Crap!

Thats what they make you go thru in Bangor. I admit there are some things I did not know about that I learned from the nutrition group meeting. But in general I think that the doctors only at EMMC only want to accept people so that there success percentage goes up and up. The PT meeting was worthless drivile. I could have learned most of the stuff in both classes by reading the information they gave me. The support meeting was a total waste of time. They may be helpful for those who are insecure or like to whine but not me. If I still decide to go thru this precedure it WON'T be thru EMMC. The program is filled with fluff that lines the people there with money from the insurance comapnies. There are other programs in the state and in other states that don't require such crap. The psych. evaluation is the biggest waste of time. Most doctors outside of maine DO NOT REQUIRE the written test. And most of the time the psych eval at all. As you can tell so far I am totally sick of this crap. I will lose my weight the old fashion way. And if not then I will die fat. As god must have intended. Good luck to all of you in your decsion but mine is NOT to have this done. At least not in Bangor.

I think that the psych evals are a NECESSARY component of pre-evaluations. It is my understanding that many teams of professionals (doctors, dieticians, psychologisits, etc.) that work together to make each sugery successful in the gastric bypass surgery program are becoming more strict on requiring psych evals to be done. The emotional and psychological state of a person is crucial to their success with this surgery. I had my psych eval on 6/25/03 and only just found out within the last 2 weeks that the neuropsychologist was willing to provide (requested documentation by Anthem, my insurer) that I am a good candidate for the surgery. This is after several months of weekly visits with dietician and bi-monthly meetings with social worker. You must not rush into the decision to have the surgery. Many insurance companies are leaning toward extensive psych evals and/or counseling before they will even approve surgery and many surgical teams are not accepting patients that don't meet certain criteria for even being considered a potential candidate for surgery. You may feel that you just want to surgery done and over with but (un)fortunately it's not that simple. Don't give up on surgery so quickly, you should really think about what you want. I've been waiting over a year to get my date and I'm sure glad that I have had to basically "jump through hoops" as my dietician has told me. It WILL pay off in the end. ~KJ

I also thought it was a long process at the time. I did feel the psychologist appointment was unnecessary for me. I also felt the PT appointment was nothing that I did not already know. I did not realize that until after I had been there. So I kind of understand where Anthony is coming from. However, there are many people *****ally do need the information and the psychologist. I also know there are insurance companies that require it. I think Anthony, that your entitled to your opinion. I certainly admire you for going through the process and making your decision to try it with diet and exercise. I really wish I was able to do that. I had the surgery and felt it already has completely saved my life. I do know that if I were a Doctor doing this type of "Elective Surgery", I would want my statistics to be positive. It must be a difficult thing thing to lose a patient who's life is in your hands. The fact that there were so many appointments was a positive thing for myself in chosing EMMC. I did need the waiting for appointments time to make a full decision. Your right in the fact that there are many out there that do things differently. That is why it is good for there to be a choice, whether it be another facility or the decision to not follow through. Let us know how you make out Anthony. I encourage you to do this becasue there are many people out there that decide not to have the surgery and have not posted to this website. Afterall this is obesity help, not obesity surgery help! Take Care Janine

Wow, I just read your post and really am not sure where to start. There are a few things that I really disagree with you on. 1st most surgeons that are worth anything DO require psych evaluations. It is important to know if a person has eating issues or anything else that might keep the patient from following the program lined out for us correctly. I work for ObesitHelp and know quite a bit about the best surgeons in the country. Most have programs such as EMMC does and they work. 2nd I would agree about the PT, if it is to stay they need to improve it. I think most of what I was told was something anyone knows, but maybe I am wrong there. The info meeting with the nutritionist is very good. Though I knew much of what we went over, it was good to hear that what I knew was correct. But learning about the program was valuable. The support groups are GREAT! It is common knowledge that people who attend support groups after wls do better. It is part of the aftercare. It isnt about whining, it is about hearing what others go through so many you can avoid the pitfalls or learn how to deal with them if you experience it. Keeping active, realizing that just because you had surgery isnt enough, this will always be a learning process is something the majority needs. 3rd Many of the surgeons take medicade/medicare. They are NOT lining their pockets. From knowing what the normal prices are in other states I can assure you, EMMC charges a very fair price. EMMC has a great program. They dont just operate and ship you off. They know how important follow-up care is. Just because a person might be healed at 8 weeks does not mean problems might not arise. And lab work is very important. The surgeons must monitor our lab work to know that we are getting suffient nutrition. My PCP could do this for me but only because she has taken the time to ask surgeons that do wls what the labs should be like. She has many people that have had wls and wants to stay on top of it. But even though I know my PCP can take care of the labs, I still want to stay with EMMC once a year so I will know for sure that things are fine and something new hasnt come up that we should be concerned about. The surgeons at EMMC stay on top of all the newest issues we wls patients might have to deal with. There are many good surgeons in Maine you can pick from, but I chose to go 2 hours away to Bangor because I felt that EMMC had the surgeons AND program I was looking for. Please take time finding a place that sticks with you before, during and after surgery. It is very important. Good luck! Theresa Open RNY 7/15/03 235/@goal 140/going for 130