I went to an introductory session on bariatric surgery about 7 years ago at Park Nicollet and was not impressed by what seemed to be a recidivism problem as shared by one of the nurses there (her personal story). I wasn't really interested in what seemed to be having to give up everything I enjoyed eating just to "lose weight."
However, since I still hadn't lost weight despite numerous attempts, I decided to look into it again. In January 2017 I did an online session on their website, received the packet of information, and by March had completed everything except the weight loss graph and personal weight history. Apparently I still wasn't interested enough to make the permanent change. By November, I did complete the graph, but still had the weight loss story left to write and made no progress on its completion.
In December 2017 or January 2018, I heard that an acquaintance had had the surgery (I'm not sure which one), and I became intrigued again. I spoke to her and she raved about it, even though she only lost about 50 pounds (done in by her husband's snacking habits). I was enthused for a couple of weeks, then lost interest again. Why go through all of this only for 50 pounds?
And so I pondered and reflected and stayed miserable in my heaviness. I started another diet program in February, which went well for about 3 weeks until I came down with a mild illness. Poof! Dieting went out the window again.
And then about 2 weeks ago, I saw a television ad for a weight loss balloon treatment, and started researching. Could this be the miracle cure I was looking for? No surgical intervention, just a short-term jump-start to weight loss. In doing more research, I found out that Mayo Clinic does a balloon procedure, and it looked like Park Nicollet and the Southdale Weight Loss Clinic at Fairview Hospital both offered a version. I did the online thing again from Park Nicollet, and also decided to go to the introductory session at Southdale. So Last Friday (May 4) I attended.
When I got there, I asked the registration person about the balloon option, since there was very little information on their website. It turns out that they don't offer it yet; it will begin in June. She offered to take my name and phone number and have the surgeon give me a call. And so I debated whether or not to stay for the info session. Ultimately, I decided I might as well stay, as 1) I was already there; and 2) if I didn't qualify for the balloon treatment, I'd lose a month or so in the process.
Boy, am I glad I stayed. The surgeon who is the head of the department gave the presentation, and he covered the information well. He really impressed me with his caring attitude toward his patients as well as his professional team. He emphasized that losing weight isn't the issue for most of us; it's our metabolism or hormones. No matter how many diets we go on, only about 1 in 100 obese people will lose the weight and keep it off for five years. It's not my fault! The outcomes for surgical intervention are so great -- not just "weight loss" -- that I decided to make the initial appointment. So I left with some tasks to complete and an initial evaluation appointment for this Thursday (May 10).
Today I called around to make an appointment for psychological testing and evaluation. I have a phone consultation next Monday evening, about 15 minutes, to determine what the clinic needs from me. I called my insurance company and got some coverage information that I have to take with me to Thursday's appointment. They also sent me some other information about their requirements that I will also take with me.
They said at the meeting that it's a minimum of 3 months from the initial appointment to surgery, which would put me in August or September. We will see what the results of all the meetings with psychologists, dieticians, and phone interviews with the insurance company will be. (The insurance company does 5 or 6 phone interviews, 2 weeks apart as part of this process.)
I think I'm really going to do this.
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