Questions for surgeon

[Fit2btied 122]

I know there are questions I will forget to ask or maybe not even know to ask. Can you tell me what you feel you wish you would have asked or what your most important questions were at your consult? I am starting a journal not only to document my journey but also to bring with so I won't forget anything at the consult.

Thanks for being so nice!

[GoingforGoal 1,734]

I assume this will be your first meeting... These are the factors that would concern me most:

1) Does he require a preop diet, if so, how long and what does it consist of?

2) What does the postop diet/transition to solids look like?

- these q's are good for you to start stockpiling your pantry and get an idea of what will be expected of you

3) How does he approach fills (what does the typical schedule look like, does he fill at time of surgery or not, does he fill with a set amount or does he do a Water test or flouroscopy test w/ fills)

4) Does he have a set day for fills or is he flexible? What about an emergency if an unfill is needed, how accessible is he? (this is huge because there are some offices that fill once a week..yeah but what if you work that day, or what about an unfill do you wait an entire week (of course not) but that means you'll go to an ER and have the expense of one too)

5) What does before and after surgery support look like? (classes and 1:1 meetings, a nutritionist, any followup, support groups etc)

Hope this helps

[NaNa 878]

I know there are questions I will forget to ask or maybe not even know to ask. Can you tell me what you feel you wish you would have asked or what your most important questions were at your consult? I am starting a journal not only to document my journey but also to bring with so I won't forget anything at the consult.

Thanks for being so nice!

I would ask these questions:

1. How many bands has he/she placed, you are looking for a high number, a couple of hundred is a good.

2. How many revisions to other surgeries have they had to do, if they take out more bands than they put in--run, ideally you want a very low revision rate to any other surgery.

3. Aftercare is MORE important than the band, ideally you want a surgeon that do his own fills, but if he is busy, ask if he has a physician assistant that is trained in surgery as well as perform fills.

Also part of aftercare is diagnosing and treating any type of lap band issues, you want to make sure that your surgeon will not outsource this, many lap band surgeons either work closely with GI doctors to do EGD's or Radiologist to do Upper Gi,'s etc, and most lap band surgeons are skilled to fix hernias, etc.

Also your lap band surgeon should ONLY treat and diagnose any lap band related issues you may have, such as determining if your band is adjusted properly and following your progress, you don't want a PCP doing this, they are not skilled to do so.

4. Fills, should be administered by your surgeon, or a skilled PA, not just anyone. Ideally you want a surgeon that will be available to fill/ or unfill your band if needed and not on a set schedule, but ideally every 4/6 weeks the first year.

Good luck

[Fit2btied 122]

Great, thank you! Yes this is going to be my first visit and I'm notorious for forgetting. Any other info is greatly appreciated.

[cdinky 10]

This isn't a question but just something helpful. Eat with a baby spoon, might sound silly but that is the right amount to put in your mouth to chew chew chew. Good Luck! The band is a great tool!