Initial Consultation ??'s

So I called today to verify my appt on the 7th of Sept with Dr Forney. . I asked what I need to bring and she told me. She also said to plan on being there until the afternoon. My appt is at 8:30am! What in the heck should I expect? That just seems like a long appointment! I'm getting very nervous about it! Thanks~Jess~

Hey Jess! Dont be nervous! It's a breeze! I just had lap band surgery with Dr. Forney and Dr. Holloway last week. They are wonderful. Here's what the initial consultation consists of. First you will go into a conference room with several other people (my group was about 25), and Dr. Forney (or Holloway) will give a thorough presentation of weight loss surgery options (both gastric bypass and lap band). When he is finished with his presentation, he spends as much time as necessary to answer ALL the questions that anyone has. There are also some informational handouts that he gives for you to look through. After this portion of the session is finished (mine took about 2 hrs, but I assume that varies depending on the number of questions!), then everyone goes back out into a waiting area and waits to be seen individually. Thus, how long you are there depends on where you are in line to be seen, and they do not tell you this information....it's just a waiting game. This is why the tell you to plan on being there into the afternoon. You may or may not be. When he sees you individually, first his assitants, Dot and Mona (the bariatric coordinators) take you back and weigh you, take your blood pressure, all that normal stuff. Then they talk to you a bit about your insurance, health, etc. Then the doc comes in and talks to you and asks some of the same types of questions....nothing difficult, just basic history, reasons why you are wanting surgery, stuff like that. Once I got back to a room the whole process took about 20 minutes. Then they will submit everything to insurance, and you will begin to play the waiting game!! See...there's nothing scary, nothing to be nervous about. Many people that were there brought family members with them for the informational session, which I think is a great idea. I hope this helps to ease your mind some. If you have any questions at all, feel free to e-mail me anytime at [email protected]. Tammie

Jess, the reason it's so long is they have abig meeting for everyone that is interested in finding out about the surgery...then after lunch you will meet with the Doctors on a one on one. When you leave there you will have a good idea about what to exspect.Mona is Chapter leader in SC contact her and I believe we are wanting to start a support group in Alliance, hugs BEth in NP. contact me if you need any mor information.

Wow Thanks so much for the info!! So after this is when the psych eval and nutrition info takes place? GOD I hope this process goes smoothly! Thanks~Jess~

Depending on your insurance company, sometimes they have you do the psych eval before they submit for approval, but generally everything else takes place after approval. For me, because of my insurance, I had to do the psych eval prior to approval...which was no big deal. They will just have you schedule an appointment with a local psychologist. Mine asked me a lot of questions about why I wanted to have the surgery and what kind of issues I have with food now. I also had to take an MMPI which is a multiple choice psychological test. Once I was approved, they scheduled my "testing" and surgery date. I went to Scottsbluff and spent a half-day on July 29th. On that day they did a complete blood work up, chest x-rays, and an ekg. I also did a complete medical history with an RN as part of my pre-admit workup and some paperwork as well. Then I met with the nutritionist. I believe that I was supposed to have met with Mona that day too, but something happened with her schedule and she wasn't able to meet with me, so she met with me the morning of surgery. Keep in mind that different insurance companies have different guidelines for what they require for approval, so your testing requirments may differ a bit from mine, but not much. Also, I don't recall which surgery you are looking into....I had lap band. So if you are considering RNY, that could vary a bit also. Another thing I wanted to mention is that I did my initial consultation at the doctor's clinic in Ogallala, so the group that they had there may have been a little smaller than what you will see in Scottsbluff. Therefore, your time frame could very well be longer than what I experienced. If you have anymore questions, feel free to ask!! Take care! Tammie