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Originally Posted by VeggyMom
I am curious though ... with the 6 month medically supervised diet, what are they looking for?
Are they looking for me to loose a lot of weight? Are they looking for me to be unable to lose weight? Are they looking at my ability to be compliant? Are they hoping that I'll loose just enough weight to fall below a BMI of 40.0 and then not pay for the surgery?
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Not a WLS patient but I'd like to offer my two cents if you don't mind
I think what they are 'looking for' is that they want to ensure that you'll be able to be compliant, and have as successful an outcome as possible, personally.
From what I've read (check our Big Orange Babe's posts) in the past (not all THAT long ago) basically surgeons would do the surgery, and release the patients with some brief instruction, perhaps with a few followup visits. One thing I've read over and over again in post-op patient's experiences is regarding "head hunger" and not really knowing WHAT to eat - it seems to be quite a shock and surprise for many to discover after surgery that they still have the desire to eat the same foods as they did in the past. Pre-surgery education would reduce that considerably for many IMO.
It appears that most of the WLS surgeons and facilties which offer WLS have realized that they need to offer not just the surgery, but pre-op and post-op support and education to make sure that their patients know what to expect and work on those oh-so-necessary permanent lifestyle changes PRIOR to surgery. For example, here are
Kaiser-Permanente's requirements:
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Once you attend a surgery orientation, it may take several months to over a year before you are given a surgery date. This allows the surgery team at the facility enough time to make sure that you are medically stable and in good mental health before the surgery. Because each person has different needs, the program and timeline for surgery will be tailored to meet your individual needs. A lot will depend on the following:
• Your current health status. Surgery candidates with uncontrolled conditions such as diabetes or high blood pressure are at higher risk for surgery complications. Your health status before surgery could interfere with how quickly you heal after surgery. Once you achieve better control of these conditions, you can usually proceed to surgery.
• Your psychological and emotional readiness for the surgery. Surgery candidates with eating disorders, depression, or anxiety may need to
delay surgery until the conditions are properly treated and under control.
• Your demonstrated ability to adopt the suggested nutrition and physical activity lifestyle guidelines. Remember you will need to live with these
changes for the rest of your life.
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Jiff of course is far more experienced and knowledgeable than I in matters of WLS...but I think of the process as similar to getting a drivers' license - they don't just *GIVE* you a license (at least here in California) after you turn 16 when you ask for it - you have to go through training and demonstrate that you can safely operate a vehicle, know the rules of the road and the laws etc before you get one - think of the six months' as your 'training' to learn those healthy permanent lifestyle changes that will give you the greatest chance of success and at the same time reduce post-op risks.
Any competent surgeon is going to desire that his or her patients have the best possible outcome...and I know that insurance companies are generally looked upon as the villians in this, but think of it this way - THEY want you to have an optimal outcome too, if you look at it in terms of dollars and cents for the insurers, having to do revisions and other types of emergency re-operations because of noncompliance on the patients' parts would be VERY expensive...KWIM?