Pathway to Weight Loss Surgery

The choice to undergo bariatric surgery is one of the most important decisions of your life. In order to fully understand the process, we have created the following general guide to what you should expect before and after surgery.

Requirements/Qualifying

Bariatric surgery should not be viewed as a weight loss tool exclusively. It is a tool to improve or eliminate the diseases that are caused and exacerbated by obesity. Below, you’ll find a few of several medically accepted criteria for defining morbid obesity and helping you determine whether or not you will qualify for bariatric surgery. In the end it is up to our office and/or your insurance company to decide whether you are a candidate for bariatric surgery. As a rough guide, you may be morbidly obese if you:

  • Are more than 100 pounds over your ideal body weight
  • Have Body Mass Index (BMI) of over 40
  • Have a BMI of over 35 and are experiencing significant co-morbidities, such as high blood pressure or diabetes.
  • Haven’t been able to maintain healthy body weight even with medically supervised dieting.

Insurance and Payment Options

Patients considering bariatric surgery have various options available to them in order to pay for the surgical procedures. Below, we’ll be describing a few of those options. How you pay for bariatric surgery is a highly personal decision, so there is no right or wrong way to pay for surgery. Following are a few options available to you.

  • Insurance – check with your insurance provider for policy details
  • Self-Pay
  • Home Equity
  • 3rd Party or Private Loan

Seminars

One of the first requirements of our bariatric program is your attendance at one of our free seminars. Our office conducts periodic bariatric surgery seminars for people interested in weight loss surgery. These monthly seminars are completely free to you and serve to educate potential, qualified patients on the benefits and risks of the surgical procedures. To register for a seminar, please call (973) 232-2300 or click the following link to visit the seminars page: Bariatric Seminars.

General Pre-Operative Instructions

Once you have decided to undergo bariatric surgery, you’ll have to prep for surgery. Before your scheduled surgical procedure, please follow these instructions:

  • Two weeks prior to surgery you will be on a liquid diet, as per the doctor’s instructions
  • Seven days before surgery, stop taking all blood thinners (aspirin, Plavix, Coumadin, etc.)
  • The Day before Surgery: Drink only clear liquids and take one bottle of Miralax at 2pm
  • After Midnight the Night before Surgery: Do not eat or drink anything.