Total Frustration...

[LauriDJ 15]

Hi Everyone, I've been sorta lurking around in here & on a group I belong to on Facebook.

I have, what I feel to be, a frustrating issue & am not sure how to address it.

A little background. back in 2011 I had a gastric sleeve done in Mexico, 2012 the acid reflux started & now it's out of hand. I was referred to a gastro & my 1st meeting with him we discussed him doing a bypass, which I have no problem with. He did an endoscopy & then I had to start seeing the round of Dr's to be fast tracked.

Well on May 3 I had to go for my final green light, and I was given a yellow light from the psychologist. Reason 1) I was 4 days away from being smoke free for 60 days, 2) they have to talk to my therapist that I have been seeing since the end of February, and 3) I have to read a book called "End Emotional Eating". I was told that I have to read this, not because I'm an emotional eater, which I'm not, but because she says that I graze because I eat smaller meals spread throughout the day because of my sleeve, but I felt that she was just not understanding that I am NOT grazing.

She is an intern, and I even tried telling her attending that I am not grazing, but I don't think that she knows enough of the story.

Needless to say I have tried to read this book, I have tried to listen to this book, but I just can't get into it & I have to give her my take on the book before she will green light me.

Also too, as of this past Wed, she has not called my therapist, and he has been waiting for the phone call from her so that he can get me part B of the green light.

I am open to suggestions because this is beyond frustrating & I don't know what to do.

Thanks,

Lauri

[Berry78 4,259]

If the book is standing in the way of your revision.. Just do it!

How many meals a day are we talking?

These are all little battles... Fight through each one, and you'll be golden!

How many months did it take the acid to show up?

[LauriDJ 15]

When I'm on the "hospital diet" as I call it, I eat 4 - 6 times a day, but not grazing. My worst time is at night. That's when I really want to eat.

I was off my diet for a couple of weeks, but even then I don't graze, I just ate stuff I wasn't supposed to, though on the plus side I didn't gain any weight back.

As for the book, reading it isn't a problem (I bought the Kindle version & paid extra for the audio version), retaining what I read is the issue. Hubby told me to take notes, which I can highlight on Kindle, but I'm just having a tough time remembering anything in the book that I'm reading, and that wouldn't be a big deal except that she is wanting me to give her a synopsis of the book.

Lets see, I had the surgery in Sept 2011 & I want to say that the reflux started in April 2012. I just dealt with it until 2015 when I had an endoscopy done, but he was not a bariatric surgeon, so I had no clue this was even an option or I would have had it done a long time ago!

[Berry78 4,259]

Ok, tell her you thought about what she said about grazing, and realized 6 meals really is more than you need, so 3 meals and a snack is working just fine.

As for the book.. Just slog through it, and hopefully by the end there will be a couple memorable stories or examples in it. You just have to memorize those examples (1 or 2), and focus on that.

I asked about the reflux for me.. Was wondering how long it takes to show up

[MSinger 348]

I'm not trying to tell you what to do, but if I were in your shoes, I'd be looking to get a second opinion.

From my understanding, the psych eval is to make sure you do not have any obvious contraindications to surgery, such as inability to give consent, untreated psychiatric problems, active eating disorders. This book issue... yes, I do think you should read it - having additional resources is always a good thing. But did they not tell you about reading the book PRIOR to your appointment? It sounds like there is agreement that you do not have an untreated eating disorder but you are still being treated as though you do?

Again, this is just my opinion of what I would do, I'm not telling you to do it. Trust your gut.

[memabock 28]

I had to talk to my surgeon as my intern was emotionally blackmailing me. He, the surgeon put her in check. He also called the therapist and told her to move ahead... don't skip steps but be proactive for your care

[Abeille213 59]

As a therapist myself as well as someone who is going to have WLS, it sounds as if this intern is probable unsure herself about how to approach your situation. Most likely, she is having you do what she has seen her predecessors do... which is assign a very good book (IF you were an emotional eater) and "force" them to discuss it, i.e. force the client to face their emotional eating issue.
I'm sorry you're being made to do this when it doesn't seem relevant, but it most likely isn't worth the fight to argue or discuss with her about her. She may deny your surgery just because she feels you're being non-compliant with treatment. Read the book, take notes as you read. That way you won't have to remember everything you read. It will all be written down in your notes. Then go back and review the notes before you discuss it with her. Also, you can go on Amazon and read the reviews. You'll usually find a synopsis there. Kind of like Cliff's Notes.

As for not contacting your therapist yet, if she's an intern then it's likely she isn't there every day. She's probably busy with a million other things right now including finals, work, etc. And, since interns are unpaid, she probably isn't going to be putting work in after hours in order to contact your therapist. I would gently remind her when you see her that you're on a timetable here and need it ASAP. Good luck!


Currently waiting on surgery date to transition from lapband to bypass.
HW: 402, CW: 314, GW 185

[Abeille213 59]

I had to talk to my surgeon as my intern was emotionally blackmailing me. He, the surgeon put her in check. He also called the therapist and told her to move ahead... don't skip steps but be proactive for your care

Wow. Emotionally blackmailing you? That's horrible. I'm sorry.


Currently waiting on surgery date to transition from lapband to bypass.
HW: 402, CW: 314, GW 185

[LauriDJ 15]

Hi All,

I talked to the intern on Monday. I had written her a letter & hand delivered it in hopes that I could get 5 minutes of her time. She was not in yet, so I left the letter with the receptionist, stopped at the grocery for more Propel Water, and went home. She called me later that day and we talked for about 10 minutes. She told me that the book is NOT a requirement to get my green light, but that she does have to talk to my therapist. She said that she was going to try to get hold of him this week. Well, here it is Wed night & she still has NOT gotten hold of him, which is really beginning to tick me off. My next step is to talk to her attending if she has not talked to him by Tuesday the 30th, though she did say that she is going to call me on, I think, the 1st.
So here is my thought, I went & seen her on May 3rd, the only 2 things keeping me from getting the green light was I had to wait until day 60 as a non smoker, and that was May 7th (I quit smoking on March 8th), and talking to my therapist, here it is 22 days later & she still hasn't even tried contacting him.

When she calls me next week, if she still hasn't contacted him I am going to get more upset than I already am.

I will keep you all updated

Lauri

[ColleenErin1974 195]

I'm sorry you are going through this. I had a situation with getting medically cleared. I'd call the office and get the run around from 2 of the receptionist. I then asked them to speak to their supervisor ASAP. Things got moving faster after I spoke with her and finally got my surgery date. I waited from 2/23/17 to 4/20/17 to get medically cleared. Then, I had to wait for approval, but found out I do not require prior approval per my insurance. I finally got the date on 5/3/17. 4 months of craziness.
Take control of your healthcare. Remember that the therapist works for you. Call his office to talk to him directly. One other thing, you can request to see him and not the intern. Your insurance will get billed with the therapists rate not for seeing an intern. You are entitled to see him since you are paying to see him. If you need to, request an appointment with him and tell them you do not want to see any interns.
The intern sounds like she doesn't much care about your surgery.
Call there every day if need be until you get ahold of him. That's what I did and it worked.
You can do this! Take care and God bless. And keep us posted![emoji3]

[LauriDJ 15]

I know that I'm definitely going to have to do something because I'm getting REALLY ticked off. At this point I seen the intern 23 days ago, she was on vacation last week, figure that to be 9 days, then I talked to her on Monday & still have yet to hear from her or my therapist. My therapist is going to call me as soon as he talks to her.

I guess I'll see what goes on when I start making phone calls come Tues, though I am going to call tomorrow, but I'm not holding my breath on anything.

Lauri

[LauriDJ 15]

Sooooo today I called to find out what is going on. I was told that the intern talked to my therapist on Wed for about 30 minutes. So things just have to be cleared by her attending & I will get my final green light.

Hopefully then I will get my surgery date! It just makes me mad, there were 14 days that she could have called my therapist & she didn't even bother. She waited until this week to finally call him. I mean I get it, I am NOT her only patient, but come on, really, you wait until 21 days after I seen you to call him?!?! REALLY?

At least it's done, it's my final green light, so once I hear her say on the 31st that it's a go I will be elated!

[ColleenErin1974 195]

Sooooo today I called to find out what is going on. I was told that the intern talked to my therapist on Wed for about 30 minutes. So things just have to be cleared by her attending & I will get my final green light.
Hopefully then I will get my surgery date! It just makes me mad, there were 14 days that she could have called my therapist & she didn't even bother. She waited until this week to finally call him. I mean I get it, I am NOT her only patient, but come on, really, you wait until 21 days after I seen you to call him?!?! REALLY?
At least it's done, it's my final green light, so once I hear her say on the 31st that it's a go I will be elated!

Good luck at your appointment tomorrow! I wish you well and crossing my fingers for you! Let us know how it goes![emoji3]