Pre-Surgery Tests, Evals & Specialists?

[KathyLynn 1]

I haven't meet with the surgeon yet...they won't see me until after 4 months SWL with my primary doctor. I was wondering what to expect. Who all will I have to meet with? What tests, evaluations & specialists will I have to do/see? I know I will meet with the surgeon, nutritionist & psych eval...what else? Please share if you have already done this pre-surgery work-up. Also, when things do get moving a long, how soon did you get your surgery date. Thanks for sharing!

[bbbanded 70]

I think most places are a bit different. For me though, I first met with the I guess assistant of the surgeon, then the same day sat and spoke with the surgeon himself. When I sat with his assistant I scheduled most of my appointments, and found out I'd have to do 6 months of nurtitionist appointments (normally its three).

I had to do a sleep study, then meet with a pulmonologist? Theeen an upper endoscopy, met with a psychologist for an eval. Then had to get a physical from my primary doctor, where I found out I needed a letter of medical necessity, for my NEW insurance. Then I met with the assistant again and she set an appt for me to do a chest xray an ekg and blood work.

I got my surgery date at abooout my 5th month nutritionist meeting. Expect your surgery to be a good 3-4 weeks after your last manditory appointment.

[B-52 7,113]

I haven't meet with the surgeon yet...they won't see me until after 4 months SWL with my primary doctor. I was wondering what to expect. Who all will I have to meet with? What tests, evaluations & specialists will I have to do/see? I know I will meet with the surgeon, nutritionist & psych eval...what else? Please share if you have already done this pre-surgery work-up. Also, when things do get moving a long, how soon did you get your surgery date. Thanks for sharing!

That's a little odd, I was given a "To Do" list with all things I needed to complete while I was on the SWL. So when that was done, we reviewed everything, and if it was a go, I met with the surgeon and scheduled the surgery date.

Also, the SWL was not acceptable from my PCP. I had to sign up for a Bariatric Weight Loss Clinic. Those consisted of weekly appointments where I was weighed in, sat down with the Dr. and reviewed my weekly status, and then had to buy all the shakes and Protein bars.

My insurance did not pay for this, and it cost me $180 a week out of pocket, for 6 months!

Granted, 3 months into the program and it went to every 2 weeks.

And like evry other diet I have ever been on, I did well in the beginning, lost weight, then started to gain it all back.

[Greekie17 22]

Every insurance co. is different. The surgeon's office told me that's because they ultimately hope you will not be able to complete all the steps and therefore they won't have to pay for the surgery! Pretty cynical, but probably true! I went for my meet the surgeon appt. last Monday, Jan 9th, and got my surgery date at that time. They gave me a list of required last minute (w/in 30 days of surgery) items that had to be completed prior to my pre-op visit on Feb. 2nd. These included bloodwork, letter of medical necessity, ekg, chest xray, etc. Almost done with all that. Oh, and the most important- how much weight I must lose by 2-2-12 or they won't do the surgery! (4 lbs- I'm almost there).

[Fit in my 60's 25]

I started out by going to a seminar. Then I called to start the process and was assigned a nurse navigator. Next I started my 6 month supervised weight loss with my family dr. At month 4, I turned in a big packet of information I had to fill out. Then I went in for an appt. with a therapist, nutritionist, and nurse. I had to pay a $300 fee at this time but they said it would cover me for the rest of my life whenever I wanted to meet with any of the above people. A couple of weeks after that I went in to meet with my surgeon. Just last week I completed my 6 month SWL with my dr and now waiting to have some testing done. They're doing an echocardiogram, spirometry (lungs), and some kind of test to check for blood clots in the legs. My dr. also did some lab work. After all that is turned in it's just a matter of scheduling the surgery, which they said shouldn't be long after that. When I started all this it seemed like a lot to do and so far away, but now that it is right around the corner, it seems like time went by pretty fast. Every dr. gives different guidelines, so just follow along with whatever they tell you. Good luck.

[kll724 3,055]

I 1st met with the surgeon's team. He required the seminar 1st, then checked with the insurance company for me. They required a 6 month monitored weightloss program. I chose to do it with the bariatric center. I needed to see a nutritionist and have a pych evaluation. After the 6 months, I got my okay for surgery right away. Good luck, I was 61 when I had my surgery. Karen

[Jean McMillan 2,973]

Pre-op tests & evaluations will depend on your insurance policy's requirements, your surgeon's requirements, and your existing health conditions. Their purpose is to evaluate your need for surgery as well as your ability to survive surgery; additional tests are usually required of any surgery patient by the hospital or surgery center, about one week before surgery.

My pre-op tests & evaluations went on for 11 weeks, so it would be great if you could get a jump on at least some of them if the surgeon's office could give you some guidelines. Also, attending a WLS seminar and/or support group meeting would give you a chance to hear what other patients have done, My own pre-op stuff included: educational seminar, surgical consult, nutritionist consult, psych evaluation, metabolism test, helicobacter pylori test, sleep study, blood tests, urinalysis, heart stress test, pulmonary evaluation,pre-op diet class (liver shrinkage diet), upper endoscopy (EGD), chest x-ray, EKG, and a vena cava filter placement (and later, removal).

Jean

[KathyLynn 1]

I started out by going to a seminar. Then I called to start the process and was assigned a nurse navigator. Next I started my 6 month supervised weight loss with my family dr. At month 4, I turned in a big packet of information I had to fill out. Then I went in for an appt. with a therapist, nutritionist, and nurse. I had to pay a $300 fee at this time but they said it would cover me for the rest of my life whenever I wanted to meet with any of the above people. A couple of weeks after that I went in to meet with my surgeon. Just last week I completed my 6 month SWL with my dr and now waiting to have some testing done. They're doing an echocardiogram, spirometry (lungs), and some kind of test to check for blood clots in the legs. My dr. also did some lab work. After all that is turned in it's just a matter of scheduling the surgery, which they said shouldn't be long after that. When I started all this it seemed like a lot to do and so far away, but now that it is right around the corner, it seems like time went by pretty fast. Every dr. gives different guidelines, so just follow along with whatever they tell you. Good luck.

Fit in my 60's ...

I think we may be neighbors. I'm in Spencer County Ky. The information you listed sounds exactly what I have to do. Nice to meet you and Good Luck to you!