New Here--So many questions.. :)

 Hi all.  I have been lurking here for quite time but since I just received word a couple of days ago that my insurance approved me for surgery, (spirit fingers) I thought i would join and reep the benefits of your wisdom.  

I have a few (ha understatement) questions about what is ahead for me.  first, is the psych eval--is there something i can say that will make them not approve me? I mean how horrible would it be to get through insurance only to say the wrong thing! :)  

Then, Centennial patients:  how long was it after your consult before your surgery was scheduled? It has been kiiling me to wait 3 weeks for a consult--how long will i have to wait until the actual procedure?  anything i can do to speed this along??  i did think ahead and schedule my psych eval for the same day as my consult so there would be no reason to not go ahead and schedule the procedure. :)

 Next, is the 7 day liquid diet standard? or is there ever say a 4 or 5 day one. :) I think i dread this more than the surgery!

Thanks in advance to all who take the time to reply.  I appreciate it!

Congratulations on your insurance approval!!

My insurance required the psych eval so I had mine done before I got my approval. I guess it is Centennial requiring the psych eval. I do know that they will have to have the results of the eval before they will schedule and that takes at least a few days after the actual visit with the psych.

The psych eval is mainly to make sure you understand the requirements and limitations of the surgery and are able to make the decisions required to follow post-op instructions. They also want to rule out other factors such as an eating disorder (ha!) such as anexoria or bulemia; or drug or alcohol addiction. I told my psych I wasn't crazy, just fat. LOL Relax and just be yourself and I'm sure you'll do just fine. They aren't looking to fail people, just to weed out the rare person *****ally should not have surgery due to some serious psychological problem.

For the liquid diet, are you asking about pre or post-op? Most folks have a 2 week pre-op liquid diet. I do believe Centennial requires a week of liquids post-op too. Centennial peeps correct me if I'm wrong.

The post-op liquid diet will be the easier one to follow as you won't be hungry after surgery and the liquid diet will be more to get nourishment into you and prevent dehydration than to satisfy actual hunger.

Try to relax, breath, and get ready for the ride of your life!!

 Thanks so much for the info Susan. i appreciate your time. I was referring to the pre-op liquid diet.  i really hope someone from centennial gets on here and says it isn't 2 weeks!  :)  i was complaining about 7 days but now i think i will be happy with that--was that part of your plan?? :)

may  i ask you how long it was before you were able to return to work/"normal" activities afterwards? I am trying to plan about how long i will be off of work after the bypass.

thanks again!

I am just about positive Centennial is a 2 week liquid diet pre-op. Centennial peeps where are you??

They will go over all of this with you in your pre-op class. Most folks say that the first 2 - 4 days are the roughest as you are de-carbing your body.

I had my surgery almost 4 years ago and all I had to do was 24 hours of clear liquids the day before surgery. Don't hate me...the program at Baptist has changed to 1 week of liquids with one meal per day and 1 week of all liquid now.

I went back to a desk job 12 days post-op but didn't really feel like myself for close to 2 months. I was 51 when I had surgery so that have played a part in that too.

Hi, and congratulations on getting approved.  I had surgery at Centennial (lapband).  I am having problems with it and got approved for the by-pass.  I had to have the psych eval prior to approval from my insurance company.  The other rely you got is correct about the one-two week liquid diet prior to surgery.  It depends on your surgeon.  My surgeon is Dr. Dyer, who only requires one week.  It really wasn't that difficult.  I was so psyched for the surgery, I didn't care about the liquid diet and after surgery you really don't feel like eating anyway.  You are usually out of work two weeks, unless you have lapband.  That is usually one week. 

I would call Centennial and ask them to put you on the list for a cancelled appointment for your evaluation.  That way if someone cancels they will call you to take that appointment.  You just have to be flexible because they may call you the same day.

Good luck!  You wil be fine.