Counseling Before Surgery?

[Wannalosealot 0]

Hi Everyone:) !

I am new to this board and this is my first post. I thought I had a surgery date(actually I did) and the center where I am having surgery has you talk to their psychologist prior to approval. Any way to make a long story short He called me by phone to do an interview(over the phone) and I was way PMS-ing and he said I need to see a counselor a couple times before he'll sign off on my surgery:phanvan . I swear I'm not loco :heh: but this soo sucks!! I feel like once again someone else("the man") is in control of my life. Has anyone else had to go to counseling prior to surgery?

I am really mad because my surgery date was scheduled for May 22, 3 weeks prior to my kids getting out of school and perfect timing for me to finish my pre-op stuff(I am self pay). I guess I just need to vent!

The psych said he'll have to talk to my counselor after I see him a couple times and this guy(the center's psych) is only in the office one day a week!

Thanks for any in put you have,

Dawn:cry

[Wannalosealot 0]

Thank you Jack. I love your potrait by the way. You are probably right, it will help me with my confidence in the decision. It's best to have all of my multiple personalities in agreement before moving forward! LOL!

Thanks Again,

Dawn

[PhotoNut 7]

Dawn, I failed my first evaluation too. But the psychologist agreed to let me come back in a couple of weeks and retake the tests. And then I did better.

I find it very hard to believe that he did an evaluation with you over the phone. If you are uncomfortable with this, call him back and tell him that you were having a bad day and would like to speak with him again in a week or so for reconsideration. If he refuses, I would call the surgeon and tell him that this guy did your eval over the phone. That just doesnt sound professional to me at all. My eval was three hours of testing and discussion with the psychologist.

If the guy is on the level and your Dr feels that the evaluation was complete and trustworthy, then I guess I'd go with Jack's thoughts and count it up to growth. Don't you all agree, Dawn? *chuckles*

[Wannalosealot 0]

Oh Susan, you ARE Funny:D !! Yeah, I thought it was a bit weird over the phone. I will call him and ask him for a face to face. All of myselves think it's a good idea. I'll still see the other therapist for good measure. Oh and I don't think we(you or us) failed, we just didn't give them the answers they wanted to hear!! Failure is not an option!!!

Thanks for giving us(LOL) such good advice:heh: .

Blessings,

Dawn

[DonnaB 3]

It sounds like a racket to help pay for their kids' college to me. Or their trophy wife's bling and plastic surgery. I'm not saying therapy isn't a valuable option I just don't think it really applies to our situation. You wouldn't require a smoker to get a psych eval before prescribing a patch (do you need a prescription for a patch? show's how much I know! LOL)

Maybe I'm way off base but it sounds like a waste of money and breath to me.

[PhotoNut 7]

Actually, I thought it was stupid and a waste of money as well. But after talking with the guy I sort of understood why it was important. Some people just aren't good candidates for the band because of psychological issues that will most likely keep them from succeeding if their issues aren't in check prior to surgery. Also, losing your best friend (food) can be quite an emotional ordeal. Hell the whole process is a rollercoaster of emotions and mental adjustments. I was severly depressed (and so were we) and had been on Effexor for about 4 weeks. Since it takes 6 weeks for that stuff to really take affect, he allowed me to come back in 2 weeks and retest. I was still showing as depressed, but no where near what I had been 2 weeks earlier. I was determined that I was going to answer those questions truthfully and not try to cheat my way through it because I wanted to know where I really was in my own head (so did we).

Anyway, I think it may not apply to everyone as something they "need" but the screening is important. There is no point in banding someone who is emotionally not ready for the weight loss, who won't be willing to put in the work it will take to succeed, and who can't deal with the emotional impact of surgery and life changes this extreme. (we agree, listen to her.. she's one smart cookie.. and we know - we live with her)

[Victoriaellen 0]

Hi all. I am new here, but I can tell you that counseling is required for all the programs here in Arizona. I think it is just a CYA thing for the docs.

Victoriaellen

[PhotoNut 7]

Hi Victoriaellen! Welcome to LBT.

[Wannalosealot 0]

Hi Again:) !

I think you are all correct. I do believe however it comes down to their statistics and they only want the positive statistics on their analysis data. We think we are patients but ultimately we are a statistic. I chose my surgeon and his center based largely on their statistics. They don't want me to fail and they don't want that failure recorded on their bottom line.

I think most MO people have "issues" or we wouldn't be MO. Of course some of us may just be metabolically challenged and have no "issues". Deciding to have this surgery is HUGE:eek: for me. Most of the people I talk to just want the surgery and that is that. Me I think of all of the aspects of my life it could and will potentially effect and frankly that's kind of scary! I am not a jump off and look later type of person. So it is a bit emotional for me/us!LOL!

Thank You for All of Your Input, I/We appreciate It!

Dawn:D

[Dody 0]

Hey Susan we probably went to the same counselor, because I went over in Meridian....corner of Eagle Road and I think Franklin I think. I've already forgotten the guy's name, but I took a lot of computer tests....yawn. I guess I said and did all the right things because he wrote my physican a glowing letter recommending me for the surgery. He was a nice guy. We talked about kids, dogs, you name it. He made me feel right at home. I was leary of going, but I truly liked the guy, especially since he passed me

[S@ssen@ch 745]

Both my surgeon and my insurance require a psych evaluation before being approved for surgery. WLS and weight loss without surgery can be difficult. They want to make sure you're making your decisions for the right reasons, you're in the right frame of mind and you're thinking clearly enough to follow through afterwards.

If all you did was talk to him on the phone the first time AND you were having a bad day, I can understand why they may want to see you in person. You never know, they may meet you, have one session and find that you don't need ongoing therapy. Just one session/evaluation may be sufficient to convince them you're not

Good Luck (and quiet all those voices in your head BEFORE you go the the doc )

[vinesqueen 2]

I think it is a very good idea to have a psych eval before you have WLS.

I don't think the analogy for WLS is similar to a nicotein patch. The patch isn't surgical intervention, if you don't like it, you take it off.

You can't take off your WLS in any easy way. The thing is that we need to understand that this is a life changing, life altering path we are taking. Not everyone is ready for that sort of alteration in their lifestyle. And a lifestyle change is what we are in for, whether we are ready for it or not.

I really think for this to be success for in the long term that we have to change our heads as much as we change the way we do things. For some of us this is easier than others. Sure, we are committed to losing weight, we are letting someone cut our bellies open for crying out loud.

But sometimes our head or our heart isn't ready to make that same commitment. That 4 year old child that lives in us doesn't want to give up Cookies or ice cream or doesn't wanna do anything that we need to to be successful. Our 4 year old self just wants to watch cartoons and eat candy. Does not want to go to the gym, does not want to count calories.

I think it's weird that they did the eval over the phone. That would sort of like be doing one over e-mail.

[PhotoNut 7]

Dody - Yup, we sure did. Dr Arnold.

[DonnaB 3]

(to be read in a calm, soothing, non-confrontational voice)

I guess I should feel lucky. My 4 year old self may want to eat cake but my 44 year old self had the sense to have surgery to make that impossible. Or at least uncomfortable!

Please don't get me wrong, I'm all for counselling - I'll almost certainly find myself in therapy for grief councelling over losing my best friend food - but I think it will more useful AFTER surgery than before. What I'm trying to say is, it took me a lot of soul searching to get to the point of having surgery, and at that point I had thought about it long enough. What I'll need is support to maintain my perspective from the OTHER side of the looking glass. What I DON'T need is for someone, either through arbitrary testing or through personal opinion, to put me in a position in which I have FAILED, yet again, to measure up.

Having said all that, I must admit that part of the problem I have with the psych evaluation is that it's a requirement (for some) that you pass someone else's evaluation of your readiness for change. Can someone really know you well enough after asking a few questions to deny you the possibility of a happier, healthier future because your test scores don't conform to their idea of 'readiness'? In short, I don't have much faith in standardized testing. I just don't think anyone can be that easily quantified. I think it would go down better with me if the psych evaluation were voluntary - heck I'd participate in that - or if the person being evaluated had the final decision regardless of the outcome of the testing.

This is my own personal opinion and is not meant to sway anyone else's. (Is this enough of a disclaimer to avoid pissing anyone off?)

The opinions stated in this post are intended for discussion and/or entertainment purposed only. No medical advise is intended or implied. For further disinformation, see all previous posts by this subscriber. If you show signs of nausea, vomitting, bloating, bleeding from the posterior or other discomfort, contact your doctor immediately.

[PhotoNut 7]

*laughs* You didn't piss me off, Donna. In fact I agree with you. At our support group last week (which really is kind of pointless at only 1.5 hours per month in a group of 25 people) several people talked about what a crock the psych eval was and how stupid the questions on there were. They pointed out how many questions about drugs and alcohol were on there and asked how in the world that pertained to getting the band. I guess what they were overlooking was that while those questions might not be relevant to them, there is a very real chance that they might be very relevant to the next person. I too have a very hard time with blanketing everyone with the same conclusions based upon the "normal" or "typical" responses from a test study group. Everyone is an individual and letting a stranger speak to you for a few hours out of your life to determine something so important about you is down right scarey.

I guess it comes down to this. They'd rather be safe than have us be sorry. Getting a bit healthier, mentally or physcially, before going through something so extreme can't be all bad. It's not a permanent "NO", it's just a "Get a little better first so you can have better success" kind of a thing. Like Crystal said, it's not a patch you can pull off and return to old habits.

I was just reading and posting on the thread about what others think of your weightloss, and it really hit me. It's time for some serious issues in my life to be dealt with as I progress to my physical goal. Otherwise, my mental state will have a heck of a time dealing with my physical state. I think those pre-tests picked up on that - for me anyway. And his advice was right on the money, "Whether it be me or another counselor, you need to start seeing someone to help you through this."