Does this make you 'lucky' ??

I think we discussed this before ..but it's getting to me.

I'm an admin for another WLS discussion board. It's my board and I created it because I want my own success and struggles to be someone else's inspiration.

So this lady posted the other day that she has Military insurance and all they want to do is bloodwork, then she gets a date! Someone else responded and said "wow that was quick...I had to do x,y,z". She then replied with "I know it was quick, I'm one of the lucky ones".

In my experience (not that I have a butt load of experience here) but I don't think of that as being lucky! In fact I'm very leary of these surgeons where you walk in and walk out with a surgery date.

This is MAJOR surgery. Why are these "lucky" people not wondering why their heart isn't being checked? Or their stomach isn't being checked? Yeah, I hated the 3 months of testing I went through but I know why it was done. They wanted to make sure my organs were ready! 

Yes, I do know a few of you that got to skip all the tests and I'm totally NOT picking on you guys. I'm really concerned for this lady. She sounds very uneducated about gastric bypass and there is only so much I can do....

I know how frustrating this must be for you Sweetie because you are so aware, educated and caring. I feel the same way. I worry about people who do the McWLS... minisize my order. It's sad because I believe that is what contributes to the 30% failure statistic.

And I don't know what you can do besides encourage her to get educated on her own... maybe drop a few hints/questions her way about... "hey did you know that it's advisable to lose 10% before surgery to shrink your liver size" ... or "this was my experience and it worked for me".

Beyond that, I think there's not much else to do but let them have their own experience and then direct them to the forum about weight regain and revision surgery (not that everyone that has to have revision is due to their failure... sometimes it's the surgeon's issue or just dumb luck) but you get what I'm saying.

I'd say find some good informational links and encourage her to question as much as possible. There comes a point where you have to let people do what they have to do. You can only do so much sweetling.

Ya know, my surgeon did a complete exam and questionare on me as to what tests I needed. I never saw the cardiologist or the GI do****il after surgery. I have no clue what I would be doing now if it wasn't for the nut. I feel for the people that don't have to do anything at all.

I had a full battery of tests that took a year to complete and I'm so happy I did.  It gave me a year to really decide if surgery was right for me and to prepare everyone (me, family, and friends) for the changes to come.  I think I was a lucky one because I went into this with my eyes wide open AND an incredible support system backing my every step.

I agree with Raven...drop some hints and some hidden advice and then be there when she's two days post-op and wondering about stools, protein, soft food choices, etc.

Brid 

Brooke:

Thank you so much for the post... I actually have been dealing with this exact topic very close to home this week. As you know I am a Kaiser Patient, that made me go through 4 years of hoops to have my surgery. I was declined the first time in 2004. I am so appreciative of the knowledge and tools they gave me. In fact I only feel ONE catagory is lacking in my preperation for the surgery, and that is how to deal with emotional/depressive eating. But I go to a Kaiser support group that is literally all dealing with the same thing, and we have decided to to go to kaiser as a whole and request some direction.

Ok sorry about the tangent, but as for education. So my ex wife's new wife called me about 2 months ago.. " I KNOW you had the surgery, I can tell, tell me what you did. How do you feel. Are you glad you had it? , etc etc etc.." Needless to say we don't have the best of relationships. But I went by to visit the other day and found out that she (the new wife) is in the ICU. Right after her and I talked she went to Kaiser and tried to get in the program. They denied her (she weighed MAYBE 175 if that with NO co-morbidities) Well she is the type that won't take No for an answer. She then went to a private doctor paid a bunch of money and had the surgery.. Ok so her and I talked in March.. She went through enough of Kaiser's program to be denied, so at least 1 month, and then had the surgery through a private doctor a month ago. That is less than a month from contacting the private doctor to having surgery. The private doctor really did a number. She has since had 3 operations (where they found 2 leaks) and Kaiser has now saved her life. But the bottom line is, her blood went toxic.

Now I am NOT saying that all private doctors are bad. Not at all. I have seen quite a few very deserving poeple be denied on this board. And it was based on the insurance company greed. So there is no black or white on this topic, just a very strange shade of grey..  But I do know that if she had stuck with Kaiser and gone by their reccomendation, she wouldn't be fighting for her life in a Kaiser hospital right now...

So the bottom line, I feel like the lucky one.

I was one of the ones who never had a single test done.  No upper GI's, no stress tests, not even a psych exam.  However, I don't consider myself lucky at all.  I understand why those tests are needed, but it was my surgeon's decision for me not to have them, so who am I to argue?  I mean, the less sticking (with needles) the better, eh?

It did take ten months from my first visit to my surgery, though.  I had the six month supervised diet to do and all of the other red tape.  I stretched it out to ten months on my own accord, using all of that time to research the different surgeries and really decide if it was what I wanted to do.  Besides, I thought, what is ten months in the entire scheme of my life?  This is a surgery whose results will be lasting me the rest of my life.  So what's a year?

That's what worries me about these people who get these "drive-thru" approvals and surgery dates in such proximity to their first inquiries.  How much research, contemplating and preparation can one do in such a short time?  It seems like so many people are so eager and chomping at the bit for the surgery, as if it's some quick-fix solution to getting into that bathing suit by summer.  They want the weight loss to be fast and happen in the short term.  Unfortunately, that's all it usually turns out to be; short-term weight loss.  They don't posess the necessary knowledge and mental preparation to make the surgery work for them long term.  They're doomed to be on the wrong side of the weight loss statistics.

I knew that at my BMI (>50) I had about a 50/50 chance of success or failure.  I was determined not to come out on the wrong side of that statistic.  I saw this as a long term change.  I didn't hate myself so much that I couldn't stand to look at myself as an overweight person for just another ten months before getting the surgery that would change my life.  Because I knew if I took it slowly and wisely, I would never have to look at myself as an overweight person again.

Recently someone wrote about how good it was that BCBS in Michigan has gotten rid of the six month diet requirement.  This is both good and bad.  I loved having those months before surgery to sort a lot of things out before getting it done.  I wasn't having a tooth pulled.  I wasn't having a tonsillectomy.  I was having a surgery that would either prolong my life and leave me with a lifetime of good health and happiness, or could devastate me for the rest of my years.

And I didn't go through all that I went through to be devastated.  I'm quite thankful for the "obstacles" I had to endure.  It made me take this procedure as seriously as I should.  Too many people take the whole process too lightly, some even to the extreme of a "trial run" for which they can get a revision later.  As Lady Raven said, I always viewed this as my one shot rocket.  And as I look back on those ten months I spent in preparation, they passed like a heartbeat in the saga of my life.  A very significant heartbeat, but just a heartbeat nonetheless.

I really, really wish more people would look at the surgery in long term aspects.  Until then, we'll be left with all of these short-term failures.

I'm thankful that all of us seem to know better.

Cheers,

Chris

I am currently in a 24 week required program through my HMO that coaches on lifestyle, diet, body, mental and relationship changes. I love the class I attend. It makes me feel more certain about what will happen in the end. I know I am ready for the changes required and I know what is expected of me to be successful. I know it takes longer but I think the more educated you are about your body and what is going to happen the more success you will have in the end. I am also thankful knowing my doctors will require a full chart of tests before I ever get a date. I feel like one of the lucky ones.

  I am a self pay for my surgery (VSG) so my surgon cut out as much of the un-necessery stuff as possiblem but  I still had to take the nutrition classes, and do an EKG, and stress test. I have A-Fib, so I'm at greater risk for complications.   
  Well, thank god the Doc. required those tests.  The day before I went in to get my Stress Test results I went into full A-FIb.  It lasted over 24 hours and I was hospitalized, had the scopy thingy done  to check for clots in my heart, then got my SHOCK with the lovely defibulator to get my heart back into sinus rythum. (the lil burn mark makes my clevage so much more interesting) lol   Anyway,   The crazy thing is my stress test was fine and my heart is strong. Yet if the surgery had been done without the tests, I could have gone into A-fib durring surgery and possibly died.  (meds just needed adjusting and all is well now.)
  I guess it just goes to show, you can never be too careful or have "too many" pre tests.   Its all ment to keep us safe and allow us to survive the surgery so that we can have the life we want.  Kinda defeats the purpose if ya go thorough all this just to get sicker!!!  
  I would never allow anyone to operate on me who didnt require lots of pre surgery preperation.   OR that wasnt with a center of excellence.   And omg...can any of you imagine trying to figure out all the rules for eating and protien, and what to eat at what stage without the help or your NUT?  I passed the nutrition classes with flying colors and still get tripped up on fat and sodim content and carbs, and how much protein can be absorbed at one time ...and yea......you get the point.    The education is priceless.  I havent even had my surg. yet and I know thats true!!!