Hi Vets,

I checked with Alex and he gave me the go-ahead to collect information that would go into a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Section that is easy to find on the Website (actually he asked if I could help coordinate it when I asked if we could do it)! That may help alleviate some of the concerns I've seen lately about re-answering questions over and over and give a resource to those that need it. I believe it would be easier than searching the forum because it is hard to figure out an exact topic to search at times and as a newbie, searching may not be the first thought of how to find information.

The vets have been answering (or at least viewing) the questions over and over so I am posting this in the vets section because I feel you are the experts for this but am eager to also hear from people that are not vets as well.

So three things I am asking for to collect the information for Alex to post:

a) Topics for FAQs (see beginner list below)

Information to put into the FAQs

c) Helpful hints on how best to provide the information and set it up (any web experts out there that can help advise?) Do we need to separate out for sections for each type of procedure or is the information universal for all procedures? How best to collect the topics and information to go into the topics? (I know SharePoint would be good but I don't think we have that with this site.)

I'm sure you long timers have a list of what should be there, but here is few to start:

- Hormone changes after surgery and impact on mood

- Alcohol when if at all?

- What to bring to the hospital for surgery (I saw someone has started a list already so this one may be close to being done for content!)

- Surgery in Mexico

- Pre-Op diet

- Post-op diet

- Maintenance diet

- How often should I weigh and pros and cons of different frequencies

- Stalls and what to do

- Plastic surgery

- Surgery regret

- Challenges pre-op

- Challenges post-op

- Challenges in maintenance

- Insurance approval and what to do if not accepted

- Helpful hints for each stage

- What to drink to keep Water amounts to where they should be each day

- What to eat to get in the Protein

- What not to eat and why

- What to expect day of surgery.

- What exercise works best at each phase?

- Thing I should definitely call my doctor right away about

I know that we have many different inputs from our own doctors and NUTs and would need to preface the FAQs with the information that your doctor's and NUT's advice should be followed over what is posted here, but it is to give folks an idea of what we have been told by outs for our WLS.

Any other ideas are welcome and appreciated!

Thank you!

Keeping in mind, on some topics there is no right or wrong answer....and as soon as someone says one thing, another will come along and say the opposite...with their Dr.'s knowledge and approval....

Things such as Caffeine and Alcohol come to mind. Not everyone does everything the same way, and what one person believes is essential, can be unimportant to another...and have the success and experience to back it up....

The most important advice anyone can ever give anybody is, "What does YOUR Dr. say YOU should be, or not be doing?"

From first hand knowledge with over 30 years in the field, patients will not like the tough advice their Dr.'s tell them, and will try to find other people to give them the answer they are looking for to reinforce their bad behavior...

And this forum is loaded with such people...they have been told 100 times, and yet they keep asking....

Because if you ask me, I can only share what I have found from my experiences, and others will share what they have found from their experiences....and I guarantee they will not all be the same.

Personally, my biggest pet-peeve on this forum is when someone will tell another person what they should or should not do....REALLY?? Are You their Dr.? Are you liable for giving the wrong info? You don't know this person, their medical history, NOTHING!

All anyone can do, if they can relate to the question, is share what happened to them...otherwise, keep quiet.

I hope, by setting up this FAQ, you're not setting yourself up to be THEE Authority on EVERYTHING....

Sorry for the rant.

Someone is finally fixing the Internet!

This is a wonderful idea and I have already seen so many great suggestions. Already starting to sound like Alex can get another book out of this!

Some things that I see over and over are threads related to hair loss, Vitamins, and stalls.

If I were new and I saw something to draw my attention to "everything I ever wanted to know" about some key points, I would go there. People may or may not like or know FAQ, so maybe something a little more creative. Maybe a few topics with some actual facts, followed by a listing of links to the most relevant threads related to that topic.

@@B-52 Good thoughts. I am definitely not signing up to be the expert on everything (or even most things WLS!) as I am just in the beginning and still have a lot yet to experience. I'm just working on gathering the information as a resource.

I'm envisioning that the sharing of experiences will not be a part of FAQs but will continue to be topics in the website.

We will make sure that a statement about following your doctor's advice is primary over anything on this website.

Someone is finally fixing the Internet!

Not even close (although I would love it if someone would do that!)

-Weight regain,

-unsupportive significant others/spouses/family,

-back to work issues,

-psychological evaluations,

-separate category for questions about pre-op cheating (I have answered at least 50 threads on this issue),

-how to handle problematic times of the year like Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, summer Monday holidays, etc...),

-how to handle typical food-laden events or places (office holiday party, family reunion, weddings, etc...),

-theme parks and which rides are most problematic because of size or anything else

-what to do with old clothes and shopping guides for new ones

I'll think of more...

I like this! While I agree with @@Ashlegal that folks may still feel compelled to post about their specific situation (the reasons she listed are valid and make sense), I think this could both help vets feel less annoyed AND help the newbs.

Topic ideas:

Which surgery should I have?

recipes

Third Week Stall

How much time should I take off work?

How did you take time off? (info about short-term disability, what you have to/don't have to tell)

Since there's so much disagreement about many of these topics, I second the idea of including links to our best old threads about them.

Btw, I work as a writer and editor (first for newspapers, now in marketing) and I'm happy to assist if you'd like my help.

Does my sleeve stretch

How about a menu style answer pool that people can pick for their posts when they ask questions and don't like the respectfully given answers that are truthful but are not what they want to hear or they are looking for people to validate their incorrect actions. Such as:

"Can I eat hard tacos 5 days after surgery".

"I am in a pissy-pants mood because I am the only one who ever had to go on a pre or post WLS diet".

"Can I drink 1/2 a bottle of JD 5 days after surgery as long as it is 15 minutes before or 30 minutes after eating my hard Tacos, and oh yeah, I'm in a pissy-pants mood too due to my post WLS diet".

Choices can be:

"You are doing everything opposite of what every surgeon ever said, you are right and they are all wrong".

"Yes, Tacos and other hard foods are allowed 5 days post surgery"

"We all love reading your pissy-pants rants and look forward to more of them in the future".

Edited November 2, 201510 yr by 4MRB4PHOTO

Im pre op and not a veteran or anything but I'm replying to every pissy post with

What about an FAQ on "what I should do when I get butt hurt?"

Word of advice: I think this is a really good idea, but unless the software has it built in that your must do a search or check the FAQ before being allowed to post many people still going to post repetitive questions. It's just how the internet works. We now live in the TL;DR _{^{(Too Long: Didn't Read)}} age.

How do we encourage people to check the FAQs or do a search before asking a question? From what I see a lot of the redundancy comes from people logging on and instead of searching, just posting their question or concern.

Yesterday someone mentioned planting little notices around the website.

The welcome email sent to newly-registered users is another good, obvious way to promote the section.