Help!

my first appointment for consultation with Dr. Bauman is on Sept. 14th. and i'm starting to get uneasy.......is this normal? i don't know if it's cause i'm just nervous and scared or what. I've been reading these boards since i called and made the apt. i'm thinking alot of what i've read has just scared me into thinking i can't handle this. can any one of you that have been to Dr. Bauman tell me what his expectations are for diet pre/post surgery?

Hey!  I am not a patient of Dr. Bauman, but I can offer some support.  Before every one of my appointments, I was so nervous, I had a terrible upset stomach.  Even at my cardiac apt. my blood pressure was so high.  They were very concerned.  I told them that it wasn't usualy like that.  It was crazy how nervous I was.  It was fine.  All the test are for your benifit, to make sure you are ready for surgery.  You will do fine.  If you feel overwhelmed, take a breather.  Take maybe a week to get yourself back together, then continue.  I wish you lots of luck.

Hi, I see Dr. B and he is fantastic.  Very business and he will advise you as to what he expects.  He leaves little room for misundrstanding.  He did not put me on pre-op diet, but advised I'd better not gain any weight or the surgery would be postponed. To me the surgery was not as bad as I had imagined.  It's been easier and I am so very glad that I had this done.  You will like him - he is the best! Good Luck!!!!!  

I, too, am a patient of Dr. Baumans.  I would not trade him nor his office staff for anything.  He did not give me a pre-surgical diet, just advised not to gain anymore weight from the initial consult to surgery date.  Being scared is normal, I think.  Untill I was officially approved, it all seemed like a daydream, then reality hit.  Part of me was saying, maybe I can try to loose weight myself one more time........but how many times had I said that to myself.  Once you get into the testing stage, for me, the nervousness went away and it was rush, rush, rush, to get it done so I could start my new life!  Best of luck to you on your journey! Nancy

yah, i know that is part of what is going thru my head.............maybe i should try just one more time. /sigh when my dr first told me he thought i should have this surgery i was so upset. i felt like such a failure just because i wasn't able to do this on my own. that's a huge part of it i'm sure.

I did not have Dr. Bauman, but have only heard glowing reports about him.

I think it is really normal to feel nervous. If you think you should take a step back and try again, then I think you should do so. I had similar thoughts and concerns myself. I decided to look at my reason for seriously considering WLS ... basically that I had tried everything else ... I've even lost before, but I always gain it back and then some. I had come to a cross-road where I just couldn't keep going up and down ... and mostly, up. So, for me, proceeding was the right answer.

I know that you know it's a huge commitment. That's part of the nerves. Realizing that there's no turning back is huge. For me it was necessary.

If you have not already seen the Dr. I would suggest that you consider doing so. It might help you make a more informed decision

I wish you all the best, no matter what you decide.

Barb

I had my surgery with dr bauman and I remember being nervous and second guessing everything right until they put me under anesthisa for surgery.  This is so normal.  You are going to the dr to change your life.  You are giving up the yoyo dieting and ditching the last minute hopes. I'm not trying to shoot you down but if you were going to do this on your own, you would have already done it.  It's that simple.  You are the same as the rest of us, we battle with our weight and it's our own personal demon. I can advise that you should exercise as soon as humanly possible.  Dr B expects his patients to exercise and will ask at all the follow ups.  It's easy to get slack after you've had the surgery.  Somedays you will ask why did I do this, others you will be smiling from ear to ear.  Dr B is upfront and doesn't really take excuses, so check them at the door.  You are in very good surgical hands. I am more then willing to answer any questions you might have, it's been over 2 years since I began my process and did my pre-op but I will try to help if I can.  I am 18 months post op and about 100lbs down.  I was lighter with a BMI of 40 and now I'm teetering at a BMI of 25 normal weight/26 overweight.   Also, getting your protein is important.  Go ahead and get the book Weight Loss Surgery for Dummies and read up.  You will not be sorry. An additional bonus is that North East Medical has remodeled their Baratric Wing and it's so nice.  They have extra large beds with air mattresses, flat panel tv's I could go on.  They are nice just like the maternity suits that the other hospitals are selling to their patients.  Jennifer

I am a patient of Dr. B and I am just two "check marks away" from all of my paperwork being sent off to the insurance black hole (hand slap!) so it can get approved and then Dr. B can do his magic.

I will tell you though...as all of the others have said, if you are second guessing yourself... haven't you done that before?  and how many times?  I have but now is the time in my life when I just had to take a look at reality and know just how much life really does mean to me and the other people around me that love me.   I think my father honestly put it best...  "I don't want to put you in the ground before me".  Talk about reality check!!  If that didn't do it for me, nothing else would have.   Dr. B is wonderful and yes he is a no nonsense - leave everything at the door kinda guy.  He also told me if I gained weight he would postpone surgery.  I was just there last Tuesday for my Nutritional visit and the nurse said that he was on a roll of cancelling surgeries because people were gaining between the first visit and surgery dates.    He looked me in the eye and told me that he would cancel...I believed him.  Now I really do.  But his main goal is to get you to exercising. ugh. I know. I know.  I'm still horrible about it...but I gotta start doing it now or it will be horrible later!   So...  I think that is about it in a long kinda way.. (sorry so long ) Hey Jennifer...Jttaurus...you are in Gastonia!>!>!?!?!>!>!>  SO AM I...  we need to get together for coffee or...ummmm...  a brisk walk.  LOL...  Hope this helped.  Connie