pre-op physical/OKAY from doc to have sugery

Okay so I finally have an appointment with a Primary Care physician. (I never had one before). I am meeting with her on the 7th of March and I am meeting with her so that I can get the OK for me to have surgery. I have no idea what kind of tests or blood work she will need to run so i was hoping you guys could help me out on this.  I need her to sign a paper basically saying its okay for me to have the surgery. "yeah shes fat, cut her up!" that sort of a thing. So any suggestions on how i might convince her/influence her decision?  In the mean time I am praying to god she doesn't find anything wrong with me (hernia, colon etc). I have until May 20th to get the letter. I'm hoping thats enough time. I am less the 100 days now until surgery and everytime I look at the calender I think its like 2 months away. Scary thought but very exciting.

That's the stage I am at too. My appointment is on the 25th of this month. But you already have a surgery date? I have to wait until I see the PCP to get mine. Hope all goes well.

I can't say for sure, but this what I remember having to do: An upper GI study - which is where you swallow barium while they take a series of X-rays - the barium acts as a contrast so it glows as it passes through your gastro-intestinal system - they will be looking to see if you have any anatomical abnormalities so they won't be surprised after they start the surgery... A pulmonary function test and arterial blood gas test- to help make sure you're breathing won't be an issue under anasthesia. complete metabolic blood tests -  checks for levels of everything, will determine if you're diabetic, or if you have thyroid issues, iron issues, etc... complete medical history - they'll try to identify any other risk factors or justifications for the procedure... Possibly a sleep study - it's very important that they know if you have sleep apnea, I had no clue that I had it, but they suspected it, had me tested, and I had it - at Duke, if you have sleep apnea you are required to bring your cpap machine to the hospital with you on surgery day or you are sent home... Also, they checked my urine for nicotine - if you smoke - quit now!

Mike pretty must listed all the tests I can think of - chest x-ray, upper GI, sleep study, metabolic tests - yeah, that sounds right. As for how to convince her - make sure to KNOW what you are talking about.  Know what the surgery actually IS (how they create the pouch, how they re-route the intestines, how much intestine your surgeon will bypass)  How it works (you'll have to eat a lot less physically, some of the calories you eat will not be absorbed (mostly fat and protien calories) because of the bypassed intestine, and potentially you will have dumping syndrome to help condition you to eat better),  What it takes to make it work long term (vitamins, getting enough water, changing your diet long term, exercise, periodic blood work, and maybe some kind of psychiatric counseling to work on head issues). And it probably would help if you are sure of family / friend support.   I hope that helps and that you don't have any trouble getting her to sign off!