Pre- Op question

 It is crazy to think in the last three weeks things have been so smoothly. I have talked to a few other people who have had WLS and it took them YEARS to be approved, but its only taken me a few weeks. Has anyone else had it this easy??? Its almost too smooth like it is making me question a few things. Is that normal???

You are one of the rare lucky ones. I was fortunate to only wait 7 months and not years like other poor souls have suffered.

Three weeks is quick.  Who's your surgeon?  Insurance?  If your insurance is approving you though I don't know that I would worry about it.  It took me about 3 months to get approved (and I thought that was quick).  What tests have you done?

What kinds of things are you questioning? 

It took me 5 months for an initial approval from my insurance but then I had to go through all the medical approval process - surgeon, social worker (psych eval) and nutrition evaluations - before a final approval.  It was 9 1/2 months from start to surgery.  I was told that the longer the better because then you could have ime to wrap your head around the whole idea of a changed lifestyle and food relationship and to wean myself off of the refined carbs that I was addicted to.  It really helps the post-op recovery process if you can get off of the white carbs ahead of the surgery.  Best wishes and good luck to you.  Congratulations on your approval.  Elena

For me it was really quick. After the inital consult, a week later I meet with psych and nutrition (on a Thursday). It took them a week to write their reports. The Dr's office called me the Friday after my visit to let me know that they were sending my info for approval. Monday I got the call from the office that I was approved. So total after all appointments it was about 3 weeks.

I know that is really fast, but it may have to do with the fact that I have Personal Choice and my husband works for the hospital where I will have my surgery. Also, it is already an allowed procedure so the insurance does pay for it, it just has to be approved.

I think that it has a lot to do with your insurance and if there is anything that needs to be done to pre-qualify. I know years ago when I first looked into WLS I had Aetna and there was alot that you had to do before you could even attempt approval; you had to go on a diet for 6 months to have a documented attempt at weight loss, eval with pt, etc.

It's a shame that regulations and approval are not universal as they are for all other medical conditions.

Your are very lucky! It took me 6months to get approved and another month later to actually get a surgery date.  I guess it depends on your insurance company guidelines and the doctor's guidelines to get in sync.

Congrats to you!
Keep us posted with your progress

I was VERY lucky to be approved by my insurance, Anthem BCBS, in ONE week! I work for eBay Inc., and we are very fortunate to have very good insurance. My last job, another large employer in the US, flat out refused to cover and bariatric procedures, sadly. Their coverage was through BCBSFL. 

Every insurance is different, and each insurance can vary from employer to employer. I got my approval two weeks ago, and I am scheduled for my RNY on 8/17/11!

To clarify - my approval was one week after submission of my psych consult and initial labs - so my approval from my first visit was three weeks overall, but one week from submission to my insurance.