First meeting with Bariatric Surgeon.

[amrogers2004]

And it was awful. I felt like my doctor was angry at me for being fat. He told me my BMI is 88 and most people who come in for surgery have a BMI of 40 and I am more than double that. He wants me to lose 15 pounds by my next appointment and instructed me to have 1 meal a day and 2 protien shakes. I expected that I would be required to lose some weight before they would move forward with surgery because I think that's just standard even though my insurance, oddly, doesn't require it or even a waiting period. So that doesn't bother me. But then he told me that he wants to do the sleeve and then after I get down to 300 pounds, do a second surgery with the bypass. This was super upsetting for me. It took me a long time to come to terms with having one surgery and now I'm getting told I'm going to have to have 2. And then I was told I have to a stress test, but they don't want to put me on a treadmill, so instead they're going to manually "bring me to the point of heart attack" and then bring me back. I have been really struggling with that idea. What if they can't bring me back? What if they actually send me into a heart attack and then I just die. I got very close to having a panic attack while talking about it with my coworker today.

Oh, yeah... and tomorrow is my psych eval to see if Im a candidate for surgery. Im not looking forward to that either.

No one told me this process would be so mentally and emotionally taxing.

 

[Brenda2010]

And it was awful. I felt like my doctor was angry at me for being fat. He told me my BMI is 88 and most people who come in for surgery have a BMI of 40 and I am more than double that. He wants me to lose 15 pounds by my next appointment and instructed me to have 1 meal a day and 2 protien shakes. I expected that I would be required to lose some weight before they would move forward with surgery because I think that's just standard even though my insurance, oddly, doesn't require it or even a waiting period. So that doesn't bother me. But then he told me that he wants to do the sleeve and then after I get down to 300 pounds, do a second surgery with the bypass. This was super upsetting for me. It took me a long time to come to terms with having one surgery and now I'm getting told I'm going to have to have 2. And then I was told I have to a stress test, but they don't want to put me on a treadmill, so instead they're going to manually "bring me to the point of heart attack" and then bring me back. I have been really struggling with that idea. What if they can't bring me back? What if they actually send me into a heart attack and then I just die. I got very close to having a panic attack while talking about it with my coworker today.

Oh, yeah... and tomorrow is my psych eval to see if Im a candidate for surgery. Im not looking forward to that either.

No one told me this process would be so mentally and emotionally taxing.

Wow! Time to find a new surgeon!!! Don't allow yourself to be torn down like that. There must be others in your area who will support you. I really wouldn't go back to this one. Please don't think this is the norm, the doctor you saw just doesn't sound like he/she is doing it for the right reasons. Even if a new one makes you jump through the same kind of hoops, it should be out of care and concern. Good luck!

 

[NicoleY]

I know it seems harsh but don't take it so personal. The things the surgeon said and what he suggested he feels is the best decision for you. A BMI that high sounds very dangerous and it doesn't sound like you would be a healthy patient to just go right under the knife. This entire process from the first meeting to the years after surgery are all very emotional taxing, painful, exciting, scary, happy and one day wonderful. It isn't a short road. It isn't a quick fix, do it for you type of thing. You must change your life style, the way you think, eat, talk, look at yourself and what you want in life. You have to totally retrain yourself to a new life. It takes alot of self discipline. If you truly want to have this surgery and change your life, show yourself you can lose the first 15 pounds they want you to lose. If you can't, then your surgeon is telling you that you aren't ready. Many people want this surgery to "do it for them" and in a way it will but if you don't change you will gain it all back and then some within 5 years and then what was the point? Have faith in yourself and know you are capable of doing anything you want too. Prove the doc wrong and lose all the weight with just pure dedication and exercise with ONE surgery. Maybe then you won't need two. I think he believes one will not have enough weight loss with it. Which may be the case unless you take control and really work your tail off and follow all the rules and exercise. Good luck! You got this! Lose 20 pounds and shock the hell out of the doc, show em you mean business.