Hello,

My first appointment with the surgeon is Thursday. I'm nervous and excited and generally not looking forward to the hour and 20 minute drive there. I am wondering what I should expect? I've met with the nutritionist. I've done my required three appointments monitoring my diet/habits. I have no idea if I should expect more surgeon appointments, or what comes next? I know I need testing done, but I don't know if that happens before or after you have a date set. What should I expect from the surgeon?

Thank you!

Impossible to say. They're all different. They might measure you, take pix, weight. They will talk about your history with diets. They will talk about your comorbidities. They will talk about your surgical options.

They will all have a different list of what they require.

The good ones will require you see a therapist, a dietician, and attend a support group meeting. They will offer access to things like exercise classes and healthy cooking classes geared to bariatric patients.

You'll likely need a lot of medical tests. Blood panel, upper GI, chest xrays, ekg, presurgical stuff.

Typically, you get a date after you do all or most of your prereqs.

Wishing you the best.

Thanks! I've already done the psych appointment, their required class, and the nutrition appointments. They wanted that done before I even saw the surgeon. The order they do things in does seem weird.

5 minutes ago, hauntedhideaway said:

The order they do things in does seem weird.

Indeed! Good luck at your appointment:)

2 minutes ago, Creekimp13 said:

Indeed! Good luck at your appointment:)

Thanks!

My appointment with the surgeon himself, we just went over the surgery. He mentioned which type he'd recommend given my weight and co-morbidities. Then he went over what the surgery itself involved and asked if I had any other questions. Was very short and to the point. Now, that same day I also spoke with a nurse and dietician. The nurse asked some more probing questions about my acid reflux and ended up ordering an endoscopy since I was self-pay (and therefore couldn't afford revision if I got sleeve and it made things worse). We also went over pre and post-op expectations, as well as what to expect during the hospital stay.

They way mine was set up was 6 months with my first visit being with the surgeon to discuss everything and then everything in between. I saw the surgeon or his NP at every visit for the next 6 months. In between I saw the dietitian, a cardiologist (with additional testing that I now see every 6 months for a congenital heart defect I never knew about!), a pulmonologist (with additional testing and eventual clearance), a physical therapist (for clearance), a psychologist (for clearance), and had to attend at least one support group meeting before being cleared for surgery.
At my initial appointment with my surgeon we went over diet history, the kinds of surgery and which one I’d prefer and what he suggested, my weight and health history, and any questions I may have.