hey guys,

so i started a program with portsmouth regional hospital.

and they require you to lose a ton of weight prior, and take a bunch of stupid classes on top of seeing a therapist?

and i get the reason why they do it they want to make sure you will be sucessful.

has anyone come across any place that doesnt make you lose like 30+ pounds?

figured i would ask.

I'm in Oklahoma and had my surgery 9/9 (6 weeks today!!) and I didn't have to lose anything. I started at 319lbs. I think it has to do with the dr and your insurance if you have it. A friend of mine is in Florida and her dr and insurance wants her to lose 25lbs before surgery but aren't too strict on it they said. If she looses like 15-20lbs they will still do surgery.

hey guys,

so i started a program with portsmouth regional hospital.

and they require you to lose a ton of weight prior, and take a bunch of stupid classes on top of seeing a therapist?

and i get the reason why they do it they want to make sure you will be sucessful.

has anyone come across any place that doesnt make you lose like 30+ pounds?

figured i would ask.

If more people paid more attention in those "stupid classes" we'd probably see a lot more successful folks post-op and not see so many stupid behaviors engaged in. Some of them are very dangerous, too.

Also, the goal is to lose weight right ? Losing weight prior to your surgery can only benefit you and support that goal.

coming off rude, also doesn't help either.

however all the information these classes the theripst provides is available online.. if people did their research.

which i do.. on a daily basis.

and the therpist doesnt take insurance so to pay 400 dollars is outrageous and a rip off.

Imagine waking up in a ton of pain, in the hospital, feeling like crap and being told by the surgeon, "unfortunately your liver was too big to complete the surgery, we are going to have to try again when you lose more weight."

So there you are poked, prodded, dehydrated, tired, sick, in pain and not on your way to a new you.

That is what happens when people don't lose the required weight, that is happens when they don't have all that stupid information, support or resources.

Good luck with that.

hey guys,

so i started a program with portsmouth regional hospital.

and they require you to lose a ton of weight prior, and take a bunch of stupid classes on top of seeing a therapist?

and i get the reason why they do it they want to make sure you will be sucessful.

has anyone come across any place that doesnt make you lose like 30+ pounds?

figured i would ask.

wow, you know im really suprised how rude, you people are coming off..

@@viaasskick

From my personal experience you learn a lot more in said stupid classes that you do on line because there is two way communication and others in the class that may ask a question you have not thought about.

Having WLS requires a huge commitment on our parts. This is why both bariatric centers of excellence and most insurance companies require classes, psychologists, nutritionists as well as some weight loss.

I will say that my surgeons office did not require that I lose a set goal but show that I was losing some and certainly not gaining. I started at 315 and was down to 303 on surgery day 9 months later.

As @@Dub stated, weight loss is required to get healthy and being ready for this surgery means you have to start building good habits months before you get to surgery.

If I were you and wanted the best chance for success, I would recommend taking every advantage to learn more about what you are getting into.

@@viaasskick,

I am sorry you feel these comments are rude. But they are beyond true. The surgery did not save me life, the 6 months of classes I had before did. I can not express enough how much I would pay for each class if I did it all over again. Count it as a privilege that they have the resources to provide these classes and therapist. So many who don't fail and then they went through all of that for what? to end up with more health problems if they had not had the surgery and possibly not loosing any weight.

I know how you feel, I was super pissed that I had to go to classes (that required me to take time off work loosing money and getting up at 4am to not miss too much work) believe me I sacrificed a whole lot to get to where I am. And I will tell you it was worth every part of it. I was angry I had to go to stupid classes and see stupid people, but in the end I was so grateful for them and actually went back to hug and thank my teacher/therapist.

Keep up the hard work, know that it will not be effort lost. take every opportunity to learn more and face your feelings, it is okay to be mad or frustrated.

we speak from experience, we also were in your shoes at one point and wish someone had been maybe a little harsh to help us see what we had.

Good luck and best wishes.

@@viaasskick

It isn't rude. You assign a tone of voice when you are reading the comments left.

I don't want anyone to fail at WLS and if that means I don't sugar coat how hard the process is, or how dedicated you need to be or how challenging the journey is, then so be it.

This is a HUGE decision one that is so much more than just losing weight. It is a radical change in a person's life, it is a total turn around from where they have been for many, many years and it never gets easy, just easier.

The program is designed to a. see how dedicated you are to your WLS success, b. prepare you for the dramatic change that occurs, c. give you invaluable resources and d.) keep you focused on your goals. Without it you are setting yourself up for a hard difficult road that will ultimately end in failure.

This is not an EASY solution to a problem. This is not a cure all, a quick fix, a magical means to get skinny. It is going to be one of the most difficult decisions you have ever made for yourself and it deserves everything you have. You have to throw yourself into this decision with all your heart, all your mind and all your body. It is all or nothing.

wow, you know im really suprised how rude, you people are coming off..

And I can't believe how dangerous some people are.

http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/353716-any-bad-experiences-by-not-taking-vitaminsprotein-drink/

Threads like the one linked above are classic examples of what is taught in the "stupid" classes.

Sadly, there are posts like this all the time.

The rudeness began with your denouncing the very education that is designed to keep you healthy and prevent acts of stupidity that could hurt you.

My insurance company ABCBS CovaCare required a monthly call from a RN for 12 months before I could have surgery. We talked about everything from A-Z and I have to say it really was the shortest year in my life. At first I was very frustrated but when I had the surgery on September 10 I was prepared and well informed for what was to come. If you put it all in perspective, why would an insurance company want to spend that kind of money on someone not willing to commit to a small window of requirements, as WLS of any kind is a life changing event and a lifetime commitment. I was told by my Psychiatrist at the time of the evaluation that the statistics show that a large number of prospective patients are weeded out because of their lack of commitment to just follow through with basic insurance requirements. Don't make the mistake of thinking you will be different. These requirements are for a reason and if your committed to a real-life change you have to start at the bottom of the ladder and climb each rung as required to get to the top just like each and everyone of us on this site has done. There are no shortcuts just determination and sticktoitiveness.

Edited October 21, 201510 yr by smb1966

Here's my two cents. You may think the classes sound dumb or stupid and a waste of time, but even if you look stuff up online, a lot of it contradicts itself and is often in the vein of rumor or "I had a friend who did _____" you need to take the classes to heart and commit them to memory for long term success. Most of my classes weren't about how to eat healthy at that moment, but about how to survive the changes I was about to undergo. Let me tell ya, those classes really made a difference immediately post op when I would feel like I had morning sickness or couldn't tolerate my protein shakes or when the desire to just lick food to taste something showed up. I didn't walk out after surgery confused about what was going on, the various stages of regret, funky tastes/smells, desire to chew to name a few, that I would experience because I learned all about those things in my classes. I learned what to do at each stage post op and how to go about it the right way and how I didn't need food funerals because after I reached my goal, many of those things I was "giving up" would be able to have a new place in my life again. There are those who choose not to follow those rules and honestly those people don't succeed. Going in with the mind frame that the classes are stupid and you don't want to have to lose any percentage of weight beforehand is the wrong idea at looking at it and is why you are getting such a negative response. Let me tell you a short story. There was a guy in one of my NUT's classes who had surgery and on his first day out of the hospital tried to blend and eat a taco! He nearly died! The hard shell fragments he "blended" got stuck in his suture line and he ended up in the hospital for emergency surgery to save his life. He also didn't believe our NUT about dumping syndrome and called it BS and tried to eat a king size snickers bar a few months later. It's that kind of behavior everyone fears when someone comes on saying 'hey how can I avoid the stupid classes and not have to lose weight to have surgery.' It sounds like you have no idea what you are doing and aren't at all prepared for what you really need to do to be prepared to be successful. If you think the classes and information are BS, save yourself the money and just don't go down this path, because you need to be able to trust and follow your NUT and surgeon's instructions to the letter especially in those first days, but for the whole long term process. No surgery will do the work for you. You have to show up every day and work hard. The surgery is just a tool to help. It won't do the work for you and you will only get out of it what you put into it and since it sounds like you aren't willing to put the effort in to change and do your best going in, it really sounds like it will be a waste of time until you do reach that point.

I'm not sure there is a surgeon who wouldn't require any program, or weight loss prior to surgery. Not only will the extra weight you take off prior help the surgeon (and your organs), you are also starting to make the changes now so you can follow through post op. I personally wouldn't go to any surgeon who didn't require this. It really is important. Learning to eat and what to eat are #1. You need these tools for years down the road. The surgery might assist in taking the weight off faster, but only you can keep it off long term. If you start off with the mentality that this surgery is just going to fix everything, that couldn't be further from the truth, and I'm not saying that to be harsh. It's honest, which I know a lot of people don't want to hear. This surgery will NOT keep your weight off long term, believe me. You have to do the work. Go to meetings, do tons of research. Read the good and the bad. Go to therapy and absolutely work with a nutritionist.

With that said, I used Dr. Scott Shikora in Boston. At the time (16 years go) he was at Tufts, however I think he may be at Brigham & Women's now....but he will require you to do the program, including losing some weight on your own prior to surgery. Best of luck to you!

C'mon, folks. This person has too much time on her/her hands and came here to kill some of it. This isn't the first to seek free entertainment in BP. Another one disappeared about a week ago; this may be the same one with a charming, new screen name. Anyone who begins with "I don't wanna lose weight or anything" and then enters repeated, "rude...rude...rude" notes has told you more than you need to know. Put your energy to good use.

Edited December 3, 201510 yr by WLSResources/ClothingExch

Hi viaasskick . Is it the surgeon who has the requirement or your insurance? I went to Brigham and Women's Hospital for my RNY. They offer the stupid classes () but you don't have to take them. Only if your insurance requires. Mine didn't. I was told to lose 50 lbs before surgery but didn't have enough time. I had everything required by my insurance company prepared and ready for my first visit. After my psych evaluation and dietary class I was approved. Surgery was a little over two months from my first visit.

Check and see what your insurance mandates.

Lastly, there's a great bunch of people on this forum. We support each other and don't want to see anyone fail. RNY isn't an easy fix. Lots of people go back to old habits and gain weight back. Or, get sick from not knowing what to do post surgery. We're here to help.

We want you to succeed.

Hugs,

Pam