Preparing for bariatric surgery: timeline, etc.

I was able to schedule my appointment within one month after finishing the classes. My group classes were only 10 weeks long. Good luck with everything!

@srbjess, I hope you saw the helpful post from @turberg sharing her timeline. Like you said, everyone is different, so I'm tagging a few other members like @cora2022 @roch @sharonrider @sarahfaris @liver2007 @marissam to share the timeframe they had from taking the classes to surgery.

Jess, is your surgery already booked? How are you doing with the classes?

Back in 2018-2019 I had to complete 12 months of pre-op group therapy, nutrition classes, and online nurse coaching. After that I had to have a professional psych evaluation. It took 8 weeks for insurance approval after all these requirements, and then another 12 weeks from that point to surgery. I am told all of this is a little much compared to what most folks are required to do. At the time I had Anthem BCBS insurance, and I had surgery at Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital in Virginia (not Mayo).

Hi! I will just be starting my classes. And I can't schedule with a surgeon until I am close to the 12 weeks being done. That's why I was hoping to find people with experience in Rochester to see how far out appointments typically are. To try to get a guess of when it might be possible for me to have surgery.

Wow, that is a lot of requirements and long ones! But I'm sure it's worth it all in the end. I guess I have very lucky to not have all that to do. And I'm very lucky because I work at Mayo too so our insurance doesn't require pre authorizations from Mayo providers. So that will save a lot of time.

@srbjess - just wondering if you had your bariatric surgery? If so, how's it been going since then?

@lisalucier
Yes! I had surgery July 29th. I did not have any complications or issues with food. I got so lucky. I'm REALLY far into a healthy weight now. It's incredible. It felt good to just reach a healthy weight but now I'm towards the lower end.

Don't give up. I feel so incredible. My health has improved so much!

@srbjess - that is great news. Glad you had no complications or issues with food and you are at a healthy weight+.

Do you have any suggestions for others who are considering or preparing for bariatric surgery about how to make the process go as well as possible?

I'm curious after surgery, how long did it take to get adjusted to eating regular foods?

@boymom1
Everyone is different and the definition of "regular" food will be different. Your surgeon or nutritionist should provide a post-surgery eating plan to go from liquid to soft and then solid food.

For me, I can no longer tolerate most dairy except in small amounts, but that also has to do with gallbladder surgery I had. I have to be VERY careful with anything deep fried. Even though love deep fried food, knowing it can upset my GI track, keeps me from eating.

Have you had surgery, and if so, how long ago?