What to expect... - ThinnerTimes

coptergirl · 11-14-2005, 05:00 PM

Hi everyone...

I have an appointment for my psych eveluation this Friday the 18th. What can I expect from that? Is it a one time visit or is something set up to keep coming back?

Also, on the 23rd, I have my upper GI. What do they do with that? Does it hurt? If so, can they relax me? How long will I be out of it?

Last question (I think) - Do they submit for insurance approval after your initial consultation coupled with the psych evaluation, or do you also have to have the dietician appointment prior to them submitting you?

Sorry for all of the questions, but I appreciate your help!

Realtor Linda · 11-14-2005, 05:20 PM

Whitney, I am sure you will hear this alot. First, everything is a variable. Depends on the Dr., depends on your insurance. For me...Pacificare, Sharp Medical Group, Dr. Potts/Callery, my psych exam was, oh, about 15 minutes. He just asked me if I understood all the pro's and con's of the surgery. Asked me some family history questions, and that was it. The hardest part was waiting 2 weeks for a clearance letter from them.

An Upper GI is easy as pie. No need for sedation. Nothin to worry about. You get a warm and tingly feeling, that's it.

And the biggest question......Dr. Callery/Dr Potts office will not schedule surgery without ALL labs, paperwork, in and complete. All T's crossed and all I's dotted. Period! That can be frustrating. If you have had your inital consultation with the Dr., he will let you know what tests your PCP needs to order. Get them done as soon as spooible. Along with your PAP and well woman exam (if less than 1 year old). Get it done now. No need to wait. Sometimes the hardest part is getting ALL the labs etc to the surgeons office and once they are in....you chart goes into dictation (that's when the Dr. and nurse review, make sure everything is in order) and then submit to insurance. It can take several months.

This is all from my experience. We get impatient, we get frustrated. But, that is part of it, I guess.
Hope this helps.

tazbabygirl69 · 11-14-2005, 05:34 PM

Whitney,

My psyche evaluation was a two visit deal. The first visit was a three hour written exam and the second visit was an hour long session with the psychiatrist to go over the results and discuss all the changes to come.

Most surgeon's will not submit to insurance until all testing has been done, clearance received, etc. This took two years for me when you include the six months of dr. supervised weight loss attempt required by my insurance.

Upper GI is really quick and painless. They'll even give you a nice drink

(yuck).

LizardQueen · 11-14-2005, 08:30 PM

My psych eval was a one time thing. I think it depends on who you go to. She jsut asked if I knew how much my life would change and that I understood the procedure and had enough sense to follow docs orders. I had an endoscope preop but I did have an upper GI a few years ago. Not a big deal. You got to drink some icky stuff and swallow when they tell you to. As I recall the whole ordeal lasted about 20-30 minutes. You don't need to be sedated and I don't think you can be because you have to follow directions on drinking that stuff and swallowing.

RuthB · 11-14-2005, 08:36 PM

I must say, the psych evaluation worried me a little bit because of my prior psychiatric hospital vacations

However, many of my problems with being MO and depression/bipolar play off each other. I think they just want to make sure you don't have severed human limbs in your freezer and such. Make sure you go see a Dr. that's recommended by your WLS Dr. so that they're used to dealing with such things. They are just going to try to figure out why you came to be obese and there will be a lot of crying- don't worry about that! The other part, I believe, is to see if/how you could handle the changes of NOT being obese anymore. They will probably give you a written thing to take home and fill out before and after. Physically, no problem, but it's a huge emotional release!

The upper GI will be really gross, I had to have one after surgery. My heart rate was elevated and they wanted to make sure there were no leaks. You have to drink some foul, orange liquid with the consistency of dishwater and taste of gym socks

But you can see your innards on the screen if you ask which is kind of neat. Good luck!

coptergirl · 11-15-2005, 07:35 PM

Wow! Thanks for all of the info thus far! This has been really helpful to me. I wil llet you know how it goes. I don't think the pshych eval will be more than a one time deal - the psychiatrist runs the support groups, so she has met me before and seems pretty mellow. The UGI scares me b/c I don't know what to expect - but now I know to expect orage dishwahing liquid that tastes like my hubby's gross socks.

As for the insurance ans when it is submitted, it will be what it will be. As long as I am approved, I will wait.

You guys are awesome. Thanks for being so candid to me :-)

kpleasure · 11-16-2005, 08:19 AM

i dont think it hurts if you are put to sleep i will get my done on dec 7 good luck

Qweets · 11-16-2005, 08:24 AM

your psych eval shouldn't be a problem, they just check to make sure your mentally capable of handling the changes your about to go through if they think you need therapy i'm sure he/she will want you to come back regularly but they just ask you some questions about your life and why you think your overweight and what lead to it.. stuff like that..I hope you get a speedy insurance approval! good luck!

peacefield · 11-16-2005, 09:15 AM

It all depends on your doc. Hopefully they'll give you some kind of schedule or timeline of things as far as what happens after each step. It takes time for them to get everything coordinated once you get every test/appointment completed, and just remember to stay on top of them at each step along the way!

My first psych eval was a 2 hour MMPI computerized test, then I went back to meet w/the psychologist and go over the results, and she also discussed everything else I can expect after surgery. The recommendations of the psychologist and notes from the therapist I'm already seeing were included in the fax to the insurance agency.

Good luck, Whitney!!

coptergirl · 11-16-2005, 11:11 AM

Thanks Kelly, Casey, and Marcia! I am not too worried. My mom is a pshychologist, so i am used to being analyzed...but she is my mom. I have met the pshychologist before and she is really sweet and specialized in wls. I saw on another thread to just be yourself and everything will work out fine, so that is what I am planning on doing.

Thanks for your info and encouragement!