Dietician and Social Worker appointments - help!

Hi!,

It's been awhile since I last posted. My orientation was in July and I've only just gotten my next appointments. I'm seeing the Dietician and the SW this Friday.

Can anyone tell me what to expect and what I can do to help the process go more smoothly?

As it happens I started a food diary this weekend so I'll have almost a weeks worth of entries to take with me. I have the things I've done since my orientation (like cutting out pop, making sure I eat 3 meals a day, cutting out caffeine and exercising 5 times a week).

I'm so worried about not "passing" and I really want to prepare.

You sound like you will be fine.

Here's the key; make some changes (which you have done) and be honest. They're going to ask you a lot of questions. Tell the truth. There's is nothing to be gained by stretching the truth or hiding things. They really want to help us. If there's something going on and they need to work on some stuff with you then they will.

Don't forget, there are a lot of steps in this process. All the health tests have to be done and if something shows up there then that has to be dealt with.

Prepare yourself for some hiccups BUT, just because some hiccups show up, doesn't mean that you won't get approval in the end.

Breathe in, breathe out. As Oneatatime always says, "You've Got This"!

Good Luck.

What kind of things do they ask you in the appointments? Should I get out all of the paperwork I submitted at the beginning and re-read it? - I took copies before I posted it.

Do they expect you to demonstrate you've lost weight? I haven't even though I've cut out a number of things and started exercising.

I met the Social Worker first. We talked about my life, my work, etc. She went over all the paperwork that I submitted and asked questions. She asked if I knew about excess skin and what my plan would be? She asked about mental health concerns, depression as I had dealt with this in my past. She asked about my plans. What if this happened - what would I do? It was a 45 minute discussion. We just talked. I was a bit nervous but it was fine.

My dietician is an angel. She went over all my paperwork and asked about food allergies, likes, dislikes, etc. She tried to get a handle on my current eating habits and I gave her a week of daily diary sheets. I had already made changes, pop, caffeine, no liquids with meals, drinking water etc. I had actually put myself on a 1200 calorie a day diet.

She changed it. Gave me more food, more calories, explained the plan, gave me tons of information, handouts etc.

She also had my results from my bloodwork. I had some nutritional deficiencies so the supplements started right then and there. She told me what to go buy and where and I was off.

That's why I said to be honest. My Dietician knows I'm an ice cream freak. She knows I need some give here and there. Slowly we are getting there.

That's what we did.

Thank you, this is super helpful. I really appreciate you taking the time to reply.

They want to see that you can handle the changes emotionally and mentally and being prepared as you are sounds great. I had to see the social worker and dietician 3 times. Make sure you know what the restrictions will be post op. I didn't answer that correctly the first time and the nutritionist was pretty down on me. Good luck to you.

Yay! I'm thrilled you finally have some appointments this week!

You got some great advice here.

Here's my two cents:

Be yourself, be honest. They want to meet you, know your reasons for wanting the surgery.

Be educated about the surgery. They want to know you know what it is, how it works, and what the lifestyle is like after (eating, exercising, vitamins)

Social worker wants to know about your support system- so your chances at long term success. Who is there for you? I live alone and hadn't told a single person yet about my decision when I saw the social worker... and she still passed me. Lol. I was honest... with her, about my reasons (worried I wouldn't get accepted to WLS and everyone would think it's another failed diet attempt... so didn't want to involve ppl til I knew for sure!!).

Be educated, be yourself... it'll be great!!!

You got this. :)

They called this morning and have managed to move all of my appointments. I'll have completed each appointment before Christmas (providing they don't ask fome additional follow ups).

Iim an over thinker. I try to plan everything down to the last detail and this makes me worry about things I can't control or that are unknown.

Make sure you know the basics of the surgery. I was asked to describe it. Also that protein is your most important nutrient post surgery. Read over the info you've already been given. The nutritionist almost didn't pass me because I wasn't eating regular meals. So bear that in mind too.

When you say know the basics about the surgery do you mean like telling her I know it's non reversible, they make around 5 small incisions in the abdomin and inflate it with air, they will then move the liver out of the way (hence opti to shrink it) and then when the surgeon makes the cut into the stomach he'll create a small pouch and reattach it directly the to intestine? Is that enough?

i have really worked on making sure I'm eating 3 meals a day as this has been an issue for me in the past.

I plan to take some sample meal plans for post op with me for her to review (for each stage) as well as a weeks worth of a food diary for the last week.

I know that at orientation they said people should have around 60-70g of protein but because of my height (5'11) I will likely need more. So I'll talk to her about how I intend to get my protein in and what good sources of protein there is.

I hope this is enough.