Question about pre op 6 month diet, is it ever waived due to other conditions?

Part of the ins companies wanting that amount of time is to watch and see if you are ready to adhere to what is necessary for the surgery to work. Also so you can have a pysch work up for the same reason. Don't think you can by pass this but wish you luck. If you are adamant about getting it done sooner you might consider Mexico. The care there is very good and the prices more than reasonable compared to in the Us. My ins does not cover anything at all to do with weight loss so I went to Mexico and was more than happy with the care I got.

My insurance requires a 6 month physician supervised diet like most Ive seen.  I have SEVERE back/sciatic pain from spinal stenosis/congenital spondylolethesis, orthopaedic surgeons of course suggesting back surgery which I am very hesistant to do but could have it as soon as I wanted to. But I was wondering if a bariatric physician could overwrite the 6 month pre op supervised diet if a patient was looking to have the surgery to lose weight and fix a very painful medical issue. The nurse is supposed to call me tuesday to go over the start of the whole bariatric process but just thought I would see if anyone else has been successful in bypassing the diet not just because they didnt feel like doing it but because they were in a lot of pain and wanted to speed up the process?

he insurance company knows you have been morbidly obese for a while and have been treated for back pain for a while,because they have paid claims on those issues. 

They figure if you have been waiting this long,with the issues/ pain you have, 6 more months is not going to make a big difference. 

I believe they will insist on the 6 month diet,regardless of what your surgeon says,because it is not life threatening.

I agree with the others, you can ask but I doubt it will make any difference to the insurance co. Trust me no one could be in worse pain than I was before surgery I was on 2 narcotic pain meds and had a spinal stimulator surgery for back pain and was still in pain but still had to do the 6 mo diet! So yeah I doubt they will change their requierements just for you, they have heard it all before!

My BMI was 78-ish pre-op and I still would've had the requirement.  However, I had already been seeing a doctor for four months regarding my weight and comorbidities.  It took another three to get all the specialist assessments done, and by then we were set regardless.  Even if the requirement is waived, it will probably still take a few months at least if you need to do stuff like get a sleep study, heart stress test, etc.  Unless you are lucky and don't have long waiting periods.

Mine was waived due to another medical condition.

Great advice is given here - esp to get started on the 6 mo diet while you submit and appeal, if needed - it may turn out that you started your pre-op diet and you will get the WLS shorter than 6 mo.  But you will still be asked to lose weight pre-op - the healthier you go into surgery the healthier you come out.  There is no getting around the fact that pre-op weight loss is good for you - so get started on it and on all the other hoops - even if you have to do to the 6 months (I did not because I had done a 1-yr one before I looked into surgery, and that counted).

If you start now, you can have the surgery in August.  That's still the summer. 

For me - I say, just get started on the process.  Work the issues out as they appear.

Not all insurances require a 6 month pre-op diet, have you checked with yours? Mine required 6 months of weights...So between Doctor's visits for other things and my 3 months visiting the Bariatric surgeon to get ready ...I was good.

Oops....I missed where you said your insurance does require it...

As others have said, MANY patients have serious medical issues but still need to fulfill the requirements.

The pre-op diet is not just to check off a box-- it's proof that you're committed and psychologically ready for surgery. Often your conformance and preparation are taken into consideration during your pre-op psych eval. You're committing to a BIG change and many folks need a "test drive."

As someone else also pointed out, "speeding up the process" won't make your back pain disappear much more quickly. Depending on your starting BMI, it often seems to take a year to 18 months to reach your goal weight, higher if you have a higher amount to lose. So WLS isn't going to immediately cure your back issues, and you may want to consider your expectations.

Sorry been super busy around here, I have twin toddler boys and a special needs daughter and its snowed so the boys are going stir crazy lol...

I talked to two different people one from insurance and one from the center where I would have mine done..Im going to an actual seminar next thursday and then will get a consultation from the surgeon and start the whole thing off afterwards.  also going to make an appt for my primary dr to find a nutritionist/dietician (my dr just says hey read this book "the end of over eating"  and you'll know how to lose weight..yeah...sorry its not the KNOWING that I have an issue with lol) and then also get some pain meds for my back...since I have atleast 9 more months or so of pain to deal with I guess pain meds that I was trying to avoid really are my only option so going to try to get the least sedating thing I can...take the minimum amount to just take the edge off and deal with it...