Hi everyone. I have my first appointment for WLS Wednesday. I will be self pay and am thinking the sleeve if the direction that I want to go. ANy advice on what to ask or specific info I should get in this appointment?

I have my own list but thoughts I would see what you all thought.

Also...right now I have a trip scheduled in April 2020 to go to Italy. I am considering postponing that trip until Sept or October 2020 and having my surgery late this winter. The center I am looking at indicated that since I am self-pay the time line could be as little as 2-3 months so possibly by Feb 2020. I realize this is a SUPER first world problem question but wanted to see what you all thought. The purpose of the trip is to take my mom to Amalfi and Sicily where our family is from....I don't care about eating everything there. At this point I care more about getting started on my road to better health. What do you think??

Thank you!!

I think if you take the trip six months after the surgery if all goes as normal, which it probably will, you will have an awesome time RELIEVED of the stress of being hungry so often as I used to be pre-sleeve. You won't be able to eat as much, but you should be able to eat smaller amounts of a lot of things you want.

I wanted to know:

Will the surgeon I meet with be doing my surgery

How many as she done

As about good and poor outcomes she has seen and why she thinks that happened

If you can talk to any of her former patients

If the cost is an issue, I would also want to meet with someone at the hospital and the practice to get all the costs. My hospital stay cost the most, then the surgery, then the anesthesia. (My insurance paid.)

Try to be relaxed is my advice. Remember you are the consumer since you are self pay. Then ask all the questions you can think of. How long is your hospital stay? How many surgeries has your surgeon done? What is the most common adverse outcome (complication)? How often does your surgeon see that outcome? Who else is on your "team"? What does post-surgery care look like? If you're going out of country, who will see you post-op in the US? Who can you call with questions or concerns throughout your process?

Scour the threads here to see what people are most concerned about and have questions with, this forum is a great resource for you.

Wishing you the best!

I don't think you have to postpone your trip at all: I was sleeved July 18 and since then have gone to Ocean CIty fishing on a offshore boat, Gone to Cuba to fall in love and fish, and just got back last weekend from a 4 day offshore here in Florida - and those trips rock and roll and are physically hard.

What to ask. = I would ask any real question you have, You are paying him. For example make sure you understand the Air issues, Gas issues, and heartburn issues. Not that you will get them all but the Air is a given.

If I was to go back to pre surgery I would have spent a ton more time on Nutrition and food planning and Vitamins and Minerals. It took me about 3 weeks to really get the hang of N.F.V.M (My acronym for above) This is hard and is key to being happy healthy. The main problem is all the freaking adds. Buy this - Do this- Buy this. I choose to hire a nutritionist and go extreme on the Vits and Minerals. I am a engineer by trade so the research and planning was a big project. Focus on each of the NFVM individually and all will be well. 95 percent of the stuff you will read on the net is marketing. I have found this place to be great Facts and not marketing - with exception to the adds to the right. This will be a great journey for you but nothing is easy, Getting set up Pre Surgery is my suggestion, after surgery its hard but not impossible to get the action plan in place

FYI: Get out of bed as soon as you can and do this. Walk Sip Walk walk walk SIp walk walk sip walk - In other words move, It is the key to the first week being a a hell of a lot easier

Good Luck on your journey, i am not sure of anything else i can add. I also wouldnt postpone the trip, you should be fine. One thing i do know, is you can take your protein shakes on a plane through security as they are considered medically necessary. ( they will make you pop them open so they can vapor test them though) that will help a lot while you are away.

Thank you for the advice everyone!