RE: seeking advise

[Guest guest]

What I would change (my wish list... lol)

First off... congratulations on doing so darn well!!!

>>...what if anything would you add or change about the programs or

procedures (anything at all) you had to undertake?<<<

SOMEONE -- ANYONE at his office would have been WELL informed that I MUST

have at least AT LEAST 120 grams of protein a day by the time I was a year

out -- (working my way up to that of course...) and they would have been

informed about the right kind of protein (not boost, not carnation

instant... and so on...)

SOMEONE would have told me that I MUST have Calcium Citrate in high

quantities during my fast weight loss phase which is the period of time my

bone loss was most critical.

Anyone who said the word TUMS would have been thrown out a 4th floor window

and anyone who said ANY by-pass person can absorb enough protein from food

would have been tossed out same window.... *pictures of piles of people on

the concrete*

The FOCUS of my surgery from everyone would have been on my " life time "

post the loosing phase -- the FOCUS would have been on the next 40 years of

maintaining... think about it -- probably almost 100% of us have yo-yo

dieted and " lost " the weight before -- why focus on loosing again? What we

never did " successfully " was KEEP IT OFF... The FOCUS would have been on the

KEEP IT OFF phase.... which in turn would have meant my surgeons office

would have spent the first year helping me learn good, healthy habits that

would carry me over to the maintenance phase.

>>>Would you have considered participating in a complete program from

primary care to nutrition to pre & post-op counseling to an exercise program

and follow-up care if the surgeon offered all of these in house?<<<

My surgeon does offer those and NO, without the ABOVE information -- all

the follow-up information is useless if it is still bad information... know

what I mean?

>>>Were there special insurance requirements that you had to meet prior to

surgery? If so, did you surgeon or PCP refer you or did you have to seek

these out?<<<

Yes, I had special insurance requirements and my surgeons office was able

to refer me quickly, get my appointments quickly, set it up, get it done and

in a fraction of the time it would have taken me to do it myself... that was

very important to me -- they did a GREAT job on helping me get approved.

I'd advise any surgeon to stray away from carrying a product(s) for sale in

office -- I think that is biased on what information they give their

patient... The WL industry is booming with businesses already offering us a

multitude of products -- that end is covered -- people with REALLY GOOD

Knowledge about the products available is limited to a few -- If you can

learn all you can learn that would be a real " complement " to his business

and patients.

hugz,

~denise

Good luck in your new job... I hope you take what all the longer term

successful weight loss people have learned over the years and use that to

help new people... what a gift that will be for them.