to check with the insurance after every step, as well! Good luck! Get on that phone tomorrow! The insurance may return with an answer within a few days! I believe I got a response within three days of submitting! Good luck!

Thanks again! I'll start making some calls tomorrow. I see your date is coming up, how exciting! Hopefully, I won't be too far behind :)

I told my Surgeons office that I really needed to have the surgery done this year. Maybe if you mention that your insurance is changing and you would really like to get it done before the end of the year it might help?    Just a thought.