Responsibilities and Expectations:
Successful long-term weight loss depends on your dedication to a new lifestyle. Each weight loss surgery program has its own guidelines involving dietary recommendations, exercise, follow-up care, vitamin recommendations and return-to-work policies. We will require you to commit to following the guidelines set by our program so that you can use your tool to its full potential. We expect that you will return regularly for your follow-up visits, obtain required labwork and attend support groups in order to maximum your safety and weight loss.
Follow-up visits
To help ensure your health and your success after surgery, follow up care is essential. For our gastric bypass patients, we will see you at regularly scheduled visits in our office, or more often if needed, throughout the first year. After that you will be seen at 6 to 12 months intervals, depending on your surgeon’s preference. We will follow up with our patients for as long as they desire, and our program goal is to provide lifetime care.
Our LapBand patients are seen in accordance with their LapBand fill requirements, usually every 4-6 weeks for the first 6 months, then less for the rest of the year. The next 1-2 years requires fewer adjustments, but we continue to monitor and care after that as needed. Again, consistent follow up care is a requirement for the LapBand to be completely successful for the patient, and full commitment on the part of the patient is vital.
Every time you come to see your surgeon, we are reviewing your general health, medications, and your weight loss history. At predetermined visits, there will be a special in-service with our nurse educator to review dietary, exercise and social concerns as well.
Follow-up care for a patient’s post-operative mental health is vital as well. Besides in-office follow-up visits, we offer regularly scheduled support groups, personal counseling with our staff, and referrals as needed to our registered dieticians and clinical psychologist. |
