"Initial Consultation" on Wednesday - What Should I Expect?

Hi everyone. As "disturbed as I was" when I called my surgeon's office in September to make an appt. for my initial consultation and I was given a date in November, the time has finally come... My first consultation visit is on Wednesday.  They say I should plan on 3 hours at the office...anyone have any thoughts on what I might expect at this visit?

I am glad your consultation is finally here. I cant imagine waiting 2 months. I was quite annoyed waiting just one month.   Who is your doctor?  Doctors do things differently and I am sure there are people on here that have the same doctor you have. I am going to Dr Schweitzer and my consult was not very long.. maybe a half hour, but that was because I had done a lot of research before and many of my questions had already been answered.  So it was short because of me and not him.  Most nutritional questions I had were really questions for the Nut and not him and I had a lot of those.

I'm very glad it's here too!   They did actually have one opening in October that I couldn't take because the appt. is 3 hrs long and it would have interfered with picking my daughter up from school. I'm seeing Dr. Terrence Fullum - I have yet to encounter anyone on the board who used him, which is a little unnerving.  I mean I've researched the procedure and this surgeon and have only found great things, I have met him and like him...but I can't figure out why no one else seems to have used him.   My understanding (limited though it is!) is that I'll see everyone tomorrow - the nutritionist, the psych eval person and the surgeon...kind of one stop shopping.   I've been researching for several years and have very few questions at this point (other than WHEN CAN YOU DO IT, DOCTOR?) ...three hours just seems like a really long time.  I mean, I like the idea of accomplishing as much as possible in one visit but I hadn't heard of anyone else having such a long first visit.   Oh well, they can keep me in that office as long as they want...I'm finally on my way and I'm going to do whatever they ask of me and do it without complaining (or at least I'm going to try!)

I went for two separate consultations, and I can tell you the time flies by!   I went to Barix in Langhorne PA (when it was still Bariatric Treatment Center) and I am sure we were there every bit of 3 hours.    I chose to have Dr Michael Sofronski in Salisbury do my surgery, but my consult there was probably 2 to 3 hours as well. There's a lot involved even if you've done your research! Best wishes as the journey continues. Hugs, Mo

Dr. Mark Kligman was my doc...Dr. Fullum joined his practice several months ago. I would be more than glad to share my experiences with you. I will add you to my "friends" list so you will be able to look at my profile and PM me of you want! Tanya

Don't feel bad about the delay. My first phone call to the GBMC Bariatric center was in Dec 2006. They have a monthly "meet the staff" that was already booked for January, so I didn't even begin really until February. From there my first consult was in April. I spoke with the financial admin, the nut, and the surgeon. All in all it took about 90 minutes. I wish you a speedy trip. You won't be sorry. Mark

Thanks everyone for the encouraging words.  I'm really really excited...just curious about what a three hour visit would entail.  But I can't wait.  I think I'll drop my daughter off on the curb before school opens and get to the appt extra early

Good luck on your consult.  I know of two persons on another board who are patients of Dr. Fullum and they are very, very pleased with the experience.

Thanks for the response - I finally did some real digging and found a few ladies who've had surgery with Dr. Fullum and they had only good things to say.  I'm very confident in him simply based on the research I did before hand and then our first meeting really sealed the deal for me...he cared even before I was a patient.