Newbie to wls

[jennavonlynn 5]

Hello everyone,

New here! I have my first appointment to meet with the surgeon and dietician this week. I dont see my normal dr till 2 days after. What should I prepare for when I go into my appointment and should I bring.

Also did anyone have any questions they wish they wouldve asked?

I also should mention that I have PCOS and so anyone with this got this surgery and saw improvement in symptoms?

Edited July 16, 2018 by jennavonlynn

[Laura7 334]

On 07/16/2018 at 12:50, jennavonlynn said:

Hello everyone,

New here! I have my first appointment to meet with the surgeon and dietician this week. I dont see my normal dr till 2 days after. What should I prepare for when I go into my appointment and should I bring.

Also did anyone have any questions they wish they wouldve asked?

I also should mention that I have PCOS and so anyone with this got this surgery and saw improvement in symptoms?

Welcome! I had to fill out a form of all the diets, dates, weight lost, gained etc. If you didn’t do that yet that is my suggestion.

[macadamia 591]

The biggest thing I can suggest is to be absolutely honest when answering their questions. These people are here to help you, not to pass judgment. They may not like what you are eating (my nutritionist had issues with a few things on my menu prior to starting), but if you are honest and follow what they say to do, you should be successful. I started my pre-pre-op diet on June 29th. With very few exceptions, I have followed the plan so far and have lost 17.8 pounds as of Friday, July 13, 2018.

Good luck!

[Frustr8 7,886]

You are SMART for you knew to seek surgery
You are BRAVE for you have opened the door
You are STRONG -
never doubt,your inner strength.
Be Proud, Be confident, YOU are making a stand for YOU
And no one will ever fault you for protecting,you.
Now Smile😝 You Can Do This and Do it well!

[jennavonlynn 5]

Ive been dieting and exercising since I was 11 struggled practically my whole life. Im always honest when it comes to my habits with weight loss.

@macadamia thats awesome! I hope I can see results like that. My husband is really worried about the whole pre-op diet and is worried about how I will react. But I have confidence that while it will suck the results will be worth it.

[macadamia 591]

8 minutes ago, jennavonlynn said:

Ive been dieting and exercising since I was 11 struggled practically my whole life. Im always honest when it comes to my habits with weight loss.

@macadamia thats awesome! I hope I can see results like that. My husband is really worried about the whole pre-op diet and is worried about how I will react. But I have confidence that while it will suck the results will be worth it.

If you stick with it and follow the team's orders, you should do fine. And with this forum, you have a great extended support system.

I see you are from Utah. I'm having my surgery at U of Utah; my doctor is Dr. Volckmann. How about yours?

[jennavonlynn 5]

7 minutes ago, macadamia said:

If you stick with it and follow the team's orders, you should do fine. And with this forum, you have a great extended support system.

I see you are from Utah. I'm having my surgery at U of Utah; my doctor is Dr. Volckmann. How about yours?

I'm going to Salt Lake Regional Medical center with Dr. Cottam, my sister in law went there and saw Dr. Richardson and she loved it but wished she had my dr.

[macadamia 591]

2 minutes ago, jennavonlynn said:

I'm going to Salt Lake Regional Medical center with Dr. Cottam, my sister in law went there and saw Dr. Richardson and she loved it but wished she had my dr.

I started with a surgeon in Blackfoot Idaho but she could not help me due to my previous, non-WLS abdominal surgeries, so she referred me to U of Utah.

[KCgirl061 1,532]

Whatever questions you have, write them down. I went into total brain fog and forgot half my questions. It is usually a long process so you should have plenty of time to get the answers to questions you might forget but I just really wish I'd had written my questions down.

[jennavonlynn 5]

3 minutes ago, KCgirl061 said:

Whatever questions you have, write them down. I went into total brain fog and forgot half my questions. It is usually a long process so you should have plenty of time to get the answers to questions you might forget but I just really wish I'd had written my questions down.

thats what I'm afraid of!

My mom is coming with me so I'm sure she will have a list written down. I have brain fog right now so I cant think of any questions. I'm sure on my way up to the appointment I will be running through a lot of questions.

[TakingABreak 2,733]

21 hours ago, jennavonlynn said:

Hello everyone,

New here! I have my first appointment to meet with the surgeon and dietician this week. I dont see my normal dr till 2 days after. What should I prepare for when I go into my appointment and should I bring.

Also did anyone have any questions they wish they wouldve asked?

I also should mention that I have PCOS and so anyone with this got this surgery and saw improvement in symptoms?

You can def make a list. I found that my first consultation was spent mostly with the doctor going over the different options. It made my head spin. I never did get all my questions answered (in that moment). Focus on really listening to what he/she is saying and asking follow up questions to determine which surgery is best for you. That is very important to choose what is going to work for you. And just remember, you will have plenty of time to ask follow up questions. If your program is anything like mine, you will have some type of seminar to go over info, bariatric class of some sort, NUT appointments, psych eval, and weigh-ins. Plus, I found I had more questions after my appointment than before. And believe it or not, some questions will actually be better answered by your NUT than the surgeon.

If you have a concern for qualifications, then you can def bring up the PCOS. But it is, without a doubt, been known to help this condition. I have PCOS and I was told that it will help, to what degree is unknown.

You can always use this community as a resource as well. I personally don't like giving medical advice, but any info we can provide about the process or our experiences.. this is what helped me tremendously! Good luck, and CONGRATS!

[jennavonlynn 5]

44 minutes ago, AshAsh1 said:

You can def make a list. I found that my first consultation was spent mostly with the doctor going over the different options. It made my head spin. I never did get all my questions answered (in that moment). Focus on really listening to what he/she is saying and asking follow up questions to determine which surgery is best for you. That is very important to choose what is going to work for you. And just remember, you will have plenty of time to ask follow up questions. If your program is anything like mine, you will have some type of seminar to go over info, bariatric class of some sort, NUT appointments, psych eval, and weigh-ins. Plus, I found I had more questions after my appointment than before. And believe it or not, some questions will actually be better answered by your NUT than the surgeon.

If you have a concern for qualifications, then you can def bring up the PCOS. But it is, without a doubt, been known to help this condition. I have PCOS and I was told that it will help, to what degree is unknown.

You can always use this community as a resource as well. I personally don't like giving medical advice, but any info we can provide about the process or our experiences.. this is what helped me tremendously! Good luck, and CONGRATS!

They sent me video seminars to watch which took about 6 hours all together. Then on the day of the appointment I will meet with the surgeon for about 30 minutes, the nutritionist for 15 minutes and a trainer for another 15 minutes.

[TakingABreak 2,733]

4 minutes ago, jennavonlynn said:

They sent me video seminars to watch which took about 6 hours all together. Then on the day of the appointment I will meet with the surgeon for about 30 minutes, the nutritionist for 15 minutes and a trainer for another 15 minutes.

I'm guessing you'll have follow ups with these individuals as well as it gets closer to time. You can always write down the important stuff, and then use future appointments for follow up questions or things you think about down the line.