not so good psych eval

I had the interview part of my psych eval Friday.  I've never sugar-coated or tried to hide stuff that's happened to me, so I went through it all with the psych--plus, she had my file in her hand and could go right back and look stuff up, so what's the point of lying lol...

When we got done, she said she was going to write up her report and recommend that I NOT get the surgery because I don't "have enough healing energy left to recover from the surgery".  She said I have so much stress from my past and in my daily life now that she's afraid that having the surgery would be too much and I'd struggle to recover from it.  She said that the surgeon may decide to go ahead and do it anyway, but that was going to be her recommendation.

My husband is VERY upset right now--he feels like she is saying he wouldn't help me enough around here.  He already does most of the laundry and vacuuming and dishes, so I wouldn't exactly be stranded with no help.

Pretty bummed right now.... I was hoping I would be near the end of this wait and finally get to have a consult with the surgeons after the psych eval was done, etc., but now I'm not holding my breath for a phone call.

I'm sorry that this is happening. I understand the psych's point, as well as your and your husband's frustration. Perhaps you should contact your surgeon right away and let him/her know that you feel you DO have the support and that you feel you have it in you to heal, not only physically but emotionally. Having said that, if you have unresolved issues from your past, I would encourage you to seek out a counselor or therapist. Your surgeon would be pleased to see that you are taking that step to healing, and it just might make a big difference in his/her ultimate decision.
Keep your chin up.
Blessings,
Mary

Hello,

You could go for a second opinion.  Answer the questions honestly but a second doctor may have a different read on you and opinion. 

Good luck,

Dusty

I also think you might want to go for a second opinion.  I know that before I had mine I was given a list of people they suggested I see for my eval.  Not that they would give me a good referal just because but that they understood the different surgeries and how it works with everyone.  I didn't have any issues really but I thought they were very understanding and had worked with many wt loss people. 

I don't know if where you are going to have surgery they might have that list.   I know that Tallgrass in Topeka had as list as well as Junction City.

Is this the same psych that lost the eval you had in Feb.?

It's the same eval--they finally found the testing and were able to complete the eval.

My therapist isn't too happy--he said it's not like I'd be alone, I'm already seeing him weekly and seeing the medication psychiatrist monthly and I have the emergency number and know to call if I hit crisis point with stress during recovery.  He's hoping the surgeon takes that into account.

We'll see... I haven't even been contacted by Tallgrass to have a consult.

Tallgrass called me about a week and a half after I mailed my patient background info form back to them.   The didn't schedule a consult but advised me that I have to complete three consecutive months of a medically-supervised diet, have my PCP send a statement that due to my high blood pressure, I'm not a candidate for weight loss prescription medications, and also a statement that I am medically cleared for surgery.  I completed my psych eval yesterday.  I figure they will either call me when they receive my psych eval or when I complete the 3-mo. diet.  If I haven't heard by sometime in Nov., I will call them.  But I wonder if you might contact them to see if they've received your psych eval & if it is a problem.  If so, maybe your therapist could send them something to confirm that he will be there to support you through the surgery. 

Also I forgot to mention that I, like you, have a lot of baggage from past stressors & losses.  It has taken me years of on and off therapy to finally get past those issues.  But the person who did my eval saw the therapy hx as a positive & also instructed me to be sure to get back into therapy after surgery if I felt those issues coming back up.  (I hope they don't but who knows...like I said, I've been in therapy on & off for about 30 years now dealing with the same old ****!)  Like you, I was completely honest with her although I didn't have to tell her a lot of it since this was the first time I'd seen her.  She is giving me a positive recommendation.  If you decide to have a second eval done, I would be happy to give you her name & #.

I'll check with my PCP to see that they told Tallgrass that I did the 3 month diet, and the psych that they sent in their eval of me.  Maybe then I'll hear from Tallgrass.

Yeah, having to end up in therapy over and over for the same old s*** gets old fast lol... I've been doing it since 1991 and it gets very very old...