What does meeting the surgeon really mean?

I have my surgeon appointment scheduled. My nurse practitioner said she wanted me to see him "sooner rather than later" because I have a gastrointestinal disease. I have seen other posts where people get their surgery date and buy Optifast at thr surgeon appointment. But, I thought the individuals you meet with (social work, nurse, dietician, psych, surgeon) get together to discuss your case. And THEN they collectively decide if you are approved for surgery. Is that not how it really happens? 

Im going to TWH. Just curious because this seems somewhat conflicting. Mainly, I'm wondering if getting the surgeon appointment is essentially saying you are approved for surgery.

My understanding is that through TWH, after you have had your first block of appointments and tests all the practitioners *except the surgeon* meet and decide if they are recommending you for surgery. If they pass you then you have the surgeon appointment booked.

Good luck!

Due to your gastrointestinal disease, your process is different out of necessity. There would be absolutely no point (and a huge waste of your time) to go through all of the appointments only to finally get to the surgeon and be advised that surgery is not possible for you. She was right in getting you in the queue to see the surgeon first.  

Yes, that makes sense and is along the lines of what I thought based on our meeting. But, I will see everyone before the surgeon. I think there may have been a scheduling error. Of course, I don't want to call and point this out... They may be so booked now that I wouldn't get in until 2016.

I have a new question...

for those of us who have two appointments with the surgeon, what is different between the appointments? 

The nurse is contacting my gastroenterologist for my records, so the surgeon will be able to review before we meet (or during the meeting). I am still under the assumption that we will talk about my gut and GI history. Then, there will probably be a follow up with the surgeon.

i suppose yet another question I have is: how many people are not approved? During orientation they said there would be a 50% drop out rate. I'm not sure if that means half of the people decide this isn't the path they want or if half are rejected (or a combination of the two). 

I hope all of my queries aren't annoying. I just wonder about the unknown and tend to let my imagination get the best if me.

Good questions but I'm afraid none of us can possibly know due to your individual cir****tance. Not to be nosy, but out of curiosity (and you can tell me to mind my own business), what is the gastrointestinal disease that you suffer from?

As for the number of people not approved:

I believe the 50% drop out rate they're referring to is prospective patient withdrawal (of their own choice) after attending the orientation. Believe it or not, there are some people who are not willing to (give up smoking, give up sweets, make changes to their eating habits, attend several appointments to be approved, insert-reason-here-of-your-choice) or decide that weight loss surgery is not for them. I don't know of many people who are denied and the ones I am aware of over the years were due to other health issues that arose (cancer, cardiac incidents, etc.).

I know the waiting must be anxiety-causing, especially with the uncertainty that you will even be able to have the surgery with your other gut issue. I've forgotten if you mentioned this - when are your next appointments scheduled for?

I have ulcerative colitis. It is not a contraindication for bariatric surgery but may affect the type of surgery I have, depending on the surgeon. Technically since the disease is isolated to the colon, even a RNY shouldn't be a problem. The NP seemed to think it was a bigger deal than my gastroenterologist did.

I know none of you are psychic and can tell me exactly what to expect. I was just curious about those people who do have two meetings with the surgeon. What was the reason for two appointments? I am having a second NP appointment (via telephone) because she wanted to get medical records from my specialist and review with me. 

I meet the surgeon 8/28. I finish up with the Rest of the multidisciplinary team this month: dietician 7/22 and NP follow up 7/28. So, not long to wait to find out what the surgeon thinks.