What happens at the following appointments?
"The First step towards getting somewhere is to decide that your not going to stay where you are" - John pierpoint morgan
Referral- April 27,2013 Orientation class- may 29, 2013 Meet the surgeon,SW,dietitian - July 20, 2013 Dr Glazier- October 4,2013 Sleep study- October 10,2013 Dr Glazier again- October 16,2013 SW,dietitian again- February 2,2014 DR Sohi- march 4,2014 Start Opti- June 11,2014 SURGERY- July 2,2014
on 1/13/15 1:51 am
As per Brittany's response, I am going through TWH and the process with these appointments is exactly the same. You will be asked a series of questions with the Social Worker to determine if you are prepared for this type of surgery and lifestyle change. The detailed history of diets you tried will also be discussed at this time to ensure thast you have attempted to lose weight. Nurse & Dietician _ ditto with Brittany's comments. Good luck and enjoy the process.
Hi Melly,
For the social work appointment, which was my first appointment after orientation, the social worker asked me if I had had any childhood trauma/past abuse, if I used food as a comfort and if I felt I was addicted to food. She asked me about my housing situation, my mental health, how much money I made a year, and if I had a any support people. She asked me who I planned to tell and who I didn't plan to tell about the surgery, and why. She also asked me "if you were scheduled for surgery tomorrow, on a scale of 1 to 10 how ready would you be?". Basically she wanted to know whether I had good supports for after surgery, if I could afford the cost of the vitamins for life and the protein shakes for a good while after surgery, if I was preparing myself properly and she wanted to get a sense if I had my "head in the game" so to speak. We talked in depth, she was very nice and afterwards she told me she had no concerns about me being a candidate for WLS.
The dietician appointment was wonderful. I had Mary W. at TWH and she was sooo nice. We went over the steps after surgery - clear fluids, liquid diet, pureed food, soft food, etc. etc. and she advised me of many of the foods that a lot of post-WLS patients report not being able to tolerate. She went over the stuff I could eat right away as well as stuff that I should wait to try (for example, she recommended for me to avoid sushi rolls as rice was often not tolerated well, and to try sashimi only, and not until about 6 months post-op). We went over dumping syndrome in depth, why it was important not to drink carbonated beverages, and stuff like that. She then went over all of the diets I tried and read through my questionnaire with me. One thing I forgot to do was my assignment that was given to us at the nutrition class, so just a reminder to do your assignment. I was able to hand it in at my next appointment.
For the nurse practitioner appointment, she went over all the medications I take, advised me which ones to discontinue (i.e. no more Advils or NSAIDs) weighed me and ordered blood work and an endoscopy (as years ago I had an ulcer). The endoscopy was a month later. She had a diagram of the stomach and intestines and went over in depth how the procedure would go in the operating room. My hubby to be came with me and he got to ask a lot of questions.
I hope this helps you. When is your next upcoming appointment?
xx
on 1/13/15 5:53 am - Mississauga, Canada
Thanks for all of the information. It is greatly appreciated.
My next appointment is January 30, 2015 for the social worker, then February 10 for the dietician and April 14 for the nurse.
At our orientation, we were told to have our own family doctor do our blood work and to bring it to our nurse appointment, so I am taking care of that tonight with my GP. I am also getting a referral for a sleep study with my family doctor so that I can have it done in advance and bring it to my nurse appointment as well.
I am really excited and ready to go. If I could do it tomorrow, I would :)