Since we talk about a "DS IQ test...."

I'm typing on the fly here, because I'm awfully tired, and I  might revisit this thread in the morning, but if I were a DS doctor, I'd really want some justification and explanation from my potential surgical candidate as to why they want the DS, and make darn sure they know what they are getting into before giving them a surgical date.    I'd likely require one extra pre-op appointment with them - not just meeting with the nut or a PA, but with ME.     I'd probably require them to do some pretty extensive pre-op reading about what the surgery entails and EXACTLY what kind of life-long commitment it's going to take, and then have them take some kind of written or verbal test.    I'd probably provide a detailed supplement schedule for them beforehand, since I would be the kind of DS doctor that's really up on what their post-op needs REALLY are (and not recommend BA's with ADEK!)   We're a pretty educated bunch, for the most part, on these boards, but if anyone's ever visited the yahoogroups board, one can truly see for oneself how little MANY people actually know about their surgery.  It's scary.  There are people on that board still taking Tums!   Not meaning to brag, but when I had my DS, one of my surgeon's partners came to check in on me before I was discharged from the hospital.  He looked at my chart, settled into a chair, and said, "Ohhhhhh, you're the one that Dr. Kemmeter says knows more about the DS than he does!"    That's what all surgeons should be saying about ALL of us!

Love ALL of this!!! I hope you have time/energy/inclination to formulate ANY of this in a format closer to what we'd need to present to the pros. I especially like the idea of having some kind of additional meeting/interview protocol. IMO this is something that surgeons could grasp and run with, IF they were given some instrument to get them thinking and structured in that direction. I remember my meetings with Dr. Peters and how he had some very specific ideas about what he wanted to accomplish in those meetings. If only we could help surgeons develop some kind of structure for doing this, I think it could be very valuable. We can't expect surgeons to be psychologists, nutritionists or whatever, y'know? If we could give them something hard and fast to use to improve their outcomes, quite a few of them would use it, I'm sure.

BTW, let me add a disclaimer here: I am NOT doing research for ANYTHING. No course paper, article, blog entry, whatever. Anyone who accuses me of asking them to do my work for me? Three guess which four letters I have for you.

*snort*

Ya know, I've gotten so MANY accusations right here on this board that just about nothing surprises me any more. I just blocked a ***** who thought it was okay to post a yappy **** post implying that I didn't think anyone but me could do due diligence....And said ***** is journeying a thousand miles to a surgeon who is very likely to let him AND his wife wake up with a VSG despite promising a DS. Good God what stupid ******g ****

I don't know the answer (will think about it) but I know it must start with completely throwing out the stupid psych evals they do now.

As far as I know there is no empirical data that shows that the currently used psych evals have ANY predictive value whatsoever.

The fact that we and our insurance companies and the tax payers are forced to pay for a test with no science behind it really ****** me off.

And the fact that psychologists continue to give evaluations that they know are worthless ****** me off even more. They have no ethics apparently.

You rock!! I agree totally. Thing is, we gotta give....well not so much "data" as "peer reviewed citations" to back this up.

I am about to go to bed but I will check this thread out and post more in the morning but I was thinking, wouldnt it be nice if we could give preops some kind of plant or doll or something to take care of for a month where they would have to make certain decisions on their own about how to care for it, prune it, feed/water it and use supplements etc. Something obviously tailored to DS aftercare and see how well they do it and if they neglect it etc.

eh... would be interesting.

One of the biggest problems I see with having this level of screening is discrimination lawsuits popping up. In some ways I believe that everyone should be able to do whatever they want with their bodies and if they want to undergo a dangerous elective surgery and not take care of themselves afterwards and get sick or die, thats their problem. Of course I know that it doesnt work that way not to mention it reflects poorly on the surgeon and the procedure etc. I don't think you can force people to educate themselves.

I knew that my surgeon was going to have some type of test before I met with him the first time and I was so nervous. I actually studied for it to make sure I knew my **** When I got the test it was this pathetic true false page that said things like after surgery we can eat whatever we want true or false. I mean it was so stupid and yet in my meeting with the nutritionist there was some guy there who didnt understand that we couldnt eat everything.

Do you think such a rigorous screening process would prevent some people, who could really benefit from the surgery and would succeed and be able to follow the basic aftercare of high protein, low carb and the supplement regimen from not getting it because they couldnt pass some questions about anatomy and physiology?

Anyway, I have no idea if what I typed made any sense since I am up way too late and half asleep. I'll visit in the morning.