New on Board

I have to say, that first question is a good one. Although I think it is the Drs. office to responsibility to verify that they have explained the surgery and aftercare to the patient, not the psychiatrist. It is though amazing how many ppl get the band and are completely clueless! ("I'm on my liquid diet, can I have wine? It's a liquid", "I'm 3 months out and have ONLY lost 35 pounds. What's wrong?", "I haven't lost any weight in 2 wks. What's wrong?". And my all time favorite............"I just got my first fill and I don't feel any different. What's wrong?" LMAO.

Technically, wine IS a liquid  (though prefer beer, but that's carbonated....)

@Maria--now let me ask you this.  Was your psychologist in another facility? I met with the surgeon, nutritionist and psych in an 8 hour visit, all in the same facility.

The facility I my surgeon is located at, has their own staff on board, from the nutritionist to the psychologist, and everyone in between.

I never really thought about the fact that some facilities refer patients out to get a psych evaluation.   Make sense now, but it never even occurred to me!

I was self-pay so it was not required. Just had to do chest x-ray, lab work, couple of EKG's,barium swallow.

GET OUT!  I'm self pay too but I had to participate in the whole enchilada!  What in the world....

I went to a band mill. I could have been as crazy as a successful software engineer and they would have done it.

Get this...I was self pay for the band and only had to have bloodwork done. thats it....thats all...nothing else. sooooooo stupid, was I.

the revision to sleeve, I had the full enchilada...and it made more sense...even seeing the nutritionist for the pre-op counseling...

I am scheduled for my psych exam next week and am told that it will take 2 hours....what the heck is going to take that long?  What is she going to ask me that will take 2 hours?  If I don't "pass" the exam then surgery will be put off even longer, and I'm already tired of waiting.  I'm hoping I'm smart enough to, as you say, "not get myself screwed out of having surgery."  any suggetions or advice?

Just answer the questions truthfully, and realize it's just part of the process. This is a huge change in your entire life, mentally it's draining and exhausting. This step is just making sure you're prepared, and honestly ready for this extraordinary change. Losing weight is the easy part, breaking bad habits, letting go of food, and learning new behaviors is the hardest part of the journey. The psych eval just gives them a deeper look inside your head, nothing to be worried about in my opinion if you have normal expectations and are really ready for surgery and the lifestyle that follows.

If it was like the two I had one for band and one for revision, You mostly sit and wait.  Ten minutes with the Shrink, everything else was testing and waiting.

 My nutty first surgeon probably needed the psych eval, but instead, he provided someone on his payroll to question his pre-ops for about 20 minutes.  The guy was a psychiatrist, but working FOR the surgeon, doesn't seem kosher to me.  

I didn't have to have another psychiatric evaluation for my revision, but having seen a therapist for a few years, prior to surgery, I knew I was ready.