A Patient’s Journey Throughout the
Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy
Your first step
The first step of your weight loss journey is to speak with one of our Patient Advocates. Our Advocates are experts in helping patients navigate the insurance maze and if insurance will cover the procedure.
Pre-Procedure clinic visit
During the initial clinic visit, our patients meet with one of our nurse practitioners to determine whether any pre-operative testing is needed prior to surgery. Pre-operative tests are sometimes necessary to make sure our patients are healthy enough to undergo a procedure.
Following the initial clinic visit, our patients will be assigned a case manager. Our case managers answer patient questions and discuss any concerns prior to surgery.
The Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy
Our patients meet with Dr. Leithead or one of our nurse practitioners in clinic approximately 7-10 days prior to their procedure (special arrangements are made for our traveling patients).
A laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy takes between 45 minutes to 1 hour. Our patients remain in the recovery room for 1-2 hours and typically begin walking the hallways and drinking liquids around that same time. Patients are usually discharged the next morning.
Follow-up
Our patients follow-up with Dr. Leithead or one of our nurse practitioners periodically following the procedure to insure healthy weight loss goals are met.