Consulation Appointment- Gastric Sleeve

[AhnaLucille 57]

My experience.....

My consult appointment was yesterday. The whole staff was very friendly. I really like my Doc.

My appointment didn't really go like I thought it would. I did the whole check in height weight. Found out I am 5.1/2 ft. but I actually think I'm 5ft. my hair kind of got in the way, (updo, I know stupid).

I met with the nurse, we went over a couple things, the doctor came in, he asked me a lot of questions that are normally on your new patient questionnaire which I thought was weird.. Like my nationality, am I mixed, married... and so on. We didn't talk about my past weight loss attempts. What I've been doing to lose weight. Or why I gained weight over the last month. He had to of known I've been seeing my PCP since October for weight-ins.

Anyone else have to fill out a questionnaire that asked you how much money you make a year? There were a few other questions I thought were strange, but I cant remember them. I also received a check list, which most of it is already done. I'm not 100% sure what supporting documentation for weight management is... another question for insurance, I guess?

Anyways, the Doc then brought me and another patient in for a little slide show of bariatric surgery procedures and risks. Which went into a little more detail than what I've found online and I found it interesting.

After the slide show, I went back into my exam room and had physicals. Found out my ideal weight is 109lbs, that seems impossible to me. He said "120-125lbs is good." My goal is 115lbs. He brought up my heart murmur. So, now I have to get cardiac clearance before he'll do the surgery. I forgot all about it, I was told when I was 16. But no other doctor brought it up again. Surprising, because I've has a few surgeries. And because of my heartburn I have to do an EGD, which he will perform in a couple weeks. He mentioned that my BMI is 43. I'm assuming he meant I needed to lose some weight before surgery.. but he could of also meant I needed to do the weigh management for the 3-6 months, being that my bmi isn't above 50. So I will need to clarify that with him. There was so much information thrown at me, it took me till after dinner to process it all.

When I was finished up with the Doc. I met with a lady that scheduled my EGD and handed me lab papers and I have to get a chest xray. Then off to another room and met with the NUT, which ended up being a group meeting, the other patient was there again and then we met individually with the NUT. I thought the NUT would go over eating a healthy well balanced diet.. lol.. duh, no it was about getting enough Protein in. and I found that I am not . so my goal is to get my 80g of PRO and working out a little bit more. She gave me a sample of vanilla powders?utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >unjury, which I will be trying today.

The whole process took 3hrs. And I only had to paid the NUT, which was 130$. I have dual coverage and it paid for my appointment with the doctor.

Oh, I cant forget the pre op diet. Boy am I ever lucky... I get 3 meals a day 3 scoops of Unjury between meals. This plan seems easy enough and fulfilling.

The plan consist of Protein, Free food & Extra food Choices. It reminds me of the 1st stage of Atkins, with some exceptions.

Unlimited FF, which is zero cal beverage, coffee, tea, raw veg, herbs and spices, vinegar, mustard, lime, lemon juice. I will be using the FF to make my own salad dressing. I need more that one serving of dressing on my salad.< /p>

I can have 4 EFC (guys get 6): 1 small fresh fruit or 1/2 cup fruit, cooked Cereal, potato or rice, low carb tortilla, 1 slice whole grain bread, English muffin, sandwich/bagel thins, low cal bread, bran buds or Fiber one Cereal, 1 cup v-8, Tomato juice, Soup or any food or beverage that is 60-80 cal per serving.

For Breakfast select 1 protein, and 2 protein for lunch. dinner 4-6 oz very lean meat, 1-2 cups low carb veg and 1 large salad with 1 serving of Salad Dressing.< /p>

approximate nutrition 120-150g of protein, 100g of carbs estimated 1,200-1,500 cals and 15-30g of fat.

I think that is the best Pre-Op diet I've seen so far, well other than the eat what ever you want ones.

I feel like the insurance coordination was not on the ball. I asked her some questions and she seemed confused and didn't know exactly what my insurance was requiring of me. Hopefully I can get a clear answer from my insurance company. I really want to know if my weight-in from Oct count or do I start from yesterday.

Thanks for taking the time to read my post.

[txfirefly979 21]

thanks for sharing you experience. I'm about to schedule my consultation to see how much it's going to cost me (self-pay, insurance requires 5 years of employment AND 5 years or morbid obesity (BMI 40+)... I'm 30 and want to have kids... I dont have 3 more years to wait!

cheers that rest of tests goes smoothly!

[AhnaLucille 57]

Thanks.... so you are doing self pay? I hear having this surgery makes you fertile... I had my last kids at 33. Best of luck to you!