I am so very nervous. I still haven't decided whether WLS is right for me or not. I went to a seminar and I have been doing lots of research online. I guess I am going to talk to the surgeon tomorrow and base my decision on that. I am going to make up a list of questions to ask.. does anyone have any suggestions?
How many of each weight-loss surgery procedure have you performed?
Can weight-loss surgery be performed using minimally invasive techniques?
Can I be considered a candidate for weight-loss surgery even though I have one or more
associated health conditions related to my obesity?
Which weight-loss surgery procedure is best for me?
What are the risks involved with weight-loss surgery?
How long will I be in surgery?
What is the length of my hospital stay for my weight-loss surgery procedure?
How long will it be before I can return to pre weight-loss surgery levels of activity?
How will my eating habits change after weight-loss surgery?
Do you have information about weight-loss surgery costs and payment options?
What is the typical excess weight loss and improvement of associated health conditions for your other patients?
Do you have patients who are willing to share their weight-loss surgery experiences, both positive and negative?
What information can you give me to help family and friends better understand this surgery?
What do you expect from me if I decide to choose a surgical weight-loss solution? re you the doctor who will be doing the surgery? (You want to talk to the surgeon!)
Are you a Board Certified Surgeon?
Are you a member of any professional organizations that relate to bariatric surgery?
What types of weight loss surgery procedures have you performed?
How many Lap-Band surgeries have you performed?
What percentage of your practice is dedicated to bariatric and/or Lap-Band procedures?
Have you completed any special training in advanced laparoscopic surgery?
Have you completed any special training in bariatric surgery?
Are you a member of the American Society for Bariatric Surgery (ASBS)?
What results have you seen in your other patients?
Do you have other Lap-Band patients who I could talk to about their experiences?
Do you provide any support groups and/or counseling services?
Thansk Wickky for the questions
Danielle...My twin sister almost died from gastric bypass four years ago and is now almost the same size as she was when she had the surgery. I am going to do lap band I will not even consider gastric bypass. Her problem was mostly due to her surgeon though.
I will let you know tomorrow how my consultation went tomorrow!
you're not using the same surgeon as your sister, are you?? just stay calm - and take a little notebook and a pen so that you can write down what the doc says, and you can have your list of Qs handy.
Ok so I went for my consultation today. Can you believe I left my list of questions home? ( I left work early and went straight to my appointment). I did remember some of them and I jotted them down while I was at work. My surgeon was very nice. He ansewered all of my questions and gave me my own personal weight loss seminar. I was in the office for a little over 2 hours and they gave me a big folder full of information.
I decided that I am going to do the lap band I even recieved a tentative surgery date. (May 8th) I am in the process of switiching insurance. My current insurance requires 6 months follow up and I was going to switch to one that only requires three but they told me about an insurance today that doesn't require any. So when I go to work tomorrow I am going to find out if that insurance is available at my job.
Jiffypop I am not going to the same surgeon my sister used he is no longer allowed to practice medicine in the state of New Jersey. He also lost his malpractice insurance before that.
It sounds like you are bit more resolved about going through the process. I attended a couple of seminars before deciding which doctor to use. Please, please make sure you exchange numbers with your surgeons post op patients. They can also provide insight about the surgeon. Make sure you read read read reasearch and of course talk to your online family
Ok so now I am really bummed. I am in the process of switching insurances and I found out today that the surgeon I picked is considered out of network. So now I can't use him. I do have another consult with a different surgeon on Tuesday but that is going to put my surgery date further away. I really just want to get this done and get my new life started. So now I am hoping that no more surprises come up!
I am going for my consultation tomorrow.
and of course talk to your online family 
