Question:
Just wondering....why a Psych Eval...

Does anyone know why they make you have this done? I just had mine yesterday and everything went great, but I just didn't see the point in any of it? Pleasse....enlighten me...lol. Good luck to all and see you on the other side soon!    — Jennifer E. (posted on July 11, 2001)

July 11, 2001
I think that requiring a psych eval prior to this surgery is a wonderful way to acknowledge that we are all more than just our bodies. We are body, mind and spirit. This surgery requires a committment to make difficult lifestyle changes. The psych eval is one way of making sure that the individual understands what is required to make this surgery successful. It is one way of making sure that folks are making an informed decision and that they have the ability to follow through on that choice. It is not fool proof by any means but one more tool that our dr can use to help insure our success. If you read through the message board and many of the questions a great numbers of the enteries have to do with emotional issues be it stuggling with insurance, family and friends, grieving the loss of a favorite food, dealing with plateau's or self esteem. The list is endless. I think the people who elect this prodedure are among the bravest folks I know. It takes a lot of courage to risk your life to save you life and some of the other struggles folks have dealt with while going through this are incredible. I think making sure you are in the best possible emotional and physical health is the best way to go into any surgery and with the psych eval we have a way to evaluate that. I am glad the test went well for you. It seems to me that although we fret about it most of us are reassured by the results.
   — [Anonymous]

July 11, 2001
The Doctor that did my evaluation told me that the insurance company just wants to make sure that we dont have any unrealistic expectations of the surgery. They want us to know that we will not be supermodels and that weight loss doesnt fix all of our problems.
   — Robin C.

July 12, 2001
This part of the pre-op testing was a total waste of time and my insurance company's money! She was very nice, but I was really nervous when I met her. I assumed that she would ask questions like why I thought I was overweight, maybe what my insecurities were, or how being obese made me feel. Boy was I wrong! We talked about 10 minutes and spent more time talking about the pros/cons of the AGB over more invasive surgeries...reanswering the same questions I had answered on the initial application as a new patient...and talking about the view of downtown Houston from her office window! She then told me she would want to see me again for the next part of the evaluation. I explained how important it was for me to get this done quickly because my insurance provider was going to change at the end of August and I was desperate to finish my pre-op testing and get the surgery approved and done! I must give her credit for cratering under my whineing pressure because, even though she was scheduled for another session with someone else in 10 minutes, she agreed to let me continue with the testing...ALONE!! She then gave me a booklet with over 400 dumb questions, like "I always hear voices but don't know where they're coming from." Yeah, right! If I DID have a problem...I'm sure I'd answer that one truthfully. It took about an hour to wade through all the questions, I left it on the desk and left. This was on a Tuesday, and she promised to fax her evaluation to Dr. Spivak's office no later than Friday. Ok, so Monday comes and I call to see if his office had received the report. No...still not there. So I call the shrink back to see what's up. To make a long, boring story a little shorter...after two more days...she called me at work and said she needed me to come back in because there were a few more questions we needed to go over. I thought maybe I'd answered "YES" to the one about the voices! ha! Again, I turned on the pathetic little whine and explained that this was sooooo important because this was holding up my approval. So, she agreed to do the interview over the phone (for which she would bill my ins. co for another visit, I'm sure!0 and asked me two more questions. (1.) Did I understand that this surgery may or may not result in my expectations? and (2.) If I didn't do as well as I expected, would I attempt suicide?!!?? And for those two no-brainers, she wanted me to ask off work and make another office visit!!!???!!?!? Please! I expect that there are certain individuals who might possibly go off the deep end over something like this...but all this was covered in the Introductory Seminar and again in my Dr.'s consultation. If I didn't mention any problems on either of those two occasions, why would I open up later. Sorry, but I think it's pointless!
   — Carol S.