Weight management can be a difficult topic. Many people have tried to lose weight alone and found it difficult or impossible. With the help of our providers, weight loss is very possible.

If you are considering weight loss surgery, we offer a free online video seminar on surgical weight loss. Those videos can be found here.

We know that weight can have impacts on many aspects of your health. As part of a system of experts, our weight management providers can refer you to specialists as needed including sleep medicine specialists, cardiologists, pulmonologists, and psychologists. We also can refer you to rehabilitation therapy, including physical therapy and lymphedema therapy.

Steps To Get Weight Loss Surgery:

Many people wonder what’s involved in getting weight loss surgery. First, it’s important to look at your insurance, what it will cover, and what it will require. Some payors require medical weight loss attempts prior to surgery, or co-morbidities that make weight loss an urgent matter. 

Once you have the information from your insurance provider, at M Health Fairview, the process generally goes like this:

• Medical evaluation. You will first schedule a consultation with one of our providers and attend a seminar. These consultations include a comprehensive review of your medical history, physical examination, and goal setting. You can schedule a consultation appointment with one of our weight loss experts by calling 612-336-2727.
• Dietitian Evaluation and Education. You will also meet with a dietitian for an initial assessment of current habits and education, then a second visit when you are ready to schedule surgery to make sure you have adopted the required changes.
• Psychological evaluation. Early in the process of seeking weight loss surgery, you will need to have a Health and Behavioral Assessment to help identify the type of support you need to be successful with weight loss surgery and follow-up. In addition to being a surgical requirement, many insurance companies require this. This will be scheduled after your initial meeting with us.
• Consultation with a surgeon. This will provide you with an opportunity to get more information about your procedure and what to expect.
• Clearance from any other specialists. If needed, you may meet with a cardiologist, pulmonologist, sleep medicine specialist, or hematologist to get clearance.
• Lifestyle shift. Prior to surgery, you will attend preop classes and at least one support group to learn more about lifestyle changes to expect following surgery.
• The surgery itself. Most surgeries last 1-2.5 hours. Depending on your overall health, you could go home the same day, or you could go home in a day or two.

Post-Surgery Support:

You will meet with a provider, physical therapist, nurse educator, and dietitian to monitor your progress and address your questions or concerns. We also recommend you attend support groups to meet others who have had weight loss surgery.

At two weeks, three months, six months, 12 months, and 18 months you will have a follow up visit with a provider and dietitian, with annual visits after that. During these visits, our providers will make sure you are progressing appropriately, including regular lab checks to monitor vitamin levels.

For good health, you will need to take vitamin supplements. Here is our recommended supplement list.

Requirements For Bariatric Surgery:

As with any procedure, there are some requirements to be eligible for bariatric surgery. Those include, but are not limited to:

• Be able to understand the operation type and risks. 
• Have controlled metabolic or endocrine problems. 
• Receive an evaluation and recommendation from a psychologist. 
• Get additional clearance from other specialists like cardiology, pulmonary, and hematology if needed.
• Follow three to six months of registered dietary visits prior to surgery.
• Undergo preoperative weight loss, or experience no weight gain once in the program.
• Have had prior unsuccessful attempts at weight loss through non-surgical methods.
• Have good overall medical condition good and be psychologically stable.
• No active substance abuse problems.
• If diabetic, diabetes is well controlled with an A1c less than 8.
• Non-smoker for at least 12 weeks preoperatively and thereafter.
• Have a strong support system.
• Be cancer free.
• May not be breast feeding by time of surgery.
• If you had a prior surgery, you must have proof of break-down or complications with previous weight loss surgery.

Video Resources:

We offer a number of video resources on weight loss here.