September 1999

September 10, 1999 - My First Consultation at the Hershey Medical Center. I was very prepared for the meeting due largely to my activities on the internet. I had done a lot of research and tried to be as informed as possible prior to the meeting. I arrived at the meeting with blood test results, photographs, diet journals, my medical history regarding my obesity and all my co-morbities, my families medical history, documentation of past repeated failed attempts at dieting. And being a bit compulsive as I am, I even took along a huge bag filled with all the past diet "gimmicks" I have spent thousands of dollars on - which each failed miserably. I was mistakenly taken an hour and 45 minutes late for my appointment because the office staff, sent the person in that was actually scheduled after me, before me she had shown up early, and I guess as they say the early bird gets the worm but I just cooled my heels and kept a positive attitude. I didn't have to return to work and there was no use getting upset and starting this whole appointment out on a sour note. I met with a wonderful lady by the name of Michele who is a registered dietician. She does all the pre-screening for individuals searching for weight management tools. We discussed the fact that I had already weighed (no pun intended) my alternatives, and the only intervention that I was presently interested in would be the gastric bypass. I then presented her with the plethora of information I had brought along to the appointment and the meeting progressed very informatively. I left with almost as much paperwork as I had brought her. Enough reading material to keep me busy for quite some time. Psych questionnaires, and information needed to schedule the next barrage of appointments sleep apnea test, meeting with the surgeon, and meeting with the Psych team. I headed home and filled out and mailed everything all 500+ questions on the questionnaires.

First consultation