Pre-Op Testing Update II

Hello Everyone, Just an update on my pre-op testing.   I did my ekg, chest xray, nutrition eval and my pysch eval   I have to say the one I liked the least was the pysch eval.  The first have was ok about 2 hours of  questions.  The 2nd have, speaking with the pyschiatrist annoyed me.   I know that there are reasons for the pysch eval, but the Dr. and it was not Dr. Zimmerman wasn't to friendly.   She did say she would approve my surgery but she was concerned about my eating when I am stressed.   She suggested I attend a group session that focused on "stress eating"   I agreed.   I just didn't like her tone.   When she mention about the group session she stated "You have nothing to lose and you don't have to pay for the session" (no co-pay).   That may be true but I didn't like that statement.   I understand that the surgery is irreversible (RNY) and I know that I will have to change certain things about my lifestyle (exercise and eating healthy) for life.   I am making small changes each day preparing for the day I do have the surgery.   That way I am somewhat prepared for my new lifestyle.    I guess I am just venting !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Robin

I am actually terrified of my pysch eval and failing it.  Does anyone know what happens if you do fail it? 

I failed my eval, and was sent to a wls group in order to get approved.  Although at first i was very upset about this, once I started going I got a lot out of it and was happy i went through it. dave

Hi Alexia, If you fail I think you have to go to group sessions.   Though I did not fail, I am still going to attend the group sessions.  Like Dave said it will be beneficial.

Don't be afraid. You can't "fail" it. Which doctor are you going to?

All I can say is that Dr. Friedrich may not take insurance, but he is delightful, helpful, and has a secretary that is awesome about answering questions. He may be 300 dollars, but after reading all of these, I am positive that it is worth it...and it is only and hour and a half, and he does night appointments.

Hi Robin,

Glad your tests are going well.  I also liked the phych aval the least.  I may have had the some Dr you had, was she blonde with an accent?  I didn't like her tone and felt you looked me over like I was a piece of meat.  Not my favorite experience.  I had to go to a group in order to get approved, and although at first I was upset about it, it turned out to be a positive expereince.  I just feel that if she presented it better I would have felt better about the whole thing.

 

Dave

 

 

Your right, If she had presented it better I would not feel the way I do (no it was not the blonde hair lady).   I just didn't like her mannerisms (sp).  Weight loss surgery is very serious for the patient and I think the pyschiatrist (that I spoke with) should be more sensetive to the clients she's speaking with. Robin

Congrats on completeing the tests.

Seems like we all have our reservations about that psych appointment. lol. I had my psych eval as my first appointment, because it was the one I was most afraid of. The morning for me was 8am - noon! There was even another 5 pages of "on a scale from 1 to 5..." questions that I had to fill out before I came back later in the day. Then came back for 10 min with Dr Zimmerman, who was very nice, in the afternoon and got my ok letter before I walked out the door.  By the way... I think I know the psychiatrist you saw. I believe I went to see her twice a few years ago, because I was having issues I wanted to work out. She was NOT helpful (she seemed to have a somewhat negative attitude towards some of my weight struggles, which I talked about along with other reason I was there for at the time) and I went somewhere else instead. So far, other then then the psych eval, the one I'm dreading is the sleep study. I go next Wednesday for the first overnight and haven't heard a single good thing about it!