timeline question
At PRHI was told by Nancy that it can't be done in LESS than three months. It can take alot longer for some people. I was totally gangbusters about it. I went to the informational meeting the first week of January and had surgery March 25. But I went to great lengths to get through the program as fast as possible.
I weighed in with Nancy the very next morning instead of waiting for her to call me to set up my appointment. I called my insurance repeatedly throughout the process to make sure all my ducks were in a row. I didn't schedule an appointment, then go to it, then schedule the next one. I scheduled the appointment with physical therapy, the nutitionist, and the psychologist all at the same time and did them within a week. I got off my required weight plus some in three months. I took the behavioral therapy classes in Derry even though it's over an hour and Portsmouth is only 20min. away because I could finish them faster that way. We are required to attend three support group meetings - so I went to meetings in Derry AND Portsmouth to complete my requirement in an month and a half instead of three. I had already dropped 10lbs of my required 12lbs weight loss by my first nutritionist appointment so we covered the post-surgery stuff then instead of having to schedule two appointments with her (one to discuss the pre-surgery weight loss, the second to discuss the post-surgery requirements).
Ways I could have speeded it up even more but didn't know about: You can attend a post-op support group as a pre-op and count it as one of your support group meetings attended if you ask Nancy permission. It's normally closed to all but post-ops (no friends, family, support people allowed for that one - they are okay at the regular support group, though).
Things I couldn't do anything about: My first visit with Dr. Gens was postponed a week as he was called to do an unscheduled (non-bariatric related) surgery at PRH durring my appointment. We had to reschedule for a week later.
Some things YOU might not be able to do anything about: Alot of insurances require a medically supervised six month diet first to demonstrate an inability to get to a BMI below 40 using the traditional "diet & exercise" model. Some insurance takes longer than others to approve you once the process is complete. I got approval in about 2-3 days. Some aren't so quick.
Things you DO control: How motivated you are to loose that pre-surgery weight, how quickly you get through your appointments, what you work or vacation schedule is.
There are advantages to taking longer than I did - More time to prepare emotionally & mentally. More time to take in and absorb stuff from the behaviorists classes. Time to make little changes instead of turning your life upside down for awhile. Less intrusive to your scheudle and/or job and personal life. More time to research. More time to change your mind if your not ready yet. More time to understand how different and how permenant your lifestyle will be. Time to get your support system ready and figure out what you will need and how you will get it when you have major surgery and are a recovering pre-op. Some people have a really hard time loosing their pre-surgery weight and it takes longer than they expect. Some people have an easier time making permenant changes a little at a time (there is a natural tendency to be unable to maintain big, sudden changes - we are more consistent with implementing minor changes). Some people have to quit smoking. The PRH program will not do the surgery on a smoker and you need to have quit for some time before they will let you in the program. I'm not sure how many months, as that didn't apply to me.
Why did I speed through it as fast as I could? Kids. I have four kids and they are all home all summer and I'm home with them. They are too young to help or understand my post-op needs or restrictions. They can be supportive, but it's just not fair to rely on a five year old to be your "support person" when you are throwing up or in pain. So since school lets out near the end of June and I was told to expect the first three months post-op to feel "pretty sucky" before you feel like yourself again, I felt like I needed to do it putting as much time between my operation and summer vacation as possible. I COULD have waiting until after summer vacation, but I had done my research and made up my mind - there was no point in delaying anything.
I used to work but I quit my job when I made up my mind to do this, and decided to take an entire year to focus on my health. So New Year's last year I stopped working and dedicated myself to the surgery, the program and the process. This gave me a real advantage to scheduling appointments and even loosing the weight, as I had more time for exercise. I had surgery at the end of March and used all April and most of June to recover. By the time the kids were on summer vacation I was feeling much better, had most of my energy back, and had figured out the basics of what I could and couldn't eat, and how to deal with the occasional stuck food problem, bad day or cranky pouch issues.
More information than you asked for, I know. But if you use PRH's program, some of that info will really help. If you don't, hopefully someone will find something useful in there. :-)
I weighed in with Nancy the very next morning instead of waiting for her to call me to set up my appointment. I called my insurance repeatedly throughout the process to make sure all my ducks were in a row. I didn't schedule an appointment, then go to it, then schedule the next one. I scheduled the appointment with physical therapy, the nutitionist, and the psychologist all at the same time and did them within a week. I got off my required weight plus some in three months. I took the behavioral therapy classes in Derry even though it's over an hour and Portsmouth is only 20min. away because I could finish them faster that way. We are required to attend three support group meetings - so I went to meetings in Derry AND Portsmouth to complete my requirement in an month and a half instead of three. I had already dropped 10lbs of my required 12lbs weight loss by my first nutritionist appointment so we covered the post-surgery stuff then instead of having to schedule two appointments with her (one to discuss the pre-surgery weight loss, the second to discuss the post-surgery requirements).
Ways I could have speeded it up even more but didn't know about: You can attend a post-op support group as a pre-op and count it as one of your support group meetings attended if you ask Nancy permission. It's normally closed to all but post-ops (no friends, family, support people allowed for that one - they are okay at the regular support group, though).
Things I couldn't do anything about: My first visit with Dr. Gens was postponed a week as he was called to do an unscheduled (non-bariatric related) surgery at PRH durring my appointment. We had to reschedule for a week later.
Some things YOU might not be able to do anything about: Alot of insurances require a medically supervised six month diet first to demonstrate an inability to get to a BMI below 40 using the traditional "diet & exercise" model. Some insurance takes longer than others to approve you once the process is complete. I got approval in about 2-3 days. Some aren't so quick.
Things you DO control: How motivated you are to loose that pre-surgery weight, how quickly you get through your appointments, what you work or vacation schedule is.
There are advantages to taking longer than I did - More time to prepare emotionally & mentally. More time to take in and absorb stuff from the behaviorists classes. Time to make little changes instead of turning your life upside down for awhile. Less intrusive to your scheudle and/or job and personal life. More time to research. More time to change your mind if your not ready yet. More time to understand how different and how permenant your lifestyle will be. Time to get your support system ready and figure out what you will need and how you will get it when you have major surgery and are a recovering pre-op. Some people have a really hard time loosing their pre-surgery weight and it takes longer than they expect. Some people have an easier time making permenant changes a little at a time (there is a natural tendency to be unable to maintain big, sudden changes - we are more consistent with implementing minor changes). Some people have to quit smoking. The PRH program will not do the surgery on a smoker and you need to have quit for some time before they will let you in the program. I'm not sure how many months, as that didn't apply to me.
Why did I speed through it as fast as I could? Kids. I have four kids and they are all home all summer and I'm home with them. They are too young to help or understand my post-op needs or restrictions. They can be supportive, but it's just not fair to rely on a five year old to be your "support person" when you are throwing up or in pain. So since school lets out near the end of June and I was told to expect the first three months post-op to feel "pretty sucky" before you feel like yourself again, I felt like I needed to do it putting as much time between my operation and summer vacation as possible. I COULD have waiting until after summer vacation, but I had done my research and made up my mind - there was no point in delaying anything.
I used to work but I quit my job when I made up my mind to do this, and decided to take an entire year to focus on my health. So New Year's last year I stopped working and dedicated myself to the surgery, the program and the process. This gave me a real advantage to scheduling appointments and even loosing the weight, as I had more time for exercise. I had surgery at the end of March and used all April and most of June to recover. By the time the kids were on summer vacation I was feeling much better, had most of my energy back, and had figured out the basics of what I could and couldn't eat, and how to deal with the occasional stuck food problem, bad day or cranky pouch issues.
More information than you asked for, I know. But if you use PRH's program, some of that info will really help. If you don't, hopefully someone will find something useful in there. :-)
Lord, give me stregth and when I lack it, patience.
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