This slow process is killing me!

[Ed_NW 684]

I started the process back in April of this year (I think) and I don't even meet the surgeon to discuss what surgery I will be getting until Dec 4th. It's really frustrating when you see other people moving along at a quick pace and I'm stuck in the pre-op diet mode. This just seems like another diet that I'm tired of being on already. This is why I fail at diets. I've lost a lot of weight up to this point but now that I've reached the weight that I'm required to be at for surgery, I've stopped tracking what I eat. I just half heatedly follow a Keto diet and hope it stays off util my appointment on the 4th of next month. Who knows when the actual surgery will be scheduled. I heard through the grape vine that one of the two surgeons that perform WLS at Kaiser Overlake Hospital in Bellevue, WA quit and now there's only one to take on the enormous work load. That would explain the excruciatingly long wait. Anybody else experiencing frustration like this?

[Matt Z 4,140]

8 minutes ago, Ed_NW said:

I started the process back in April of this year (I think) and I don't even meet the surgeon to discuss what surgery I will be getting until Dec 4th. It's really frustrating when you see other people moving along at a quick pace and I'm stuck in the pre-op diet mode. This just seems like another diet that I'm tired of being on already. This is why I fail at diets. I've lost a lot of weight up to this point but now that I've reached the weight that I'm required to be at for surgery, I've stopped tracking what I eat. I just half heatedly follow a Keto diet and hope it stays off util my appointment on the 4th of next month. Who knows when the actual surgery will be scheduled. I heard through the grape vine that one of the two surgeons that perform WLS at Kaiser Overlake Hospital in Bellevue, WA quit and now there's only one to take on the enormous work load. That would explain the excruciatingly long wait. Anybody else experiencing frustration like this?

Have you called and tried to expedite things? For me, there were long waits, but when I told them I wanted to speed things up and that I'd take any appointment I could, they were able to move me up a lot. What concerns me is your "this is like a diet and I'm ready to give up" this surgery is exactly like a diet and you will need to continue following that "diet" for the rest of your life. If a year is too long to be doing something, What's going to happen post op when you still have to follow that diet?

[Ed_NW 684]

35 minutes ago, Matt Z said:

What concerns me is your "this is like a diet and I'm ready to give up" this surgery is exactly like a diet and you will need to continue following that "diet" for the rest of your life. If a year is too long to be doing something, What's going to happen post op when you still have to follow that diet?

Post op will be different considering the fact that I will have the "tool" that we are all after (or already have like in your case). I never used the words "ready to give up". I will never give up, I'm just sharing my frustration with the people on this forum that are pre op like me that don't have a definite date for their surgery. I don't know if you are able to reflect on your own mental battles before your first WLS but I'm sure the uncertainty was a bit of a mind @%&*.

Edited November 2, 2018 by Ed_NW

[Ed_NW 684]

21 minutes ago, Matt Z said:

Have you called and tried to expedite things? For me, there were long waits, but when I told them I wanted to speed things up and that I'd take any appointment I could, they were able to move me up a lot.

Thanks, I did call and send a message through the Kaiser message board like they require me to do but I think because of the chaos of losing one of their doctors, it fell on def ears.

[GreenTealael 25,614]

1 hour ago, Ed_NW said:

Thanks, I did call and send a message through the Kaiser message board like they require me to do but I think because of the chaos of losing one of their doctors, it fell on def ears.

Squeaky wheel gets the grease...

Stay strong and firm in your resolve to succeed pre and post op

Edited November 2, 2018 by GreenTealael

[MargoCL 677]

I'm sorry for your frustrations. I officially began the process on January 2nd of this year and I jumped through the mandated hoops like insurance requested. I was at the end of June that I met all those requirement and almost, not quite a full month later I got the insurance approval and phone call. But my decision on the type of surgery was discussed at my very first appointment. I met my surgeon when he completed my EGD in March and not again until the the end of June before my final approvals were sent in and then again on Surgery day.

The process is a process, just remember as frustrating as it can be, it's well worth it. You've got this!

[CrankyMagpie 509]

I would be frustrated, too. My pre-op diet was a lot more bearable than what you're doing, in that it was essentially the long-term diet of a bariatric patient,* just ... more, because I didn't have the tool yet. Protein first, then veggies/fruit (fruit was limited to 1 serving per meal, but I could have it with every meal if I wanted), and I was allowed whole grains, as well (also limited to 1 serving per meal -- 1/2 cup brown rice, 1 wrap, and so on). Snacks were not encouraged, but I could have a cheese stick if I really needed it. Unlimited sugarfree Jello and popsicles got me through a lot of night time hunger, since I was supposed to be losing 10% of my body weight on that diet. (And I did, just barely.)

Keto's a lot harder for me to stick to, although if you've been doing it since April, I guess by now you've got your household and friends working with you (for instance: not doing meetups at pizza joints all the time).

I wonder if you might want to take this time to switch over to something closer to what Kaiser will want you to do, long-term? You'll regain a little of your natural Water weight, going back to eating fruit and higher-carb vegetables, and some people find that to be too upsetting, so this is just an idea for you to consider, no pressure. But once I settled into it a little, I found the normal long-term bariatric patient diet to be really doable, and that encouraged me a lot, in the time leading up to my surgery--I didn't have these "I can't do this diet anymore" feelings, so much (until the liquid diet, ugh). It didn't feel like a diet. I even had small cheats, from time to time (examples: a small piece of pie at my partner's birthday, a trip out with friends who wanted frozen yogurt--mine was heavy on the fruit, light on the yogurt, pizza with some veggies on it a maximum of once per month), and continued to lose weight. It felt good, for me, anyway.

To be clear: I'd still have been frustrated to have the process take so long. Not in an "I can't do this" kind of way, but just because the anxiety of having it hanging over me, and having to hold off on some things I wanted (a new job, mostly) would have been upsetting. I just wouldn't have suffered any additional strain from the diet.

Anyway, whether this is a good idea for you or not, your feelings are entirely justified. It's reasonable to be upset.

*sure, sure, lots of bariatric patients do Keto, post-op, but there aren't that many doctors that force it on you -- I know for a fact Kaiser doesn't

[Ed_NW 684]

58 minutes ago, CrankyMagpie said:

I would be frustrated, too. My pre-op diet was a lot more bearable than what you're doing, in that it was essentially the long-term diet of a bariatric patient,* just ... more, because I didn't have the tool yet. Protein first, then veggies/fruit (fruit was limited to 1 serving per meal, but I could have it with every meal if I wanted), and I was allowed whole grains, as well (also limited to 1 serving per meal -- 1/2 cup brown rice, 1 wrap, and so on). Snacks were not encouraged, but I could have a cheese stick if I really needed it. Unlimited sugarfree Jello and popsicles got me through a lot of night time hunger, since I was supposed to be losing 10% of my body weight on that diet. (And I did, just barely.)

Keto's a lot harder for me to stick to, although if you've been doing it since April, I guess by now you've got your household and friends working with you (for instance: not doing meetups at pizza joints all the time).

I wonder if you might want to take this time to switch over to something closer to what Kaiser will want you to do, long-term? You'll regain a little of your natural Water weight, going back to eating fruit and higher-carb vegetables, and some people find that to be too upsetting, so this is just an idea for you to consider, no pressure. But once I settled into it a little, I found the normal long-term bariatric patient diet to be really doable, and that encouraged me a lot, in the time leading up to my surgery--I didn't have these "I can't do this diet anymore" feelings, so much (until the liquid diet, ugh). It didn't feel like a diet. I even had small cheats, from time to time (examples: a small piece of pie at my partner's birthday, a trip out with friends who wanted frozen yogurt--mine was heavy on the fruit, light on the yogurt, pizza with some veggies on it a maximum of once per month), and continued to lose weight. It felt good, for me, anyway.

To be clear: I'd still have been frustrated to have the process take so long. Not in an "I can't do this" kind of way, but just because the anxiety of having it hanging over me, and having to hold off on some things I wanted (a new job, mostly) would have been upsetting. I just wouldn't have suffered any additional strain from the diet.

Anyway, whether this is a good idea for you or not, your feelings are entirely justified. It's reasonable to be upset.

*sure, sure, lots of bariatric patients do Keto, post-op, but there aren't that many doctors that force it on you -- I know for a fact Kaiser doesn't

Thanks for understanding and for the advice. I was thinking about going back on Kaiser's diet about 4 weeks before meeting the surgeon. Hopefully once we meet the ball will get moving and I will feel that forward momentum again.

[GreenTealael 25,614]

Honestly, stay the course friend. For you the surgery will be a maintenance tool since you are putting in all the really hard work now. Besides I agree about the lifetime commitment to the plan. I am randomly meeting sooooo many VETs that had surgery years and years ago, were very successful short term then got bored and are very heavy now. When I ask them what happened, because I can't help it, that say they just didn't feel like doing it anymore

Cautionary tale

Edited November 2, 2018 by GreenTealael

[elcee 3,343]

I feel your frustration, the difference between dieting pre and post op is like the difference between day and night.

Hopefully they won’t make you wait much longer

[OlRachel 11]

Hey there! So, maybe reach out to eviva? I'm working with them and the only slow part has been insurance. I would call them and let them know where you're at in the process and you can schedule a consult right away with them! It's possible you can get your surgery before end of the year with them! I go to the shoreline one :)

[chuckwalsh 122]

I think 6 months pre op wait is the norm.. at least in my state of Maryland it is.. and time passes.. shrug.. dont worry.

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[patd53 0]

I went through Boston Medical Hospital Massachusetts. Met with the surgeon in June 2018 and had my surgery 11/28. With my program it went as fast as you could get the appointments. There was an order to who you had to see when (psych was last). Also there was all the medical tests that had to be done. I had already had sleep study as I am on CPAP machine, stomach tests as I had severe gerd/reflux. So that also cut down on my wait time. I took as many appointments any time they could give them to me.
I started my pre op diet the day I met the surgeon and he gave me amount I had to loose. I lost quickly. Plus an additional 15lbs. But when I met with surgeon again in early November after I got my surgery date I had gained back all my weight. I thought I was done for. But he looked at me and said “ This is why you’re having this surgery, diets don’t work”. He wasn’t applauding my gain but was helping me understand how tough things are always going to be but with this TOOL I have a greater chance of reaching my goals.
Good luck to you. Stay strong!!

[BostonWLKC 807]

On 12/03/2018 at 06:27, patd53 said:

I went through Boston Medical Hospital Massachusetts. Met with the surgeon in June 2018 and had my surgery 11/28. With my program it went as fast as you could get the appointments. There was an order to who you had to see when (psych was last). Also there was all the medical tests that had to be done. I had already had sleep study as I am on CPAP machine, stomach tests as I had severe gerd/reflux. So that also cut down on my wait time. I took as many appointments any time they could give them to me.

I started my pre op diet the day I met the surgeon and he gave me amount I had to loose. I lost quickly. Plus an additional 15lbs. But when I met with surgeon again in early November after I got my surgery date I had gained back all my weight. I thought I was done for. But he looked at me and said “ This is why you’re having this surgery, diets don’t work”. He wasn’t applauding my gain but was helping me understand how tough things are always going to be but with this TOOL I have a greater chance of reaching my goals.

Good luck to you. Stay strong!!

I had my rny at BMC too!

[The 56 Bypass 82]

I'm so sorry this has become such a long process for you. [emoji58]

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