Surgeon Questions - The Ever Growing Request

[Failure 32]

Okay so I've done about 3 major searches through the forums for posts related to questions you should ask your surgeon. There is no 1 direct place where this is located and I was wondering 2 things.

First off, is there anyone that could maybe make a pinned thread of a list of questions that might be good to ask your surgeon that people can add to like some of the other things that are pinned? It seems to be a really popular request.

Secondly, I'm going to write out the questions I have written down to ask. These are all ones I've either thought of or found here on the forums to be really important. Can you guys think of anything else I am missing??

*Feel free to copy and paste these into a word program and print them for yourself!*

- Can you take a picture of my stomach that you take out?

- Do you utilize catheters?

- What bougie size do you use?

- How many sleeve surgeries have you done on people with a BMI similar to mine? What types of results to they see?

- Do many of your patients lose 50% of their weight or more?

- What are the biggest reasons you see your patients "fail" at long-term weight loss?

- How many years out is your first patient, and what have their results been? (side note for you guys, this will also give you an idea how long your surgeon has been doing weight loss surgeries)

- Will I have a drain?

- Will there be any post-op medications I need to take, what ones?

- How many incisions will there be?

- Is a sedative something I can request or is it automatically given?

- What can I expect to feel like upon waking up from the surgery?

- Are there any "leak" tests performed?

- How are the incisions going to be closed?

And that concludes my list. Do you know of anything else I should maybe ask my surgeon in consultation?

[readyforachange 51]

Great questions!

[kczar 166]

Barring complications, how long will my hospital stay be?

What are the most common complications you have encountered and what is the percentage versus procedures with no complications? Were any of these complications due to patient non-compliance with instructions?

Do you oversew the staples?

Do you offer the overband? (This is a brand new procedure I've seen mentioned here on the boards. It's basically a silicone cover for the sleeve that is supposed to help prevent leaks. Don't know a lot about it but might be worth mentioning.)

What is the typical post-op check up schedule?

When can I resume taking my meds and Multivitamins?

I think you can contact an admin to request this thread be pinned. Now, I'm not sure how you go about contacting them so I'm not extremely helpful on that subject.

[Failure 32]

Thanks kczar! Some questions I don't have on my list because I asked on the phone, or I have the information from the pricing sheet. I know how long I will be in the hospital from the pricing sheet and I asked about the complication rate on the phone. That is something I wanted to know BEFORE I paid for a consultation lol.

Some stuff I don't understand why I'd ask, but a lot of people have it on their lists. Like diet plans. They tell you all of that stuff since it's part of being a doctor so I'm not sure why I would have to specifically ask. I'd assume it's part of the surgery having to talk to a dietician and get a plan post and pre-op and they'd tell you when to take your supplements and meds since they will be telling you you have to take the supplements to begin with, right? So I just get confused why I'd have to ask that specifically.

[Gastricsleeve4me 186]

Hey there! I have a list of questions I asked surgeons on my blog...there's a page dedicated to it. Gastricsleeve4me.blogspot.com. Look for a tab at the top of the page. Hope it helps!

[Failure 32]

Gastricsleeve4 me I already have some of your questions on that list. But today your layout is different and I do not see the tabs anymore, just in case you didn't realize.

[Gastricsleeve4me 186]

Gastricsleeve4 me I already have some of your questions on that list. But today your layout is different and I do not see the tabs anymore' date=' just in case you didn't realize. [/quote']

Thanks for the heads up...I'll have to check it out! Here's a direct link if anyone needs: http://gastricsleeve4me.blogspot.com/p/pre-op-surgeon-questions.html

[LittleRed30 38]

Wish I had asked some of these the other day!!!