Pissed Off and Rebelling

[summerset 5,261]

On 13.3.2017 at 5:52 PM, clevergirl said:

I'm pissed. I've had to go through the motions for five months now for my six month waiting period before I can have surgery, which is scheduled for April 17th. I'm pissed because everything I learned from the nutritionist, I had learned before on the million other diets I've tried and the forums I've read. She told me that most people, at the end, say that they are so happy that they had this time to learn and prepare. I'm not. I'm just pissed that I had to wait.

I never could relate to this either, so I understand. When I look at elective cardiac bypass surgery or PTA in your limbs - there are no six months waiting periods in which you have to prove you've tried radically changing your nutrition, stopped smoking and exercised regularly (at least not in the country I live in).

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Why the hell do we have to wait? It feels punitive. Like saying "hey fatasses, you get to wait and be fatasses some more! Why? Because we feel like it!!!"

No, because they think us fatties are too dumb and not responsible enough to know about nutrition and exercise before applying for surgery.

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While I agree that surgery should be taken seriously I'm not sure how anyone can learn something new regarding nutrition, exercise and coping mechanisms when surgery is supposed to be the last resort. Last resort means (at least it's the way I understand it): you have tried anything else and this includes the stuff they're going to tell you during these six months!

If you can learn something new about nutrition, exercise and coping mechanisms during this waiting period: well, you didn't try everything else before applying for surgery...

If these six months about "being prepared for surgery" - I guess a few evenings of information how things will be after surgery should be enough to take care of this.

[PatientEleventyBillion 851]

2 hours ago, summerset said:

I never could relate to this either, so I understand. When I look at elective cardiac bypass surgery or PTA in your limbs - there are no six months waiting periods in which you have to prove you've tried radically changing your nutrition, stopped smoking and exercised regularly (at least not in the country I live in).

No, because they think us fatties are too dumb and not responsible enough to know about nutrition and exercise before applying for surgery.

---

While I agree that surgery should be taken seriously I'm not sure how anyone can learn something new regarding nutrition, exercise and coping mechanisms when surgery is supposed to be the last resort. Last resort means (at least it's the way I understand it): you have tried anything else and this includes the stuff they're going to tell you during these six months!

If you can learn something new about nutrition, exercise and coping mechanisms during this waiting period: well, you didn't try everything else before applying for surgery...

If these six months about "being prepared for surgery" - I guess a few evenings of information how things will be after surgery should be enough to take care of this.

This is quite a humorous conclusion, if that were the case why does this happen in universal healthcare too?

The reason is simple if anyone would bother reading studies that are even available on this very forum -- those who don't implement lifestyle changes stand an extremely significant chance of post-surgery complications (making useless their surgery), never mind not helping any other comorbidic obesity complications like diabetes, liver disease, heart disease, etc. Ensuring people are dedicated to pre-operative lifestyle changes dramatically increases the odds of post-op success. The goal is to help fix the underlying problem, not throw you into surgery ("cuz I said so") and create more issues others have to deal with the financial consequence of. For those who don't want to wait, and make sure they're physically and mentally ready for the pre-op and post-op challenges, paying out of pocket to have surgery elsewhere is an option people always have.

Edited March 17, 2017 by PatientEleventyBillion

[summerset 5,261]

7 minutes ago, PatientEleventyBillion said:

This is quite a humorous conclusion,

Glad you had a good laugh...

[Finding_Stacy 263]

I think there's a change coming, albeit a slow one. For instance, my insurance used to require a three month waiting period like many, but did away with it in 2014. Same with the University of Chicago. They don't require any type of waiting period or liquid fast either. They've learned that having a person eat low carb two weeks before has the same equivalency on the liver as a liquid fast. After surgery there's also no liquid diet. I'm sure a couple of days right out, I will only want Water and Protein Shakes, but like the doctor said, when I'm ready just go to soft foods for awhile until I'm ready to go back to low carb eating.

I think in time, sooner rather than later, insurances will drop the waiting period and the liquid fasting will also go by the way side as they learn through process and error what works and what doesn't, what's necessary and what isn't.

Edited March 17, 2017 by Finding_Stacy

[tmayhan2001 20]

Sorry you are upset, better in the long run for you.

[Middus 491]

No way i would have lasted 6 months.. Although my appointments were spaced out. Add the 10lbs weightloss requirement, and it ended up being about 4.5 months.

Hang in there. I can see how the period is beneficial to many people. I was highly informed so the days seemed to drag..

[Greensleevie 451]

It is a pretty serious and life changing procedure, so I don't understand why someone would balk about how long it takes to better be prepared?

That "let's just get on with it, I know what I'm doing" attitide is probably why there is a 46% weight regain rate.

I mean, this isn't buying a car or planning a vacation. We should all be as educated and emotionally prepared as possible. And quite frankly, wanting rush into this shows emotional immaturity.

[dawno 0]

Wow I just started my stuff in Nov and could have had the surgery in Jan but didn't because of saving vacation time to have surgery, I am having mine next Monday. Didn't have any issues with insurance at all. I only had to do two diabetic consults and a psychological evaluation and it was done. Now I do have a couple health issues 1) over weight 2) BMI 3) sleep apnea and that's it. I hope you all get to have your surgery soon. Cox Health in Springfield, MO Dr. Woods awesome!

[mlbdl 86]

Consider this. The six months are going to pass anyway. If you give up, you'll be no better off than when you started but six months older and probably the same weight. If you continue, the six months will still be behind you but all the benefits of the surgery will be available for you to make the most of.

Like others that have suggested using this time to start implementing some of the post-surgery habits, I found that to be helpful. It made the first few weeks easier to adjust.

Good luck. It was SO worth it for me. I wish the same for you!

[clevergirl 41]

It is a pretty serious and life changing procedure, so I don't understand why someone would balk about how long it takes to better be prepared?
That "let's just get on with it, I know what I'm doing" attitide is probably why there is a 46% weight regain rate.
I mean, this isn't buying a car or planning a vacation. We should all be as educated and emotionally prepared as possible. And quite frankly, wanting rush into this shows emotional immaturity.

How very awesome it must be to know and make judgments about people who post on the internet.

It couldn't possibly be because they considered and researched the procedure FOR YEARS before deciding to bite the billet and make the call.

It couldn't possibly be because they were having an off day and needed to blow off steam.

Yes! Of course it was emotional immaturity and inevitable failure that leads to feelings like this! How terribly perceptive.

[bekah7482 79]

It is a pretty serious and life changing procedure, so I don't understand why someone would balk about how long it takes to better be prepared?
That "let's just get on with it, I know what I'm doing" attitide is probably why there is a 46% weight regain rate.
I mean, this isn't buying a car or planning a vacation. We should all be as educated and emotionally prepared as possible. And quite frankly, wanting rush into this shows emotional immaturity.

Except if you are already emotionally and physically prepared then waiting is kinda pointless and extremely frustrating. As the other poster said, you don't know how long people have been preparing and educating themselves or what their knowledge level is on nutrition. When I met my surgeon, I was told that I would be getting surgery in March. I have read, researched, implemented all the changes needed, lost double the required weight, bought everything I would need and have prepared more than you could possibly know. Now March turned into April and April turned into May and May might turn into June. For you to blame my frustration on "emotional immaturity" is quite ridiculous.

[Greensleevie 451]

2 hours ago, clevergirl said:

How very awesome it must be to know and make judgments about people who post on the internet.

It couldn't possibly be because they considered and researched the procedure FOR YEARS before deciding to bite the billet and make the call.

It couldn't possibly be because they were having an off day and needed to blow off steam.

Yes! Of course it was emotional immaturity and inevitable failure that leads to feelings like this! How terribly perceptive.

Why so defensive?

It's a fact the better prepared you are, the odds for success will be in your favor. It's that way with anything in life. Just statung facts. But please, let your emotions rule your response.

I'm no spring chicken. I'm also a WLS veteran. This isn't easy, so rushing into it and not being emotionally ready tends to spell disaster for people. I've seen it over and over and over. Hell, I've even struggled with some regain, and I'm old and researched this surgery for well over a year. I'm also a drug and alcohol counselor, so I know the difference between someone who is truly emotionally ready and someone who is not. Not saying the OP isn't, just stating the fact that when you see someone wanting to disregard protocol to get the process done faster, they may have a problem with delaying gratification, and that's a problem with this surgery. It won't choose what you put into your mouth or get your ass off the couch. You still have to diet and exercise and have discipline for the rest of your life. Many think it's magic.

[Greensleevie 451]

Point is, impatience with the process is a red flag. The whole process takes patience and persistence. And even after you've lost the weight, the hard work REALLY starts. Forever.

Start implementing lifestyle changes now. Take this time to be positive and learn as much as you can about the process, not instantly go negative. A negative mind never produces positive results.

[PatientEleventyBillion 851]

2 hours ago, bekah7482 said:

Except if you are already emotionally and physically prepared then waiting is kinda pointless and extremely frustrating. As the other poster said, you don't know how long people have been preparing and educating themselves or what their knowledge level is on nutrition. When I met my surgeon, I was told that I would be getting surgery in March. I have read, researched, implemented all the changes needed, lost double the required weight, bought everything I would need and have prepared more than you could possibly know. Now March turned into April and April turned into May and May might turn into June. For you to blame my frustration on "emotional immaturity" is quite ridiculous.

If you come up with some journals talking about how people who declare they're emotionally and physically prepared should expedite their surgery with decent success I'd be glad to buy into this argument. Otherwise, the failure/regression rate from the attitude displayed by impatient people speaks for itself. Anecdotal stories and arguments made from emotion has no relevance to what objectively works and does not.

Edited March 23, 2017 by PatientEleventyBillion

[blizair09 3,250]

This forum skews heavily toward pre-op or recently-sleeved people. And it doesn't take long exploring posts to see that many, many, many of these people were in no way prepared for post-op life AT ALL. They post about eating fast food just weeks after surgery; they lament about why they, as a 230 pound middle-aged woman, don't lose 40 pounds their first month post-op; they talk about how they can't get their Protein and Water in. The list goes on and on.

Frankly, I think it's criminal that doctors perform this procedure on some of these people because they are that uninformed apparently. I think @Greensleevie just pointed out a very real truth. There is a real reason a lot of insurance companies require the six month (or three month or whatever the duration might be) diet program. The problem is that most people do absolutely nothing with that time.