My First Appointment With the Bariatric Surgeon

I had my first appointment with my bariatric doctor Monday. I was anxious all day. Okay, let's be honest, I've been anxious since I set the appointment more than a month ago. But I knew it was what I wanted to do. Since I still don't have a car of my own, I had to take the bus. I'll be honest here, I'm getting a little tired of being on the bus's schedule, but it's convenient since I have no other option.

Because I took the bus, I got there early. Being early to a doctor’s appointment can either be great, or suck. Sometimes you get lucky and the doctor doesn’t have anyone before you so you get in early. I wasn’t lucky.

Being early meant I had longer to wait, and having longer to wait meant having longer to worry. What if they didn’t accept my insurance? (They do, I confirmed this with my doctor, their office, AND my insurance. Yes, I am THAT much of a worrier.) What if I’ve gained weight? (I did. Ugh.) What if he says he can’t – or won’t – help me? All of these and more were running through my mind.

Finally they call my name after what felt like hours but was really only like ten minutes, and I follow the nurse to the room. She has me leave my stuff behind and follow her to the scale to be weighed. I step on, and I see it: 380. I’ve gained ten pounds. Ugh. She doesn’t comment, obviously, and instead leads me back to the room and finishes with my intake. She puts everything in the computer and tells me the doctor will be in shortly.

Thankfully the doctor, we’ll call him Dr. T, came in within a few minutes. He talked to me a bit about the surgery I had chosen, which he knew from the pamphlet I had filled out, and asked me why I chose that particular one. He seemed happy that I had more than just “it sounded good” as an answer and instead had actually done research on the different procedures and decided which would be best for me. I chose the gastric sleeve, and we went over what to expect and a little about the actual procedure.

I was then brought in to the schedulers’ office and she gave me a bit more information and scheduled a few appointments. She outlined what I need to do and how long the process should take. I have to have six consecutive appointments with either Dr. T, his APRN, or the dietitian over the course of six months. I have to see the dietitian three times, attend two of the monthly support group meetings, and have a psychologist, cardiologist and pulmonary doctor sign off after I’ve seen them (once each). And finally, but actually this is one of the first things I need to do, I need to complete the emmi Program. The emmi Program is an interactive computer program that she emailed me to complete.

Nutrition Assessment Form

Overall, I was worried about nothing. The only problem I had was the weight gain which is something I’m working on anyway. It’s not fun to see I’ve gained weight again, but really it’s why I’m seeing Dr. T to begin with.

Subscribe for updates. I plan to post about each appointment and more.

Click here to read about the beginning of my journey.