SanDiegoSusan

Hi Jessica: I went yesterday for my first appointment - psych, nutrition and surgical consults. The entire staff was wonderful and it was a very easy process. I did see 6 separate people but each was very friendly and had a role to play so that made sense. (I know someone else here had a very bad experience on their first visit and said they had to show their stomach four times. I only did twice and no one was unfriendly, demeaning or asked stupid questions.) I have to go through 4 weeks of changing my eating patterns and lose 8 pounds before they will even consider me for the surgery. (This will be in addition to the 2 week liquid diet.) Disappointed by this but I understand the reason: If I can't do it now how will I do it after the surgery? I'm not too worried - I've already given up soda and caffeine so now it's just eat good instead of crappy food and exercise 1/2 hour a day. (I went for an hour long hike around La Jolla last night with a friend so am already off to a good start on that.) There's a lot that happens at the first appointment but from my experience it is nothing to fear. Just remember this is an educational facility and they are more concerned with your success than with making a profit so you will get excellent care. I am so far extremely pleased with UCSD (well, except for the month delay as I was mentally set to be on a liquid diet today :cool2:) and an looking forward to the process. If you are a better candidate than I am you may actually be two or three weeks ahead of me in everything, otherwise I will probably be a week ahead of you. Of course, I am self-pay so no insurance hassles (be respectful but persistent with insurance the nice squeaky wheel gets the oil.) So let's keep in touch and see how it goes. P.S. Worst part, even worse than having cute doctors look at my ugly belly, was taking the before picture. Fortunately, I didn't have to view it.:biggrin2:

"In a seach for a doctor- Do you know of a website I could login to?" I would start with the forum posts right here - go to the California section and see who people are recommending. When you get a couple of names of doctors who seem to be good do a search on them here and through Google and see if they have seminars you can attend or other info sessions. Also, strongly recommend you find a support group in your area. Again I don't know of any but if you research it you should be able to find one. Finally, spend some time learning about this. I am a very fast researcher and decision maker - gets me in trouble at times. One extra month isn't going to make much difference, find what YOU really need.

Hi All: I'm new to this. Just had my intro session last week and on Wednesday I have my first appointments (psych, nutritionist and surgeon's rep)! I am very excited about all this and it feels right and I am really glad I found this site for the support and the encouragement your stories offer. So I just wanted to say hello and see if my ticker is working! Have a great weekend. Susan

Thanks for putting a smile on my face and hope in my heart.

Mostly this is to bump me up so people will see this post and hopefully answer but I also wanted to clarify that I am looking for people who worked with Dr. Horgan at UCSD and not in Chicago since the experiences may be very different. Anyone go to UCSD? Thanks so much!

Thanks Losingjusme! And Yummy - I hope you find a lot of your answers here, there seems to be tons of information. I don't know what to tell you about PD vs. seminar first. I would probably start with finding the best doctor/hospital in your area and attending the seminar. Then you have people here to help you with lots of questions and people there to help you throught the process with insurance, etc. You might also want to check and see if your insurance will even cover it - I think there's an area that talks about it. Since I know my insurance won't I didn't even have to bother with that research. I would really do some research on depression and the decreased effectiveness of this surgery because of it. You may have to deal with the depression first because studies seems to indicate you have a much smaller chance of success if you are depressed. (I'm talking clinical depression, not just "I hate my body" depression.) I will tell you that since I've decided to do this I am filled with hope and very excited about the future. I know this is going to work for me. And while I won't have the perfect body, at least I can start dating again! Finally, be careful about being too hard on yourself. There's probably a few people here that have medical reason for being obese, but the vast majority of us did it to ourselves. And we have tried every diet only to gain more weight. Who cares? The past is over and fat people turned skinny are nicer to be around than always skinny people so rejoice in your ability to join this group soon. :blushing: Yes, I tend to be an annoyingly optimistic person, but heck you have an opportunity for great medical care which a lot of the world doesn't have. For many of us diets don't work, thank goodness it looks like something does!

Hi Yummy: I've been considering it for about 2 months. I went to another hospital's presentation a few weeks ago and was interested, but it really seemed like a meat market and a hard sale and I was uncomfortable with it. Also, a friend who is also overweight encouraged me to work with him on a healthier lifestyle and we put together a checklist for living right. Which of course failed after a couple weeks due to decreased interest by the members of the group. (Hard to report in when you are not doing well.) When I went to the UCSD presentation it just felt better and seemed like a better fit. Plus the woman who gave her success story was very similar to me - needed to lose 100 pounds. my body type, etc. - and she looked fantastic. Plus I'm a big believer in anything UCSD. I'm a self-pay so I don't have the insurance hoops to jump through and fortunately I have enough savings to cover it. I have my first meetings tomorrow with psych, nutritionist and surgeon's stand in. (Have a feeling the surgeon and I will not know each other well before the surgery.) I'm trying to get info on the UCSD program but may have to repost my message as no one has provided info yet. I will let you know more after tomorrow. So what about you? What was your trigger for thinking about this? How much do you need to lose? Do you have a good support network? Susan

Thanks so much Susan!

6% of overweight people will lose weight AND keep it off through diet and exercise. 6%. More people will quit smoking. More people will quit heroin. 6%. There is so much that is just being discovered about weight and eating responses and the chemical make-up of the overweight. Yes, the chemistry of an obese person is different than the chemistry of a non-compulsive eater. People who do not research this subject can't understand it. Heck, some of us can't. Would your friend tell an alcoholic that not drinking is a quick fix? Would she tell a gambling addict that they can just play a few hands at a casino and then walk away? Would she tell a heroin user that avoiding the old neighborhood and druggy friends was a cop-out? Maybe SHE needs to do a little research on addiction before determining your needs. And I'm sorry but how are major surgery and drastic changes in eating habits a "quick fix" compared to downing barley grass juice? I've been lucky. Only four people know I am planning this (three are thin) and they have all been incredibly supportive. But if they weren't, well I'm the only one who knows how hard I've tried, how many diets have failed, how much the unmoving scale torments me as I starve, and how many people have been cruel to me because of my weight. If they want to exchange bodies with me then they can have some say in making this choice. Otherwise we would have to agree not to discuss it or I would have to cut them out of my life. I'm at the point where this is a life or death decision and a true friend would not try to force their ignorance into sabotaging my life changing decision. And a part of me has to ask: Does she really want you to lose weight?

If you need any more friends I have a whole house that needs cleaning - should be good for at least 5 pounds. :rolleyes2:

Hi. Sometimes we have to ignore our well-meaning and loving family members who want the best for us but just don't get it. If you are really ready for this lifestyle change you'll do fine. You'll be able to eat with clients - you'll just be eating tiny bits. If they seem nice maybe you can offer to split a salad or appetizer with them. People don't tend to notice you only ate a 10th of the appetizer and they ate the rest. :rolleyes2: Learn all you can and you'll be able to get throught this just fine! And best of luck.