Newbie from Tacoma, Washington

[bluereef 0]

I've been thinking of having this lap band thing done. One of my questions it why do they need to do a mental test? What kind of questions do they ask? Are they just trying to see if you are crazy of what?

Before surgery you have to be on an all liquid diet I've heard, what are you allowed to have?

Also after the surgery what are you allowed to have and how long before you can eat solids, I've heard that you can't have solids for a while.

Are there any other tests I have to do before they let me have it?

[Dave_NW 92]

I've been thinking of having this lap band thing done. One of my questions it why do they need to do a mental test? What kind of questions do they ask? Are they just trying to see if you are crazy of what?

Before surgery you have to be on an all liquid diet I've heard, what are you allowed to have?

Also after the surgery what are you allowed to have and how long before you can eat solids, I've heard that you can't have solids for a while.

Are there any other tests I have to do before they let me have it?

Hi Fellow Washingtonian! Welcome to the Forums.

There is a ton of information on this website, and your questions have many answers. Search the Forums and you'll find a lot of information you're after.

If you plan to have your insurance pay for the surgery, before you do anything else you should ask them what they require. That will tell you a lot about what you can expect. The second part of that is once you've selected a surgeon, contact that office, to see if they have a free seminar you can attend before committing to surgery. You can get direct answers to your questions from them. Everything else is speculation.

The reason there is no exact answer to your questions is because different insurance carriers have different requirements, and so do the surgeons. It seems there are plenty of ways to do this, and different surgeons go about the process differently. Some insurance carriers require you to go through a six month supervised diet before they'll approve you for surgery. Others (like mine) don't require that.

In my case, I have Tricare Prime as my insurance. I did not have to go through a lot of preliminary steps. I chose Swedish Hospital for my surgery, and Dr. Ross McMahon (the head of the bariatric department at Swedish) as my surgeon. I highly recommend him - the guy knows his stuff. I've had zero problems, and I'm very pleased with him and his staff. Check my ticker in my signature to see how well I've done with this. I'm very happy.

I attended a free seminar at Swedish before they'd let me make an appointment to see anyone. They require that so you'll have a good idea what to expect before going into the office. When I did meet with their staff, I met with a psychologist, a physician, a nutritionist, and the surgeon himself. Each meeting was for a different purpose, but they all serve a good reason.

The psychologist is there to make sure you have realistic expectations of band surgery, and what it will do for you. The band is NOT a magic bullet that will solve your life or your problems. If you have a food addiction, that won't change. If you're lazy and expect the band to do all the work, you will be disappointed. If you think you can live on junk food and still lose weight, you'd be wrong. The psychologist will ask about these kinds of things. If you research things ahead of time, and go in with a clear head about what to expect, you'll do fine. Band surgery is an expensive thing to go through, and you need to be fully aware of your part in the process to achieve the best success.

Other tests you may need ahead of time will depend on the results of the physical exam the Physician will do on you. Your age, weight status, general physical condition, and so forth all have an effect. They need to ensure you're healthy enough for surgery. I had to have an endoscopy, where they found I had a hiatal hernia. I had no idea I had one. They repaired that during surgery.

Swedish did not require me to do a pre-op liquid diet. (Just the last day before surgery.) But I was required to do three weeks of liquids after surgery, to give my band the best chance to heal up. I don't know if everyone they operate on has the same kind of thing. Again, they can tell you that.

I hope this has helped you a bit. Search things for more specific answers, but remember that different surgeons have different requirements, so the answers you get here may not be exactly how it plays out for you.

Wishing you great success going forward, if you decide banding is the right option for you. Good luck!

Dave

[gd;dagjlkg 0]

I've been thinking of having this lap band thing done. One of my questions it why do they need to do a mental test? What kind of questions do they ask? Are they just trying to see if you are crazy of what?

Before surgery you have to be on an all liquid diet I've heard, what are you allowed to have?

Also after the surgery what are you allowed to have and how long before you can eat solids, I've heard that you can't have solids for a while.

Are there any other tests I have to do before they let me have it?

Hi there bluereef, I see we don't live too far from each other

I also wondered why you'd need a mental test, but I had the surgery one week ago and I can tell you that it has such a profound affect on you, even after you wake up from sugery. If you are like me, you've spent a long time eating unhealthy, and if you are serious about this surgery, you have to realize that you are not going ever be able to eat the same way again. There are no tricks, there is no cheating - you have to make the choice that you are ok with never eating that big juicy cheeseburger again, that you don't care about pizza and cheesy breadsticks, that you are ok with never having soda again (even diet), or fries or enchiladas or any of those unhealthy but oh so tasty foods you eat right now. You have to tell yourself that you are worth more than what you eat and that you are ok sticking to just the healthy foods (which unfortunately cuts out a lot in our day and age). That is what the mental test is looking for? It is basically asking - do you have what it takes?

Specifically, I remember the dr that tested me asked questions such as: Have you ever hurt yourself?, Would you ever hurt yourself? Do you have a group of people that care about you and support you? And he also asked questions about me and my life such as: What do you do for a living? Do you enjoy your job? etc. I also had to sit down and do one of those bubble fill-in tests. That asked me questions that were sometimes weird such as: Are you happy being female? Do you feel you are being honest on this test? etc.

Ultimately, like I said above, the whole purpose is to see if you are serious enough and can handle all the changes you will have to make in your life because they sure aren't easy.

For me, the week before surgery they wanted me to lose 10 lbs. The reason for this is to shrink your liver. Your liver is this huge organ that lays up near where the surgery needs to take place. If you lose weight, the liver shrinks, the surgery is easier to perform, and you will most likely recover faster. I wasn't restricted to liquids. I was able to have 3 Protein shakes during the day and eat a frozen dinner such as a Healthy Choice if it was around 270 calories or less, for dinner. I can tell you that week before surgery was hard and I messed up a few times. I'd eat a 2nd Healthy Choice after the first one or other mistakes like that. I was close to losing the 10 lbs and was still able to go through with my surgery, thank God, but they do have you stick to that strict diet for a reason!

For this past week I again haven't been stuck to just liquids. Mostly, but I've also had Jello, yogurt, popcicles, fudgecicles, etc (all sugarfree and low cal). This is because they've put the band around your stomach and basically it is saying WTF!?!? You can't get too much down. BUT - I can tell you the lucky thing for me is that I wasn't very hungry during the first week. I'd have a popcicle and feel fine (it actually felt sort of crazy that I didn't want more). Now I'm in my second week and I get to add things like fluffy scrambed eggs, runny oatmeal, etc. It doesn't sound like much, but for the most part I'm doing pretty good. For example I can tell you a few days ago I cried and cried because my younger sister has been coming over to visit me to see how I've been doing and for some reason each time she comes over she brings a bag of food from Wendy's or McDonalds or wherever. When she came on this specific day I was feeling hungry and having a hard time. I broke down a little. The main focus is to keep at it, to deal with the liquids, to eat the runny food, because it is just for a short time. Soon you will be able to get back to the real stuff, even if it is more healthy and in smaller portions than you are used to.

Lastly, for other tests, my insurance required that I go to 3 months of appointments with a nutritionist. I was not fond of mine, however I'm sure if you find a good one you can really start to learn things from them.

I hope this has been helpful to you, and let me tell you this, hopefully for incentive. I have struggled over the past week, but I have also lost 11 lbs! When I get sad or upset I just have to remind myself of the good. 11 lbs in a week?? I've never done that in my life and don't know who has! That makes me feel amazing!!

Good luck to you