All of them can tell you that’s not true. You don’t just wake up one morning and schedule surgery the next week. There are a series of preliminary steps to follow that are likely to take three or four months. They include: • Meetings with a dietitian to learn how having part of your stomach removed from the digestive process changes your eating and drinking patterns for life. • Having one or more sessions with a mental-health professional to determine whether conditions like depression and anxiety need to be addressed. • Getting a full explanation of the surgery from the surgeon who will perform it.