I'm psyched after the psych appt (originally posted 11/5/2009)

Today was my psych eval and it went pretty great. The counselor and nutritionist actually have offices in the same office as my future surgeon. I got there a little early and as I was waiting for the counselor, the office mgr came out and asked if anyone was waiting for the nutritionist or needed to see her. I spoke up, (thinking I might be able to kill 2 birds with 1 stone and see the nut after the psych) and mistakenly thought the office mgr WAS the nutritionist.

"I'm here to see (counselor name) but I need to see you too so if you have time today, I'd love to meet!"

Embarassing pause. Not-so-friendly stare from mgr.

"I'm NOT the nutritionist" she flatly announced and shut the door.

I sat there a little uncomfortable in front of about 6 people in the waiting room. I mean since when is it offensive to be called a nutritionist? Whatever. Maybe the lady was having a bad day.

Five minutes later, another office person came out and told me the "manager" needed to meet with me briefly. I grabbed my stuff thinking, "am I getting in trouble for thinking she was the nutritionist?"

I sat at her desk and she asked me for my payment. She was actually pretty pleasant to me- not overly nice, but not rude either. She told me I could wait there at her desk with her or go back out to the waiting room. I opted to go back out to the waiting room but the counselor appeared and asked me to come to her office.

The counselor was a fantastic lady who I immediately bonded with. Someone I would be friends with "in the real world." We talked about my medical history, my food issues, what led me up to surgery, my friends & family, my fears and hopes, and my understanding of the procedures and aftercare. I felt like I was talking too much actually but the counselor of course said that it was more helpful for me to be thorough and tell her what I could.

Two hours later! Time flew by and towards the end we really were mostly chatting. She did say that felt that I was ready mentally for surgery and that I would be an excellent candidate in her opinion. She also thought that I would be successful post op.

She is one of those counselors that tells you that you can call anytime and that she is available for the pre and post op (at the hospital) for visits. All of it is covered by the payment I made today- she doesn't charge if I call or email her prior to surgery. Nice. (For those that don't know and from my experience with counselors, that isn't common practice.)

By the time I left, the nutritionist wasn't there so I emailed her and said to let me know when her schedule would allow our visit. We have been emailing back and forth and she offered to slide me in a couple days ago but I live over an hour away so I wouldn't have made it there in time. I'm thinking I will likely see her (nutritionist) sometime this next week. (Exciting!!!)

One down, one to go!!!