On Baited Breath: The Surgeon

The Appointment we had been anxiously waiting for was finally here. Our appointments with the surgeon were for the end of April. Ally spent a lot of time doing research on the surgeons at the clinic and when we looked everything we both decided to go with Dr. Farris. He has the most experience with the surgeries and with comorbidities combined with high BMI’s. The consensus of our research was that he is one of the best surgeons if a little abrupt and not known for his time management. Ally needs someone who is used to people with other complications other than weight as she had a list of conditions including kidney disease and Rheumatoid Arthritis, while I need someone who can handle my high BMI.

When you arrive at the clinic check in and take a seat. There will be other people with the same appointment time as you will all be watching a video on weight loss surgery (about an hour long) as a group before you see the surgeon individually. There were three others watching the video with us, including a gentleman who brought along his wife. We were brought back to an alcove outside the room we saw the surgeon in, where we sat (not the most comfortable seats) to watch the video. The video itself is a little dated, but it was done by Dr. Farries himself.

After the video we waited our turn to see the surgeon. There were two people before us and then when we went in there was Dr. Farries and a nurse. Ally and I went in and saw him together as it was faster that way. The nurse took our weight Ally had lost 5 lbs. putting her at 272 lbs., and I lost 12 lbs. making me 391 lbs..

Then he asked questions about family and medical history (we both had our medical conditions written down so we don’t forget anything). He wanted to know which surgery we were aiming for and agreed that the RNY was the most appropriate for us and the one that would be the most helpful. After all the questions he examined our stomach, said that we were good candidates for the surgery and asked if we had any questions.

He doesn’t even ask to look at your Food Journal, but he does ask if you are on the one cup. Honestly you are in and out really quickly and the longest part of the appointment is the video in the beginning.

The day we saw the surgeon Ally had an appointment with one of the clinic Psychologists as well; her name is Chelsea and she is in training to be a psychologist. Originally I had an appointment with her as well but since we are sisters they wanted us each to talk to a different person. Ally said that she had to talk a lot; Chelsea had a large booklet full of questions to ask. They talked about her history, support system, potential life stressors and things that could get in the way of successful weight loss.

Chelsea told Ally that she seemed to be on the right track, to watch out for stressors and that while she was there to talk to anytime she doesn’t need to see her again unless Ally wants to speak with her.

Note: While these aren’t the psychologists that say whether you are mentally ready for the surgery (that is someone else) they do make a report of everything you talk about and talk to everyone else in the clinic (“The Team”) about what they think and any potential problems.

XOXO, Evie & Ally