I had my first meeting with the nutritionist last Thursday (first of three). It lasted about 40 mins and she just asked questions about my diet history and eating habits, and then she emailed me a packet with guidelines about the 2-week pre op diet and the post op diet. Then she quickly ended the meeting as soon as I said I had no more questions. It felt very abrupt and not what I thought it would be. Has anyone else's experience been like that with the nutritionist? Is this how it is?

That sounds about average to me. I've met with a few different nutritionists on and off for several years as I was in the non-surgical side of my hospital's program for about 6 years before my doctor recommended starting to pursue surgery this past summer. This time around for the surgery prep meeting, I discussed my eating habits, asked a few questions, and we went over the stages of eating after surgery plus supplements, etc. But honestly, if they get the sense you understand how to eat healthily and there aren't any specific issues to go over, that's about it. Mine was about 45 minutes.

My dietician always writes on my record "unknowledgable about eating correctly".... LOL It used to get me mad,but now I just laugh at it. Maybe she does it for insurance purposes or to justify her job ...who knows. She makes me write down everything I eat ,which has gotten to be a pain ,but I do it . It does help me keep up with my protein intake. I see her on Oct.25 of this month . I've written everything down and I've been at a stall for 3 and a half months now .I'm anxious to see what she'll say .

mine was an hour with a group via zoom. Went over everything and gave us meal plans. Its been a month she reached out to me asking if I was still interested in the surgery ect...I am still in the process of losing the weight the surgeon wants me to in order to advance to the next step. But it was a lot of info

Mine was a class with other people. Took about 90 minutes, went over pre-op diet, post surgery food stages, and long term diet. It was easygoing. The dietician asked if any of us felt we needed individualized help with diet planning and a few people asked for private sessions but I didn't. I am pretty knowledgeable about nutrition and understand the stages and such. I have another session right before surgery (if they ever get it scheduled) to go over the first few weeks of the diet. And then I have another class before we transition to soft foods... It seems this practice prefers classes for most of their nutrition info. Though I have the dietitian's email if I have any questions or need a private session, so that's nice. I have found most dietitians/nutritionists to be pretty business-like and a little abrupt in their manner, so your experience sounds pretty normal.

4 hours ago, Gothikarose said:

I had my first meeting with the nutritionist last Thursday (first of three). It lasted about 40 mins and she just asked questions about my diet history and eating habits, and then she emailed me a packet with guidelines about the 2-week pre op diet and the post op diet. Then she quickly ended the meeting as soon as I said I had no more questions. It felt very abrupt and not what I thought it would be. Has anyone else's experience been like that with the nutritionist? Is this how it is?

What did you think it would be OP? Might be worth feeding back your expectations Vs your experience.

I can see that if she asked for questions, and you had none, and she had provided all the information she felt she had to then it might have been difficult from her end to extend that particular meeting. I suspect she'll have had another lined up soon after.

If you would like to get more from future meetings then maybe just say so in advance and be clear about what you would like her approach to be.

My first one at the clinic (I had 12 prior as an insurance requirement) was just myself and the Dietician he asked me how I was currently eating, and told me he was glad my insurance required 12 prior visits with a dietician before getting to him, then he went over what eating after surgery would be like, showed me a portion size shot glass. Told me about vitamins, and recommended I try different kinds of protein shakes, so I would know what I liked when I got to the 2-week full liquid pre-op. He explained the order to eat my foods in, and to try and get a little of each, after the healing period, during the healing period he said it was more important to focus on protein. lasted about an hour

My second visit was virtual, went over the full liquid pre-op diet and was given my start date. My clinic gives you a book on your very first visit that has all of the information, so I was reminded what page the 2-week full liquid pre-op diet was on. lasted about 30 min

My third visit was virtual and in a group, we again went over the 2-week full liquid pre-op and over the 2-week post-op at which point there is an in-person visit, where we are evaluated and will be told how to proceed next with our diet. Again we were told what pages to refer in our book. lasted 1.5 hours