Hi all of you lovely people!!! :drool:

I have yet another question! When you go to the Therapist... what all kinds of things is he or she going to ask me? Is there anything I should or shouldn't say? I don't want to slow down this process anymore than it's gonna take! I know that sounds horrible, but I have been in therapy for the last 8 years.

I go for my first consult appt today!!! Soooo excited!!! :tongue2::Dancing_wub:

I read an article that said a very high percentage of potential lap-band patients that are turned down based on their psych evaluations, were turned down because of being "emotional eaters." So if you eat when you're stressed or sad, then that may be a red flag to your psychologist. I think because if that's the kind of eater you are, it makes it more likely that you will figure out ways to "stress" eat with the band in place. I think that article was on WebMD, but I couldn't find it to put the link in here. But I'm sure if you search through the forum you'll get more feedback on this.

Good luck!

Congrats on your first consult! It feels so good to get things going, huh? My psych eval was 3 hours long... The first part was just basic paperwork, going over my history of being overweight/ family history, and a short essay on what banding is. The second part was a 567 3part true/ false personality test.. The test was pretty straight forward.. It asked questions like, "I tend to have a low self esteem", or "I look for food when I am stressed", but also seriously bizarre questions like "I think someone is trying to rob me", and "I want to hurt my Mother"... lol Strange, but true. I am not sure that every Doc does this personality "test" prior to surgery though?? The last part was talking to the doctor, and he reviewed my history that I had filled out earlier.. It was pretty easy... Just tiring. Hope this helps:)

Kerri

Don't worry about the psych. I worried enough for everyone. It was a breeze. I kicked myself afterward for worrying so much. Pretty simple. I had a test that lasted about 1 1/2 hours...basic questions...some were "way out there". Talked to dr. for 45 min and that was about it. She just asked questions about any psych history, weight history, family history, etc. You'll do fine. Good luck!

Just keep in mind that the psych's job isn't to turn you down, it's to help you find alternate ways to cope that will not hinder your success with the band. I don't know personally a single person who has been truly turned down, but I do know some who required additional visits as the psych felt they needed more work on managing their behaviors.

Say what's the truth. Even if it slows you down a bit, it really will be SO worth it. It will help you. Right now you're in the "right now!" mode, but an extra visit or two, while it may delay your surgery, will be priceless if it helps. You may not see it looking at it from the outside, but there's a loooooot of head stuff with the band, more than I anticipated (I say that as a bandster with a MS in psychology).

Now having said that, I didn't have to do any formal tests. I went in and we talked. He asked me about my history of obesity, asked me to identify my stressors... and then because we have an interest in the same field (human performance) we chatted on performance theory. :tongue2: He told me I was behavioral eater, which I already knew, and told me to develop a program of behavioral change for myself (normally he does this for patients, I would imagine, but since I already knew what it was and how to do it I did my own). I required 3 total visits.

Mine was about 45 mins. I had very little paper work to fill out. He asked questions like if i suffered from depession ( did around age 16) and my weight history. he asked what members if an in my family was over weight. told hi my mom, grandma on my moms side and my grandma on my dads side ( and shes the only one who managd to lose weight by her own. grr) asked if anyone else suffered depression in my family. he asked me to memorize 3 words and he would ask me for them at the end of the session. e gave me tw phares to see if i knew what they ment. Oe i never heard of in my life. I dont know what that had to do about getting lap band...but oh well. At he end he asked me when I hoped to get the surgery. I told him by march. and he said he'll have the paper work to them by morning.

Come to find out I didn't have to do the therapist thing after all!!! Yay! My appt went AWESOME! They are supposed to submit my paperwork to insurance by Wed and my insurance company usually gives an approval within 10 days. So after that they will do my tests (x-rays, ekg etc) and set me a date! :-D :-D :-D