Introduction and Experience

This is my first post, although I have been hiding among you for weeks reading and educating myself.  I have been considering sugery for about 5 years now..  I am a 34 yo mom of two (9 & 2).  I have been fat forever by currently my highest at 366.  No co-morbidities (that I know about).  I am one of those "healthy" fat people.  Except that about 6 months ago I realized a marked decrease in how my body was functioning.  I cannot sleep because it hurts, walking hurts, sitting hurts, and everything is tiring.  My people need me and my current life is not working for me.  I am ready to move forward.

I have my consultation tomorrow and will be paying this by myself, no insurance.  I am wondering if anyone can share what the timeline was like from consultation to surgery?  Thanks in advance and I look forward to getting to know you all.  --Angie

Welcome. from consult to surgery,for a self pay person   ,it is very quick. Most of the hoops are required by insuarNCE. Your surgeon may have a requirement or two but you could be sleeved in two- three weeks.

Good luck!

Hi and welcome to the forum,

The standard time from first appointment until surgery at my program was three months.  This included various testing, some behavior modification classes, and all the pre-op education. I used the time pre-surgery to lose some weight and practice healthy eating, and I'm glad I did.  I lost 50 pounds pre-op and that really helped my mood post-op when I hit those inevitable stalls.

My high weight was 388 and I was also dealing with a lot of joint pain and decreasing mobility. Now I'm 7 week post op and down 85 pounds. I feel so much better and I am so glad I decided to do it.

Best of luck with your weight loss journey.

Carol

I'm having my surgery in MX, and could have scheduled it for a week after I called.  I waited almost 5 months because I wanted to save the money for it.  It all depends on what your providers plan is.

Jane

Hi Angie!  Welcome to the forum and congrats on making the decision to change your life!  As previous posters said the process for self payers is much quicker than for those who need insurance approval.  I also went to Mexico, Dr. Fernando Garcia, and highly recommend him if going abroad is something you are considering.  There are many others here who used him, as well as other people who went to MX and used different surgeons as well.  Best of luck to you at your consultation!  

I was very similar to you only a little older but no co-morbidities. I was self pay too and it was 6 weeks from my initial phone call.   I drove 7 hours to get to the surgeon and everything went well.  I did my initial consult with him over the phone (medical history stuff) and he required my doctor to write a letter to say I was healthy enough for surgery. 

Good luck!!  Its not easy but I'm happy I did it.