Has anyone been required to go to a 12 week behavioral/weight management class before...

I went to PMRI for my appointment today with the nurse practitioner and the psychologist. Everything went well with the nurse practitioner and I felt at ease. Then I had an appointment with the psychologist and at the end of the meeting she said after reviewing my test she thought I was moderately depressed. She said she thought that I might need to attend a 12 week behavioral change/weight management program and she would suggest it to the PMRI Doctor. I wonder what that will cost?????? I feel down in the dumps, but not depressed! Patti

i have no idea what the cost would be for this(i have a different doctor). i would call your insurance company and ask them if it is covered. ok with that being said.... i think going to the behavioral change class would be great. there are soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo many people *****ally need to do this(i'm one of them) that never did it. you might be feeling down now and think that when you have the wls that "some" things will get better. it is true that some things start to get better. we spend so much time and engery trying to get the surgery that we really don't look beyond that point. it's kind of like having a baby....people can tell you how it will be but you really won't know untill you have one yourself(ya know what i mean?) there are going to be alot of changes in your life and you might be very surprised at what emotions will start flooding out when the weight starts dropping off. you will start to really look at your life and all the choices that you have made up untill this point. you will be forced head on(way more than pre-op) to come face to face with your eating addiction and all the emotions that go with it. i even had a weird problem with being kind of scared that i WOULD reach my goal. NOW THAT IS JUST PLAIN NUTS! hahaha if you would have told me that pre-op i would have said that would never happen, but it did. think of this as a gift to be able to get all the emotional help you can BEFORE you have your wls. best of luck to you and let us know how it goes.

Patti, :wave : I had surgery on 1/26. The behavorial class was in the works, but not mandatory then. PMRI & the Dr's Wynn & Irgau have come up with these classes as a way to get the best information to their patients. An informed person can make better choices. I heard some talking about the class & I think the cost is around $325.00 give or take some. It is not covered by insurance that I'm aware. I know that a couple people had to re-schedule their surgery dates cause the class wasn't done yet. They can let you know the exact cost. I found the support meetings extremely informative, encouraging and supportive. I'm sure that the answer will be posted as soon as those people have read your post. Good Luck. ((HUGS)) Elissa

I am attending the Gastric ByPass Life Skills class. I started on Feb 19th and it's every other Thurs through April. That's why my surgery had been postponed to May 4th. I was not happy about that, but I do like getting all the information. I've attended only one so far, I go again tomorrow night. It's $275 out of pocket and my insurance didn't cover it. You have to pay up front before you can even schedule your session. That's all I can think of right now, Patti. But they won't do surgery until you complete the class. I knew ahead of time. But it was quite an unpleasant surprise to my classmates at the first meeting. Good luck. Dianne