Question about Chrias....Went to Seminar...Has Doc Appt..A Couple Other Questions

Hello Everyone,
My name is Angela. I am going for the RNY Gastric Bypass.

First let me explain what I have accomplished already...

Seminar
Doc Appt 12/29

NOW I have 12 months of PCP records, Extensive Blood work done within the past month (they already have copies of all of that) I started the OptiFast to get my weight down (I'm 241 and 5'4) to prove my commitment. Delaware state insurance apparantly gives no issues in covering this procedure.

My question is....

From this point how long out do you think I am in actually obtaining a Surgery date? I know I have to see a Nut. Psychologist etc..but I also heard they provide those there for me.

WHAT ELSE do I need to be doing to speed up the process....

I've been researching this for about 4 years, had  my "epiphany" and I have no reservations at all.

Emotionally and personally I am a very strong person. I actually have a pretty strong self confidence in spite of my weight. I am totally ok with who I am AS A PERSON...but it's time for me to tackle the weight issue.

ANY help, advice, etc about my appointments, what may speed the process up would be SO appreciative........

HUGS and Thanks in advance :)

Hi Angela !!

I am not sure you can speed up the process. My surgery was in Dec 2004 and so things may have changed, but I think that you have to wait for your 12/29 dr apointment before you can set things in motion.  CHRIAS has the entire process down to make it very easy to get everything completed.  I was given my listing of specialists to call for the appointments and the approx time to have the appointment by.  I never used Optifast, so I dont know much about it....make sure you are under a doctor's supervision so that you get all your vitamins and minerals in.  

My suggestion is to continue reading all you can, write down your questions and bring your questions to your appointment, bring a support person with you so that after your appointment, you can both go over what you learned.  If you havent already, start taking a multi vitamin, iron and calcium.  You wnt to be the healthiest you can be when you have the surgery. 

Best of luck to you.  I have never regretted my decision to have my gastric bypass surgery.  It saved my life.      

If you already have a pulmonologist you can ask them if they will give you a pulmonary clearance, but once you get it is only good for 6 months.  I ended up with sleep apnea so it was one of the longest procedures for me.

I also had an EKG done so they accepted that.

You will need to go through the life skills classes.  I am not sure when they are starting.

At your appointment on the 29th they will go through all of the requirements and all of the appointments.  PMRI will call you to set up your classes, nutritionist, nurse practioner appt, etc.

I know it is hard to wait, but you will be better in the long run to just wait!

In case you are interested there is a support group meeting next Tuesday at 6pm @ Christiana Hospital (room 1) where the informational meeting was!

WOW Thank you so much :)

SOOOO realistically what are we looking at surgery date time? How long did your entire pre-op stage take?

What is life skill classes?

Well, it depends on if the surgeon also wants you to lose weight before the surgery as well. They do this so it shrinks your liver which can make the procedure easier to perform. It also shows that you'll be more likely to be compliant post-op.

Life skills classes are held once a week for a few weeks and they go over what to expect from the surgery (like how the whole hospital procedure will go), what you can eat, the benefits of exercise and how to do it. Usually lap-banders will take the class with lap-banders and RNYers will be with other RNYers. You'll almost certainly do it at PRMI on Kennett Pike.

IF you get all your clearances quickly and don't have anything that needs to be corrected beforehand, maybe early spring (March/April) for you? For most people it depends on how long they have to wait before insurance will approve, but that doesn't seem to be an issue for you. Honestly, once insurance approves, CHRIAS usually can schedule you within a few weeks as I've experienced it and heard from others as there are often a lot of cancellations and rescheduling due to insurance declining/cold feet/missing clearances.